The NDS came off just fine. THe press will not BUDGE the drive side cotter. I gave up there. I tried the c-clamp and socket route but it broke the c clamp clean in half. I tried the bench vice but it bent the handle.

I have it soaking in penatrating oil now. Any other tricks? I have seen a few mentions of tapping/pounding the crank in a bit toward the bottom bracket in an attempt to loosen the cotter face from the spindle and get the penetrating oil further in.

I dont want to ruin the crank. Its an eyed raleigh crane crank on a Superbe. I have taken apart alot of cottered cranksets in my day but this one is the worst.

I dont want to drill it but needless to say after all the messing around, the cotter wont be usable again once i finally get it out.

Perhaps heat? I can try to heat it with some map gas to see if that helps to loosen it i guess. IM trying to be careful not to damage things.

All i want to do is get in there to regrease the 50 year old parts

Maybe try an electric heat gun first. You can always escalate later.

good point. I have one of those. Ill get on that tomorrow. I just need to take my time. IM getting frustrated and that typically leads to me wrecking things. I will start again tomorrow. I cant wait to get this thing back together. It is such a nice bike.

If you have enough of a "nub" sticking out-
Clamp with a Vise grip and try to rotate it back & forth. Obviously, it's not going to move noticeably, but it might "crack" the rust bond.

Lots of "real" PO. WD-40 doesn't do the tough jobs.
Tap the joint with a wrench to try to "ring" it. The vibrations help the oil to wick in.

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...the best penetrant, by far, is a 50/50 mix of acetone and ATF. Buy the ATF at the auto parts store, and the acetone in the paint department at Home Depot or Lowes. I tell people this, and they smile and nod at the old guy. But the ones who try it are usually pretty impressed/

That said, I don't think a heat gun will get it hot enough. If it's been together without service for long enough, sometimes you just gotta drill.

Since you have the non drive off, there's a trick where you can pull the rest of the crank by removing the whole spindle, drive side cup, and drive side crank arm with chainwheels as a unit by carefully working out the drive side cup. This makes the whole operation a whole lot easier if you can manage it.

Good luck. I think I stopped working on cottered stuff for exactly this reason.

THIS is how it was done when cottered cranks ruled.

You'll hammer the crank out in a single blow, but the key is you have to support the arm on a rigid equivalent of an anvil. If you have a heavy vise on a solid bench that'll work, but my preferred method is to stand a 1" water pipe on a concrete floor or directly over a brace on a wood floor, or someplace equally solid.

Stand the pipe up, and have a friend hold the bike up supporting the crank on the pipe with the head of the pin inside the pipe. Take the heaviest hammer you own, line up your shot (take a practice tap if necessary) then deliver the best shot you have in an attempt to drive the pin down the pipe, through the floor and on to China.

Keep in mind that multiple blows, or hammering on an unsupported crank will only mushroom the screw end. But a single blow on a supported crank has too much energy for the pin to absorb by mushrooming, so out it goes. (though it won't get to China).

If you're not a master with a hammer, or if the screw is already bent or mushroomed, take a hacksaw and saw it off flush (use a washer so you don't mar the crank. Hold a punch in a pair of vise grips, and drive that. (the vise grips are because most people are chicken and don't hammer full power if they're holding the punch).

Remember, this is a one shot operation, so do whatever it takes to get your head around the concept and swing for the fence.

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...then drill it out.

If the OP follows my instructions exactly and fails, I'll pay for the beer he cries in.

THEN he can drill it out.

Yep, FB has hit the nail on the head (pun intended). Cotter pins are a taper fit, and like most tapers need a blow to distort the taper to break the cold weld that occurs between the two surfaces. Either his pipe method or hold a big hammer (at least twice as heavy as the swinging hammer) next to the head of the pin while you hit the other end of the pin. In the old days we'd just slightly loosen the nut to leave a small gap between the nut and the crank so the thread wouldn't get mushroomed and we could use the pin again. If you do it right you won't mark the crank at all.
If you are using the c-clamp method get the clamp really tight then give a whack with a hammer on the end that's pressing on the pin.

I made one of these and it works very good. Old post from this site. Roger
https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...ter-press.html

This is how I was taught back in the 1970's also. FBinNY is correct:

The 1" galvanized steel pipe is where the cotter pin drops in to after you hit it with a BRASS dead-blow hammer. Yes, the pin straddles inside the pipe. The pipe should be high enough that the bike can stand almost by itself with it positioned under the crank arm. This facilitates it being a one-man job. The brass hammer helps to reduce damage to the cotter pin for potential re-use. And FB is right, one big "determined" but NOT cataclysmic or mis-aligned blow. If you miss and hit the bottom bracket shell, can you say woopsiedaisy!!!! It is easy to miss BTW.

The old carpenter's adage applies here slightly re-worded:
Aim TWICE and hit once.

And FB is correct that this works because the energy of the hammer hitting the cotter pin and crank is not absorbed. If it's not supported by the pipe the frame flexing absorbs the blow and multiple blows are required and that can ruin the crank.

I've always wanted to try an air chisel/air hammer on a stuck cotter. I'm a believer on the use of impact type tools.

Made one of these. It cracked in half the first time I used it. Perhaps you will have better luck, but it was a waste of time for me.

This probably works well but I have never been able to rely on my hammer aim. It's "cycle-ogical" probably: because I am worried about mis-hitting, that's exactly what happens.

It seems to me that this would be the equivalent of multiple lighter hits and would not be effective. If you try it and it works, please post the details.


My preferred method is using a bench vise. This has never failed me.

I have one of those harbor homemade presses. IT works great for putting cotters in but i have not drilled out the other side to allow for cotters to be removed. I dont have a drill press. Other than that it works great for putting them in. I broke a c-clamp using in the same exact way yesterday....it snapped clean in 2. Glad i was wearing safety goggles because that thing had some force behind it.

got it.....soaked all night......tapped around crank inward toward bb........squared the vice on it with a socket and had to use a pipe on the vice handle but it popped. Just got it out. THanks guys. Judging by the bb, it needed it, bad.

drift punch similar to bolt diameter.. + FB's backing up the arm solidly.... tires do too much force absorption..

I have loosened the nut and had a reusable cotter .
they're soft metal so will mushroom when hammered on ..