cudak888 

Original thread about the Bianchi's cold-set: https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...saving+bianchi

One would have hoped that the cold setting of the rear triangle on this machine was going to be sufficient. Hardly. What was to come would make the cold-set seem like a piece of cake.

A Campagnolo Veloce cartridge BB had been installed in this machine - presumably stock, for the rest is Veloce as well. One section between the six removal grooves had snapped off long ago (visible on the RH in the below pic), while the rest had a reasonable amount of aluminum oxide on it:



One would have thought that the proper Park tool was going to make the job easy. Not so. The moment force was applied to the teeth, the edge of the cup snapped off as neat as you please off the rest of the cup - looked like a non-threaded lockring. Tried the other side - same thing.

Ultimately had to resort to extreme measures (in retrospect, I'm glad the BB was flaking and rusty in the first place) - drilling and chiseling the drive-side cup until the edge that secured the cartridge broke open:







The cups ended up coming out without half of their threads. A wirebrush removed the remaining threads quickly, but it was quickly apparent that nobody ever bothered to grease the darn thing (and mind you, even though it claims to be an Italian Bianchi, it has English threading - guess they finally saw sense by '97).

The drive side did take a beating from the chiseling, but other then looking pretty disgusting, a replacement cup threaded in without issue. Same for the non-drive side.



Installed a spare Shimano BB in it for the meantime. Have yet to pull out a spindle yet - don't know what cranks I intend to install (I'm saving the Veloce for something that looks a bit better then this mess - I don't care if it IS a Bianchi). It got quite grimy in the process - that's for sure.



That BB looks as if it is a definite candidate for some oxalic acid and touchup paint...

-Kurt

poprad

wow...serious removal methods, to be sure. I guess sometimes that huge hammer in the box does come in handy.

cudak888 

Well, it is either the hammer and chisel, or disposing of the frame because of a bad BB. I took the good old preservationist's route.

-Kurt

divineAndbright

What a nitemare, on the brightside I suppose there isnt anything left that can possibly go wrong with it.. then again it could very well be a demon bike from hell!

What are your plans for that thing? If its for sale I feel sorry for the guy who buys it

cudak888 

The headset bearings are shot, they have to be replaced too.

I wouldn't be too worried - when the BB came out, it became an official bare frame. No stuck seatpost, no stuck anything. Nothing more to go wrong.

All that is important now is to build it back up. Nothing to go wrong there either.

-Kurt

bmaxwell

well look at it this way, as a result of your frustration you go that show your stash/bike collection thread going.

swif

Famous last words.

cudak888 

True, but parts problems can happen to anything, including a babied Confente.

At least I'll have the satisfaction of knowing the parts are the trouble, and not the frameset.

Nevertheless, I'll gladly bet that it'll come together without issue. Anyone willing to hold me to that?

-Kurt

pastorbobnlnh 

Kurt,

I nominate you to receive the 2007 C&V "Extreme Bike Mechanic Award" for perseverance in the face of what looks to be a lost cause. We might call you our Moses leading the people out of Egypt! Despite impossible odds (I think I feel a sermon coming on )!

In any event, you have inspired me to remove the Campy Veloce cartridge BB from my '83 Paramount at least once a year to clean and re-grease the threads (don't worry it received a generous slathering when I installed it this past Fall)! For that matter, I'll do this on all my cartridge BB equipped bikes now that I've seen those horrendous results.

You need to install the nattiest looking crankset, and for that matter whatever bad looking bits, you can find for that beast. I have a couple of beat up cheapos from the dump I'll send you, if you would like.

FlatTop

Thanks for showing a real-world problem and solution.
When something like this crops up in a resto project you tackle it, no matter how ugly, as long as you want the project to move forward.

Congratulations on your victory vs. the BB, also for the pleasant surprise of standard English BB threads.

Oldpeddaller

Brilliant work Kurt! Care, patience, brute force and a big hammer - sounds like some of my past difficult jobs!

Any idea what type of dark green tape is on those bars in the background? I'm interested in finding some in that colour.

Happy Christmas (or secular non-denominational mid winter festival)

Stuart

delver

Thats pretty encouraging/inspirational stuff. I might have to fly you up here to help me with a fixed cup in an aluminum frame I have. I'll hold it, and you can swing the hammer.

cudak888 

Extreme Bike Mechanic Award? Sounds as if we have the inspiration for a future Velo Cheapo buildoff - all entrants must begin with the biggest mechanical nightmare possible.

If I may suggest so, I would avoid using the Veloce bottom bracket entirely - I do not trust the grade of aluminum used for them. Granted, I realize the Bianchi was abused, but I would never have expected any aluminum of quality to have split off in a perfect ring as the Veloce cups did under relatively mild torque.

If I recall right, the newer Campagnolo cranksets are ISO as well, so virtually any other Japanese BB could be used in its place (a traditional Shimano cup-'n-cone job would be my preference).

Well, the Veloce crankset looks nice and presentable (never mind the anodizing scratches in the photo - looks much nicer without camera flash), so it isn't going back on, that's for sure. I don't intend to put garbage on it either though - it will probably receive a '90s Shimano 105 or 600 crankset. They do not cost that much, and I do not question their quality - they're bombproof.

P.S.: I never did show the components, did I?



Unfortunately, I find myself with more of these jobs then I care for. Then again, I'm the type to take on the worst of jobs if something is entirely salvageable.

Schwinn Campus Green. Unfortunately, it is that crappy, plastic Hunt-Wilde stuff.

All the best,

-Kurt

USAZorro

Kurt,

Want an Octalink setup for that Bianchi? I've got the whole shootin' match here just taking up shop space.

cudak888 

PM me - let me know what it'd set me back in trade.

-Kurt

unworthy1

that brought back memories: I had an equally epic struggle with a frozen BB in a 2000 Bianchi Eros, it also had one of those *&^% Campy BBs with the shallow half-round divots in the rim, and it was also British threads. I don't think I've ever struggled so hard to get a BB out, I threw everything I had at it, including hardened drill bits and Sawzall, but...the bike is back on the road and making its new owner happy. All's well that ends well.
PS: next time I lose my mind and start in to work on one of these again, I'm going to forget the "Big Hammer" approach and soak the BB in a bucket of lye. Better living through chemistry.

KendallF

If you're struggling like this in the future, find somebody with a welder. I have gotten several stuck BB cups out by welding nuts or pieces of round stock onto them. Pretty much a job for a TIG, especially if the cups are aluminum, but it makes the removal easy.

Oh yeah..I'd take that frame. I've rescued much worse.

cudak888 

If you don't mind repainting

If you don't mind pouring money into a repaint.

-Kurt

KendallF

No, using a TIG I can easily weld a nut onto a bottom bracket cup without heating it enough to disturb the paint on the frame. No big deal. I will say, however, that most of the time a frame requiring such removal methods won't have paint worth worrying about..like the Fuji above.