Goodbye Cotter Pins!
 

So uhh, I have this 72-ish UO8 that I've been slowing stripping down over the past few weeks. I work on it when I'm waiting for parts for my other bikes or when I have some time away from working on my house. I've had it stripped down to a frame for a bit.

A few weeks ago it was time to get the cotter pins out. I started by spraying them with PB blaster and letting them sit. I did this over several days.

On day three or so I tried the clamp method. That was a no go.

Then on day 5 or so I tried Sheldon’s method. I put a socket on the non threaded end, put that on a wood block for stability, then wacked it with a big old hammer.

BASH!!

smashed cotter on the threaded side, but it didnt budge.

I hit it with some more PB blaster over the next few days then came back to it. I had to manipulate the BASHED!! and deformed cotter enough that I could hit it again without just hitting the crank. Once that was done, I set it up again with the socket and the wood. This time I used a punch and a bigger hammer.

BASH!!

nothing. It made a little dimple in the deformed looking cotter. Nice.

I stepped away from it again before I got too annoyed with it. This is why I have numerous projects, so if I get too annoyed at one, there is always something else I can work on that might actually conform to my will in some way.

Last night I went into the basement to do laundry. I noticed the UO8 sitting there on the floor , with its crank arms, mocking me.

It'd been over a week and those crank arms were still on there. Screw that, I can't let it win. I'm going to get those things off.

Wood block, large socket, punch, hammer BASH!!

Nothing.

Same thing on the other side.

Nothing.

OK. Now I'm really going to get serious.

Out to the garage, put the frame in my big old vise (wrapped in a rubber glove first and not to tight so as to not damage the frame), and got the drill out.

First I drilled a small hole all the way through one of the cotters. Well, actually first I broke a drill bit trying to drill the cotter.

Then I drilled a hole.

Nothing budged so I hit it with the punch again.

Nothing.

I drilled a bigger hole. It looked like the entire cotter was drilled completely away. Surely it must come out now.

No. Wouldnt budge.

I tried to move the crank arm with a pickle fork I have sitting around.

Wouldnt budge.

I tried all of these things on the other crank arm.

All to the same results.

OK. I'm not pissed. Really.

But those crank arms, really, they should stop mocking me. That's insulting.

That's it. I'm not playing anymore.

Out comes the following:

-Grinder with cutoff wheel attachment
-wielding face shield
-gloves.

I cut the spindle. Twice. Those mother effing crank arms fell to the floor, still hanging onto the piece of spindle and what was left of those cotter pins.

In the end, they still mock me, only from the floor of the garage instead of attached to the UO8. There really were no winners here today.

So,uhh, does anyone have any information on converting a UO8 to cotterless?

Patience is a virtue.

that's easy for you to say. You werent being made fun of by a pair of cotter pins!

Uh, yeah. Both John E. and I have done it. The big problem is the stock cups on the UO8 have a thin wall, and if you try putting most spindles for cotterless cranks into a UO8, you'll wind up threading the adjustable cup all the way into the frame, leaving no threads for the lockring.

My solution was to buy the Sugino French threaded cups. These allow use of many Japaneses spindle/crank combos, which used to be plentiful and cheap. The problem with the Suginos is they go in and out of production, and currently seem to be out of production. Ebay best source. There are other fixes, but IME this one is easiest and cheapest.

Why does this make me think of a television show?

Welcome back :D!

East Hill

Oh wow, the best name ever for a vintage bike shop...Welcome Back Cotter.

Welcome Back Cotter ©2008 Yogurt :)

Another option, albeit a pricey one, is to get French-threaded rings from Phil and either a matching Phil cartridge BB or a Shimano UN72 (no longer made but periodically available on eBay).

Hmm.

Anyone want to buy a UO8 frame? 58cm ish.

Holiday.
How big was the clamp you were using? I recently removed cotters from two 1974 FUJI 10 speeds that had spent a fair time in the weather. Years of rust on the cranks and the cotters. I thought they were permabonded together. A little WD-40 and a BIG C clamp did the trick. They popped! Really, they popped with a loud CRACK! and fell out of the socket I was using to catch them.

P.S. Trade you that brake lever for your frame. :D

Before I got my recently purchased Motobecane, I might have been interested, but now the stable already has a French bike...

That's a great story of persistence, but a step you might have tried earlier on is this: after you've smashed the threaded ends of the pins, put the bike back together and ride it. The force of pedaling will often free up stock cotters that aren't secured with a nut. It's worked on cotter pins that I figure were so stuck that just riding as is wouldn't be a problem. After a trip round the block, the crank arm was wiggling every which way.

Neal

Neal,
That's a good idea. I would have had to put the rest of the bike back together, at least partially to do that, but next time I'll try the cotters first, before I take it apart.

I took the cotters out of my 73 Grand Prix the other day, and they almost fell out after I took the bolts off. Maybe they'd been off before...

Machine,
I used a big old clamp. Not exactly sure of the size, but I'm guessing the long side of the C part of the clamp is around 10-12 inches.

hmm, frame for a brake lever...I'll have to think about that one :)

I was fortunate to find a new set of French thread Sugino cups for $20 at the UCSD campus bike shop ("Where cycling is academic"), but that was 15 years ago.

I actually plan to keep the original Agrati cottered crankset on Capo #2. I have been pleasantly surprised by how easily I have been able to disassemble everything, including the crank cotters, on that bike.

God that reminds me of my student days. I offered to convert a new girlfriend's bike to 10 speed (that's old 10 speed - 5 speed + double). Those cotters had to come out, from a bike whose service history was totally unkown to me, and with only an improvised tool kit.

It went OK!

But reading your account brings me out in a cold sweat. That could have been me, with girlfriends bike now knackered and my reputation down the pan. The things we do .. I just can't believe I took that risk.

Like Poguemahone said, the stock UO-8 cups are thin-walled and hence, most spindles will not work, as the adjustable cup will go too far into the frame to get the lockring on. A "5" prefix spindle will work, as the races are further apart on them. They are, however, very hard to find nowadays. The ones I've used have been recovered from old bikes, not bought new. As others suggested, Sugino French cups will work, (I used these on my girfriend's PX-10), but they seem to pop up and then disappear for extended periods of time. You can go the Phil Wood route, but seriously, is it worth spending that much on a lowly UO-8? I guess it depends how much it means to YOU....

MnHPVAguy, of this forum, makes a fantastic cotter press. Just brilliant. Find them on http://bikesmithdesign.com/

http://bikesmithdesign.com/CotterPress/Press.jpg


I paid for one, and have never looked back. Every cotter since has been a breeze.