[CR] DA dust cover out / Thanks

(Example: Production Builders:Peugeot:PX-10LE)

Date: Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:14:05 -0500
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
From: "Mark Stonich" <mark@bikesmithdesign.com>
Subject: [CR] DA dust cover out / Thanks


I'd like to thank all of you who suggested ideas for crank removal, on or off list. I tried most of them but this sucker was really stuck. I think someone had used a grease which had hardened over the decades.

1st thing I had to do was remove the bolt. To do this I had to turn a 14mm socket down to make it a super thin wall. This was needed to fit it inside the remains of the cap. (I'd always felt that "Real" crank bolts were 15mm. But if it were 15mm I'd still be scratching my head.)

Then after giving up on all the other methods I used 2 coarse half round files and a tapered drift as a fulcrum. I slipped the drift between the files till I had a good fit and squeezed the files together embedding them into the soft metal. Then I turned the files using the drift. Came out slow but steady.

Now I can clean the cranks up and sell them. Much too long for me at 172.5mm.

BTW The DA caps aren't aluminum after all. The good cap weighs the same as a steel Campag cap. But it's not magnetic and the one I got out was MUCH too soft for steel. Pot metal?

Since this might happen to someone else I had Jane take a photo while I re-enacted the procedure. http://bikesmithdesign.com/tips/DA-dust-cap-removal.jpg

Mark Stonich;
     BikeSmith Design & Fabrication
       5349 Elliot Ave S. Minneapolis, Minnesota 55417 USA
            Ph. (612) 824-2372 http://bikesmithdesign.com
                        http://mnhpva.org