Removing Freewheel with hosed up tool interface - thoughts?
 

My saga of of fun with my "free" Torpado continues.

I have a regina freewheel (circa 1983/84) that I need to take off. I was by a LBS and the wheel was in the trunk so I figured I would save time and for once not buy a new tool and have them take the free wheel off.

The took one look and said no go. Somewhere in the past some on mangled the the freewheel. where there should be nice square holes there are now nice mangled ramps.

Of course I tried my self and goofed it up more.

How can I get this thing off without using the extractor? My thoughts are 1) try to create new square edges for an extractor, or 2) take the cogs off (sure to be another bit of fun) and get a grep on the freewheel body somehow or 3) fill it with epoxy and use a chain whip to unscrew the bugger.

bright ideas apprecciated

I believe there is a time for certain things to go from being C&V to trash. It sounds as if the freewheel has ventured into this realm and probably the wheel as well. An early 80's rear wheel, is it that special?

Remove axle.
Dremel or die grind new notches at 90° to the originals. "cut-off" wheels work well for the edges.
Work slowly to have nice tight notches for tool to engage to, be sure to go deep enough, do not worry about nicking the bearing lock ring.
Reinstall axle with bearings.
install freewheel tool with skewer to hold it firmly in the notches.
Bench vise or 14" cresent wrench.
Back off skewer just a bit after it breaks free.
Continue this until resistance is gone.
Repack hub.

Consider selling the freewheel remains to me as I need a replacement larger cog as one is cupped in my inventory.

Sheldon says (and it does work):
Once the notches are damaged, or to remove and discard an old freewheel for which you have no tool, you must disassemble the freewheel and clamp the core into a vise -- left side of the wheel up -- then unscrew the wheel counterclockwise."
http://sheldonbrown.com/freewheels.html#remove

You can dip your forefinger in the freewheel oriface with enough fresh grease for the bearings, and repack the bearings like that.
Of course, you are still stuck with that old freewheel.

Campy Tipo hub with ambrosia rim...not special, collectable but totally usable and part of a complete bike. Once of I will get a new freewheel.

Regina freewheels were notorious for having the removal tabs fail. You will need to do as Sheldon says, use a pin tool to remove the bearing race then use a pipe wrench or a vise to grasp the body and remove. Taking the cogs off will do no good, as the ratcheting mechanism will still be in place. Most people just trashed the wheel at that point because its was not worth the effort or expense.

This happened to me. I just destroyed the thing. Not worth it. The hub (also a Tipo) was fine.

How did you destroy it? I have one sitting in my cellar waiting for me to do this to it. I guess I need a chain whip and a pin spanner?

I don't recall, exactly, but a chainwhip was involved... I only remember getting bearings EVERYWHERE.

+1 to repechage. I see no harm in trying to create a new flat for the removal tool. Probably couldn't hurt to squirt some penetrating oil onto the threads from the back as well. If that fails, you can always then move on dismantling the FW.

By the way, what type of freewheel tool are you using? If it's one of the older, non-splined Regina freewheels, you might get a better purchase on the faces using one of these FW tools with a lip.

http://i850.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps1396a377.jpg

(Btw, I am going to be in San Jose tomorrow, and could let you borrow mine if necessary. PM me if interested.)

Below you will see Frank the Welder's '82 Regina Corsa, which I'm guessing looks very similar to Squirtdad's Regina.

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...ginaCorsa7.jpg

Do you see the two holes in the retaining ring at 3 & 9 o'clock? Find a punch which fits in those holes and a hammer. Grab a container which can fit over the freewheel to the spokes.

With the wheel in your lap, lean it against the wall or your bench so that it sits at about 60 or so degrees. Place the punch in the 3 o'clock hole in the retaining ring and begin striking down towards the floor. The ring has reversed threads. Eventually the ring will loosen. If it doesn't, soak the threads in penetrating oil and leave over night.

As the ring unthreads, move the wheel into a more horizontal position, and when the ring comes off, place the container over the freewheel, flip the wheel 180 degrees while holding the container tight againts the spokes. All the bearings, pawls and outer body will fall into the container.

You should now see the inner body attached to the hub. It should look something like this:

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...aInnerBody.jpg

Using a big pipe wrench or a vise you should be able to unthread the inner body from the hub. This will most likely destroy the inner body.

But the pawls, the springs, the cogs, the retaining ring, spacers, possibly the bearings, and the outer body should all be saved. If you can't use them, I'll be glad to keep them for spare parts for future repairs. I'll be glad to pay the postage or send you another freewheel in trade.

Take a look at this picture. As you can see, the pawls and springs are critical, and as far as I know, there is no source to buy new ones. :(

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...DWReginas2.jpg

Might be in the same boat with a Campy Record wheelset w/Suntour Winner Pro. Tried to remove using a 2-prong remover and broke one of the ridges on the freewheel. Soaking in penetrating oil currently, and will have a go with a 4-prong remover (once I get one). Would like to save the freewheel if possible, but need to get it off and definitely save the wheels/hubs over the freewheel.

This is not an aluminum bodied FW by any chance??
If grinding new notches on and trying again with a FW remover does not work, just tear down the FW till all you have is the bare FW inner core left on the wheel hub (remove pawls and spings too.) clean off all the grease and oil off it and go at it with a large pipe wrench. You can even aplly a bit of heat on it to to help crack it off the hub threads. Be aware that using a pipe wrench might mean the end for the FW, but at least you will have it off the hub.....

Chombi

Oops, just noticed that Pastor Bob had pretty much gave the same exact tip two posts before me....

I took the axle out- put a metal file in the vice and used it as the tool- the pointy end in the hub- worked 2 times for me.

I've got a freewheel that I need to remove from a hub that someone cut the spokes on. What a genius move on their part.:notamused:

How would one go about resolving this problem?

Weld the freewheel core to a piece of bar stock and use a band wrench?

No way. Trying to save both. Lol.

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...psab296522.jpg

http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/g...r_Sale2188.jpg

Any chance of making a fixture that would fit in the non-driveside slots in the hub flange, and using that in a vise with the remover?

I've thought about it.

Although they seen like they can, most band wrenches cannot grip the hub hard enough to unscrew it off a freewheel. I've done a lot of wrenching on all sorts of machines through the years an FWs had taken about the most force/effort to remove than anything I could remember.

Chombi

The best way to remove a freewheel is to use the proper removal tool having a hex end* combined with one of these: http://www.ingersollrandproducts.com...ools/1-2-drive

http://fileserver.ingersollrand.com/...OB_HiRes_m.jpg

When using an impact gun with the wheel in a horizontal position I haven't had to set the wheel in a vise or use a skewer or any other device except the weight of the gun to hold the remover down. One or two bursts of the gun and the freewheel comes right off without any damage to the notches or splines. While I haven't done it yet, I'm fairly positive that using an impact gun I could easily take the freewheel off of a hub where the spokes were cut (with no rim for leverage).

Am I the only one who uses an impact gun for removing freewheels? It just works so well...

*By "hex end" I mean one that would be compatible with a socket. While most removal tools have this, some older ones do not. For example, when removing the Schwinn Model F2/F3 freewheels I would use this tool and not this one. While both fit the same freewheel splines, the latter would be incompatible with the socket in my impact gun and thus useless to me.

Re-lace the wheel. Seriously, I've done this. No need for a full build, just 1/2 the spokes on each flange should do the trick.

^But how would you get the spokes into the drive-side hub holes with the FW in the way?

As far as lacing the drive side, you could try grinding down the heads of those spokes so that they resemble emergency spokes.

http://www.jimlangley.net/wrench/espoketool.html