frozen stem and seat posts
 

on 3 steel bike frames..i managed to free 2 stems, one alloy the other one steel. an alloy and a steel seat post. i had soaking in vinegar for a while.
one steel stem is still stuck.
i don't think vinegar did the trick though. i think it it was actually placing the posts & stems in a vice and wiggling the frame or forks left and right with an up motion whilst squirting CRC in there.
i managed not to damage anything including the alloy seat post and alloy stem and are re-useable. sweet.

my question is; what do you do with the inside of the fork tube and seat tube, do they need to be cleaned out - honed out? i'd imagine there'd be some corrosion in there.
if so...how would you do this?

If you have a power drill, you can make a quick barrel lap with a rod and sandpaper strips. Split the rod on one end, slide in the sandpaper, roughly at the middle, and wind it counter clockwise. (in case you haven't figured it out, he sandpaper has to be inserted so it's sandy side out when you wind it)

Once you've set it up, insert in into the tube, power up, and move it along the.

WARNING- do not power up without the end being in the tube, and likewise, don't withdraw in while it's spinning.

Strips of scotchbrite work also. The grey is gentle if I remember correctly.
Cheers,
David in Alaska

One of the guys on here told me about the automatic transmission fluid mixed with acetone to create a great penetrating oil. It's supposed to beat PB and Liquid Wrench by a whole lot so I'd give that a try. I had a corroded stem. It was aluminum stem and steel fork. I ended up using a hacksaw and cut the aluminum stem and then pulling out the fork and replacing it completely. It didn't really bother me since the fork was chipped itself.

Ha! I *just* read this in another thread:
I posted here to this forum when I had an aluminum Rino Cambio seat post solidly seized into a steel Bennotto frame.
On this forum the lubricants of choice are Liquid Wrench, Kano Kroil and ATF mixed with acetone.

Machinist's Workshop magazine actually tested penetrants for break
out torque on rusted nuts. Significant results! They arranged a subjective
test of all the popular penetrants with the control being the torque
required to remove the nut from a "scientifically rusted" environment.

Penetrating oil .......... Average load
None ..................... 516 pounds
WD-40 .................... 238 pounds
PB Blaster ............... 214 pounds
Liquid Wrench ............ 127 pounds
Kano Kroil ............... 106 pounds
ATF-Acetone mix............ 53 pounds

The Automatic Transmission fluid (ATF)-Acetone mix was a "home brew" mix
of 50 - 50 automatic transmission fluid and acetone. Note the "home brew"
was better than any commercial product in this
one particular test. A local machinist group mixed up a batch and all now
use it with equally good results. Note also that "Liquid Wrench" is about
as good as "Kroil" for about 20% of the price.

Sorry I can't credit the OP

It was Binky, post 16 in this thread http://www.bikeforums.net/bicycle-me...ic-resume.html

thx guys, and for the honing advice

i'm going to try that ATF/Acetone mix on that stuck stem [and from now on] she won't budge [and she's a very nice raleigh jaguar frame of my size in mint orginal condition! but still undecided what theme to build her]

i have ATF in the garage, but no acetone, lots of methylated spirits though..wondering would that suffice?

Sorry, no. You can use finger nail polish remover or super glue remover - both are predominantly acetone. Please also note that acetone is highly flammable, use proper precautions.

Stuck stem - cut it off, remove the fork, slowly drill it out. Use a hand brace when you get close.

Stuck seat post; cro-mo 1/2" (m12) threaded rod to pull it out - have to remove the BB first, and put nuts and washers on the bottom end. Cast iron gas pipe at the top end. Pretty easy to exert 5000 lbs of force.

a while ago i had trouble getting the nut off, it was rusted on too. & there is just the one nut! to hold the fork to the head set. a rubber grommet that covers the nut which must have held water. so i can hack the stem off now if needed

such a nice frame. they say raleigh is a quality built bike, but not the ones ive worked on! poorly chosen components and poorly put together
the nuts and bolts that hold the brackets for rear carrier rake is the same. could've been the previous owner who did that though, the provisions on the frame to support the rake is threaded but there's smaller nuts and bolts there, rolls eyes.

yes i used to work in the fiberglass industy, had to have acetone! you know we used to experiment with it. throw a ciggie butt straight on it and it would go out :-D

As a teenager, I was a completely unsupervised airplane detailer at a used airplane dealership. Lots of spare time and lots of really nasty solvents that probably weren't legal for me to be near (I know some weren't supposed to be used without a supplied air respirator and no contact with skin or clothing - read the package after getting light headed - and there I was with a rag in a closed up hanger in the middle of winter). Many experiments with which could dissolve packing peanuts the fastest and making a blow torch with WD-40 to burn things (mainly packing peanut pyramids) down. Yeah, I wasn't the safest of kids.