I've got an old Japanese steel frame road bike. Recently, the bottom bracket grenaded itself on me. It had cages, but they got all mangled. As a temporary repair, I used some extra 1/4" ball bearings and packed them in a complete array with grease in place of cages. Sidenote: This happened the day before a century ride, and it survived without any problems. When I got a new bottom bracket (sealed unit), the plastic cup snapped on me. Turns out the threads from side to side are not concentric. The shaft sits off center, and as a result the cup won't line up. I tried to force it straight with the metal cup that was originally on there (it's machined to seat properly, luckily enough) but the shaft binds in the hole since it's off center.

Do I have any options, or am I SOL? I don't really want to toss this frame since it's my commuter, but I end up having to repack the bottom bracket if I get caught in the rain because it gets all full of water. I was thinking of threading in the sealed unit and trying to bend it upward with a prybar, but I have a feeling I'll trash the bottom bracket before I get it straight.

Thanks, guys (and gals).