This is not a thread about how stupid cottered cranks are. I don't think they're stupid and I have a respect for them.

No, this is a thread about stupid removal techniques.

I acquired a Raleigh/Nottingham built Hercules 3 speed from a friend. He acquired it from some guy trying to sell the bike out of the back of his van at a junk yard.

When I got it, the bottom bracket had a crap ton of play in it. I could move the cranks back and forth about a half an inch. The adjustable cup had worked itself loose.

Someone had also tried to remove the drive side cotter with a drill. It looks like they tried to get at it from both sides and was unsuccessful. The worse part, one try they drilled through part of the crank.





I was successful at removing the non-drive side cotter. It came out really nicely with one pop of the hammer. I cannot get the drive side cotter out.

At this point, I would just like a replacement 26 TPI bottom bracket and crankset. Of course, being 26 TPI it isn't exactly like I can go out and buy new stuff. I really didn't want to put much money into this free bike... I just want to ride it

Harris Cyclery has some parts to replace your BB, read Sheldon's article, but to get the actual arm
and and drive sprocket you may have to haunt eBay. Don't stop at ebay as it pulls up here, go specifically to ebay UK and/or ebay AU.
Cotters and cotter press avail here:
https://bikesmithdesign.com/CotterPress/
Good luck!

Here are some cottered cranks on ebay UK.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nk....c0.m270.l1313

Contact sellers to find out if they ship to US.

The guy was trying step 2 in Sheldon's cotter removal technique & failed.

I actually have a cottered cranks assembly from a 72 national i was just gonna throw out if you want it. I might even have the bb too.

Oh... you got my bike...

OK, not sure if this will help, but I ran across almost the EXACT same situation about a year ago, same drilling and everything - same problem getting the totally distorted pin out. I wound up putting the crank into a bench vice to hold everything COMPLETELY immovable and then used my cotter pin press (Bike Smith) to work the pin out. In my situation, it turns out that holding the darned thing completely stable made a really big difference - I have no idea why, I've worked with many, many cotter pins and this is the first time I've ever had a real problem. Anyway, just my probably less than two cents worth.

*Shakes fist*

Vice. Air hammer. Punch.

Pray the crank is ruined not.

I wonder if a little heat from a propane torch might help. Would the crankarm expand and let you drive the cotter out? You'd still need to have the thing in a vise.

I don't really care to get the cotter out at this point. He drilled into the crank and the bottom bracket is all pitted. At this point, it would be best to get something in decent condition.

meh - use a punch to knock it loose - the cup is pitted and you want a new one - but why toss the arm

Because he drilled into it. There's a good chunk taken out of it from the drill bit... I'm not sure if it would still be usable.

So what pieces do you need?

You have a couple options. If you manage to get the arm off and salvage the cups, you can use a square-taper spindle and arms instead of cottered cranks. This would be your cheapest option, if you can salvage the cups.

Otherwise, a threadless cartridge bottom bracket such as that offered by Velo-Orange would also allow you to use square-taper cotterless cranks.

Finally, and most costly, you could use a Phil Wood cartridge bottom bracket with 26tpi rings.

N.B. I have heard that the Phil rings also work on some other BB cartridges, but I have no direct experience with this and don't recall what brand(s) were compatible with the Phil rings.

i looked at the pics - i cant see where it would be compromised - stay cottered - cottered's cool - plus - how pitted are the cups - if its a free bike and its just like...whatever...just clean it up - regrease and see how she spins - i mean - you can always replace the whole kaboodle later