Am I going Gnutti?
 

OK, disassembling the 1958 Drysdale, which I've never even ridden in the 20 years I've had it. Last part to take off is the cranks. These are the Gnutti steel cotterless with a splined axle, no taper that I can see. The drive side almost fell off. The non-drive side, not so much. First, I found out (fortunately before damage) that the non drive side fixing bolt is left hand thread. Interesting. the crank arm does not readily come off. The threaded hole is much smaller than even a Campy extractor would fit, and LEFT HAND THREAD as I said. I am soaking now in PB Blaster. Have not tried heat yet. Any other input on removal? A search of the forum shows little on these,

Oddly, the BB cups are Stronglight, lending credence to the bike originally delivered as a bare frame and fitted w/components by the 1st owner.

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did you get the three arm or the five pin?

both were produced

the three-arm seems to be by far the more commonly encountered

AFAIK there is no puller arrangement

owners use three-arm gearpullers


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...89620821ed.jpg
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Great thread title!
Brent

Three arm, looks identical to the photo but I suspect different chainrings, those look riveted (aah, looking closer the rings on mine are Simplex, alloy, 50/47). I've been doing internet searching and apparently the extractor is made of actual hen's teeth; found a few pleas from those searching for one. Also saw something about "there's a guy on eBay making extractors" but that was years ago. There are indeed threads in the arm to fit one. When I said "left hand thread", uh, that is the bolt going into the spindle -- LH extractor threads would be, I presume, insane.

And I have been looking at gear pullers -- for the non drive side, it looks like a 2-arm might be better? OTOH, do I really want to buy 2 pullers?

A shame I do not know the thread size of the "extractor" threads, one would think it possible to fabricate an extractor. A short length of rod stock, use a die to cut threads at one end ad wrench flats at the other; them bore a hole through the middle for a bolt.

I must be careful not to damage the spindle threads, I suspect left-hand thread chasers are also difficult to source.

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if she should ever give difficulty out on the road...they do have a sag wagon -


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...59b513fd85.jpg

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Well, I have a small gear puller on the way, will report back.

Thanks, I thought it would result in more 'views' than simply "HELP!" or "Help with crank".

Lovely old truck! Wow, just think about pushing a chainring that big. Or a tool to remove a 3" diameter cotter...

I think I saw that vehicle on EBay a few years back ...

A small 2-claw puller arrived late yesterday and this AM, it took mere seconds to release the left crank arm. Of course, now the BB's fixed cup is really stuck, so I'll need to address that.

Some degreasing of the cranks (and, frankly, the entire bike) will reveal if the condition permits polishing and using as-is, or will it need a trip to the chrome shop. More later.

I looks a lot like the truck is based on a 1930's Fiat 1100, but I'm no expert on that era.

Uh, the two crank arms are not exactly oriented 180 degrees out, are they?

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:thumb:

some amateur "mechanic" must have fitted the cotters :lol:

feeling...


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...bf329c44a5.jpg



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