I picked up an early 80s Puch Odyssey for a song and now in trying to disassemble it to remove the rust and put on some other parts, but I can't get the friggin headset and fork off. (I believe my problem is similar to this person's: https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...readed+headset)

I think it may be stuck from being old and rusty, so I squirted some PB down in there and will let it sit over night. I'm far from an expert on bicycles, so I just wanted to check here to see if there was something obvious I'm missing.

Photos for reference:
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6.../iphone006.jpg
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6.../iphone005.jpg

When you unscrew the stem bolt you do not want to remove it completely and need it to remain threaded in to the nut... from there you want to give it a firm tap to release the wedge nut and if all goes well the quill stem will come out.

I would put the headset back together and see if you can't thread the stem bolt back in and give it a tap and see what happens.

Thanks, Sixty Fiver.

I screwed the wedge nut back in so it stuck up a bit and gave it a few taps with the hammer. It budged, but it only moved enough so that the wedge nut is back to being flush with the top of the quill stem even though, at this point, it's all the way unscrewed (see here: https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6.../iphone008.jpg).

Any other ideas?

Try removing the stem bolt,
turning the bike upside down,
then screwing the bolt back into the stem wedge backwards through the hole in the bottom of the fork,
might be able to hammer the wedge out from that direction.

The OP still has the stem in place...

Under the assumption that you have now managed to disengage the wedge: approach bike from front, hold wheel firmly between knees, now try twisting the handlebar left-right. Should be "only" rust holding it in place.

Make sure you grease the stem and wedge when it's time for reassembly

Back off the stem bolt a few more turns and give it another tap... if the nut moved then this bodes well.

I have a long rod here I can use for tapping out wedge bolts which comes in handy... the stem itself might also be pretty sticky so more penetrating fluid and patience to let it work might be required.

Thanks to everyone, and...

Success! I just tried your suggestion, dabac, and it worked like a charm. Well, she put up a fight, but gave up the ghost after a few firm twists. Thank you!

Look at all this rust:

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6.../iphone009.jpg
https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6.../iphone010.jpg

Bonus question: I'm sure there's a lot of rust inside the head tube, any easy way of getting at that without damaging anything?

Wire bottle brush:



If you have a power drill, you can chuck the brush into the drill and make fast work of the job.

I'd say about average for a beater bike.

Head tube? or Steerer tube? Either way, when iron turns to rust it expands rather dramatically, so no immediate need for concern. The head tube should clean out rather well. Once you get the headset cups out you should find it easy enough to get a one-row wire brush reasonably far in there. The steerer tube can be a bit more challenging, but basically you can use anything (maybe a rod/ thin pipe) and simply scrape away to your heart's content. If you manage to damage anything the fork isn't good enough to use anyhow.