i bought a late 70's colnago super on ebay, i feel like i got a pretty good deal on it. my plans are to completely strip it and repaint with new decals and a full campy build. i just recieved an email from the seller telling me that the drivers side bottom bracket cup will not come out. they tried to take it out but its siezed. its a steel sugino cup. they are offering either to send it or give me a complete refund. what would you guys do.

Are you the one who stole the Colnago frame for under $300? Maybe the seller realizes he/she could get more for it in a better auction. I'd accept it, but I'm a risk taker.

I'd give it a roll. You could always find someone to get it out

Hmm. How did they try removing it? And did they remember Italian drive side cups are not reverse thread? Did they try the Sheldon Brown bolt method? Or a Var 30 tool? Either one can work where more standard tools do not.

French and Italian drive side cups should really be tightened down, and semi-competent mechanics will sometimes use loctite on them. Really incompetent mechanics will use red loctite. In that case, you have to use heat in conjunction with one of the above tools to get them off. Competent mechanics use the Var 30 tool and avoid all this hassle.

Ask him to take a picture of the non-drive side interior of the BB shell. If it's not rusted, it may be that the seller is just not trying hard enough, might think he got too low a price on the auction and wants to relist or simply may be turning it the wrong way to remove.

If the cup is not rusted or cross-threaded, it will eventually come out.

DD

I would insist the seller leave the cup alone and get the frame on its way to me.

i told him to go ahead and send it, and if it would make them feel any better they could thrown in a headset or new bottom bracket. just to make sure, i'm not clear on italian bikes would that drive side be counterclock wise or clockwise. thanks

Italian drive side cup is NOT reverse threaded.

thanks, and yeah that was me that stole it for under 300....

Good strategy. If he's feeling guilty, have him send more stuff.

If the price was right, I'd take the chance. Bench vice make the job much easier.

I tend towards this camp as well. I'd ask a couple of questions, like what tool they used and ask for a close up of the cup, like DD suggests.

You might ask for a slight reduction in price, since you are taking a risk. How the seller responds to this will tell you something about what is going on here. Over response would indicate to me the frame is okay. If they're willing to lower the price, it may be a real issue. But this is purest guesswork.

If I just bought a Colnago frameset for under $300 I wouldn't be pushing my luck asking for a price reduction.

IME, the sheldon bolt tool or the Var 30 work far, far better than a bench vise for this operation. If you don't have access to a Var 30, read this:

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/tooltips/bbcups.html

scroll down to "fixed cup tools"

A cheater bar can help with this, and a deep socket as well.

I think you'll get it out one way or another, but if you have to apply some heat to loosen that cup up, well, so be it. The fact that you're considering a repaint anyway gives you some latitude in that regard.

i didnt ask for a price reduction but in the email they said that if there was anything they could do to make it right, or full refund. i scanned the other items they had on ebay and noticed a couple things that didnt have bids so i mentioned they could always throw in a campy headset, shifters or bottombracket..i'm waiting there response.i will be happy either way. the more i think about the more i think i will be able to remove it. since i'm repainting i can either soak it or heat it, hell they might of been going the wrong way.

by the way, thanks for all the super quick reponses, it made my decision alot easier. i almost asked for a refund.

Point. More a tactic than anything else. The way I see it, there are three possibilities here:

1) Seller thought price was too low and is looking for painless way out of transaction.

2) Seller is not the world's greatest mechanic.

3) Cup is really stuck.

1 & 2 are good for the OP. 3, not so much. Seller's reply might at least give some hint which of our three options it is, as we currently don't know and all is specualtion.

Of course, if it is 1, Seller might simply refund the purchase price, cross his fingers, and sell it again six months from now.

It's just a fixed cup. Nothing is effed here, dude.

I've applied heat in a situation where a prior mechanic used red loctite and managed not to damage the paint. Of course, that frame did not have Italian paint on it, which is programmed to come off the bike as soon as it sees a bump in the road. The invention of quick release paint is one of the high marks of Italian cycling innovation, of course.

if the surfaces that contact the bearings is ok, I'd say don't worry about it and use it. no?

I was the only bidder on a nice looking Medici several years ago. The seller emailed me after the auction closed & said he decided to take it to his LBS for a tune-up before he shipped it, where the shop found a crack in the frame. I figured he was looking for a way to back out, but at the time I didn't want to risk the money. Today I'd probably roll the dice & tell him to ship anyway.

The last two bikes I got had seriously seized bottom brackets, but with a Sheldon tool, PB Blaster & a lot of prayer, both came free. The bikes are now #1 & #2 in the fleet.

I don't think so either, having seen enough "stuck" BB cups that were not in fact stuck. Of course, you don't know until you see/work on it.

Going with this, just get that puppy home.

+1

This one?

It seems like they removed the BB except for the fixed cup before the auction.