Dearest list,
Louie Dee wrote: ".... the discussion about grease on threads. ...... In my distant past, I restored Porsche cars....... lube makes sense on all but the highest torque situations. Just my opinion, but the crankbolts & stem bolts might be ones that would be better treated with anti-seize than with lube. Also, lubing the square ends of the bb spindle used to be a no-no as it could cause the crankset to overseat, creating a lose crankset, cracking the crank, or forcing the chainrings against the chainstay."
To which Jerry Moos replied: I'm convinced that it is an extremely good idea to coat the tapers on Stronglight BB's with something... I use a very light film of the same grease I'm using in the BB..... it seems using too much antiseize could casue the crank to overseat, just like using too much grease."
Boys, boys, boyz, All I can tell youse is that I've ALWAYS used grease on the tapers. It ain't the greases fault if the mechanic has an uncalibrated arm! And the idea of "too much grease" causing "the crank to over seat"; how does the grease get blamed for that one? You can't force all that "extra" grease between the taper and arm. Excess is just forced out. Just like some of the grease is forced out during good hard miles. When their ain't enough still inbetween, the arms start to creak. You can just tighten um down at that point, but it won't get rid of the creak, it'll just mess up the arm. Excess lube, like excess money has a funny way of disappearing. I've never used anti-seize instead, but it'll work. And I think it is a grease base basically. Also like the copper colored stuff you should use on your autos battery terminals to keep them from corroding. Yo, Lou. I restored Porsches too. Started w/VeeDubbs, graduated to 356's (LOTS), couple a 912's and then a 911. One of the first thing I did was grease up (w/high temp wheel bearing grease) the bolts that hold the rims to the brake drums/disks ( in other words these bolts hold the wheels to your car). Auto wheels DON"T fall off because of lube there. But you will be able to remove the wheel at 2 A.M. on the B.Q.E. in the rain! However, the bolts MUST be torqued properly. And ALWAYS by hand, NOT with the gun; you just might not get um off when ya need to (see sentence before the last). But I digress. The ol rule of "lube where ever metal touches metal" works. As I've gotten older, I relize just how important this really is. Like when mounting a Cinelli steel stem and bars. Now I grease all the bolts threads and washers and the cone. Things work MUCH smoother then. And come apart easier too. Youse guys don't have to reinvent the wheel on this one. Just lube it up!
Enjoy,
John T.Pergolizzi Brooklyn, New York I love the smell of Campy grease in the morning