It's fair to recount that "necessity is the mother of invention." However, these cotters, especially if they've been in position for a couple of decades, can be pretty stubborn, even after a couple of days soaking in penetrating oil. I tried improvising with a socket wrench and a very stout "C" clamp and found that under the tremendous force required to break the pin free, my makeshift press was just too unstable and kept breaking free before the job was done. I believe a press is still available, but not from Park. Also, in my Google search for presses, apparently some have had luck improvising with certain automotive tools that are readily available and inexpensive. According to Barnett's manual, the pin is to be clean and free of grease and oil when pressed in.
Greg Thies Vienna, Virginia
************************************************ Date: Mon, 1 Dec 2008 10:16:38 -0800 (PST) From: gillies@ece.ubc.ca (donald gillies) To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: [CR]Re: Worn cotter pins? Message-ID: <20081201181638.8DEB519D8D@ug6.ece.ubc.ca> Precedence: list Message: 14
I have two bikes with cottered cranks and I think I will face the cotterpin reinstallation issue fairly soon.
It occurs to me that with a tall stack of washers, or a piece of pipe tubing of the right diameter that's fairly thick, plus a hobby vise or unmounted vise, you could probably create a makeshift cotterpin press.
You just need to stack the washers or pipe on the crank arm around the cotter pin threads, and then attach the vise to the crank arm. Make sure to use some sheet-copper or brass to shield the cotter and/or pipe from scratching. Put one jaw on the cotter head, and the other jaw on the washers or pipe. Then, crank the vise closed to press in the (greased) pin.
This depends upon being able to find washers or pipe with an inside diameter of 10mm+, and a fairly narrow outside diameter so as not to hit the crankarm spider.
Best wishes and good luck,
- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA, USA