BlueDevil63 

This ^

Soda blasting is easy, cheap and environmentally safe. If you have a substantial compressor you can buy a soda blasting setup and a big bag of soda for about $100. You can blast the frame in your driveway and wash away the soda.

Korina

And the paint. You'll wash away the paint too. I live next to Humboldt Bay, so I know exactly where "away" is.

BlueDevil63 

Very good point and I apologize for not realizing this.

I don't live in an area with storm drains so maybe this was not as apparent to me. But yes there will be paint dust mixed in with the soda so best to vacuum it up and dispose of it properly.

I think you will find similar issues with any paint removal process. Chemical strippers have to be rinsed off. Mechanical removal leaves paint dust and chips everywhere. Something to think about.

Korina

That's why I'm leaning towards having the powder coater doing that. They have the facilities and the state regs do deal with it.

zjrog

I have a media blast cabinet at work. I'm considering such a path now. I blasted a frame 30 years ago and rattle can painted it over the course of a week. Final coat of clear. It turned out OK, but I saw the flaws all the time. This next bike will either be powder coated, or I might chat with a local body shop...

squirtdad

for that stubborn fixed cup the sheldon brown bolt and washer tool and technique https://www.sheldonbrown.com/tooltips/bbcups.html

Salamandrine 

IMO if you're doing this at home, stripper is going to be by far the fastest and easiest method. It's also pretty easy to contain the stripped off paint. Most of it will come off in ribbons. Spray the residue with water to deactivate the stripper. Bag it all up.

Something to be aware of is that wire wheels tend to shed wire everywhere. If you're not careful you'll pick it up with your tires and get flats for months.

jdawginsc 

Still not budging...Will try again this weekend, if not look for a local shop that has one of those VAR/Huzon cup removers. I wish that the rust on the nails on my fence would hold the fence together like the rust that holds that in...

Wish I had a bench vise to get leverage...

squirtdad

wow.....that is stuck....might need more leverage and really stuck ones some times need 2 people just because it can be awkward to position and get leverage. i also had to really think out the orientation and direction of the tool, to make sure I was loosening not tightening

good luck

jdawginsc 

Thank you sir! I am sure that the cup will come out or the frame will disintegrate eventually...whichever comes first...

satbuilder 

Do you know what the threading is on the bottom bracket? You’re positive it’s not left hand thread?

3alarmer 

...the reason I bought a Hozan fixed cup tool for my own use is that I started repainting a lot of Italian bikes. Both French and Italian bikes, with RH threaded cups on the drive side, almost always come from the factory installed with a tremennnnnnnnnnnndous torque. Otherwise they tend to back out while in use. When I reinstall them, I use as much torque as I can get with the Hozan, and some blue Loctite on the fixed side as well. Probably someone in the distant future will curse me for this, but if you've ever had one back out in use, it's a PIA. Besides, I'm painting with epoxy. So anyone who wants to strip and repaint will have his or her hands full.

I've had a number of projects that required both the Hozan, and holding the end of it in the pipe jaws of a bench vise and using the frame for leverage before it would break free.

With a repaint, you have the advantage of not caring about the paint. So for something like that, it's Mapp gas torch time out in the back yard bike shop.

Miele Man

With Sheldon Brown's Fixed Cup Removal Tool (linked to above) you can use a cheater tube on the ratchet handle to get a lot of force. I've broken free some reall stuborn fixed cups using Sheldon's tool and a long steel tube.

Cheers

jdawginsc 

Positive. It's an Italian thread.

satbuilder 

OK. I use a little different method to remove the fixed cup than the method described in the Sheldon Brown link. If you have the fixed cup wrench with the flats, I basically thru bolt it into position and if necessary, use a pipe cheater. Haven’t had a problem removing one yet. I can put up photos if needed.

Wileyone 

I use Aircraft Stripper and course steel wool. Last frame I did took 20 min, The paint is usually pretty easy to get off but sometimes the primer can be a bear, Especially the grey stuff could be because it's lead based?

jdawginsc 

That was the first method I used. Not budging yet. Park tool, bolted to cup...no movement yet. Will have to find a cheater bar that fits over the spanner end.

63rickert

You could run into lead on very old bikes.Simplest way to tell is it is just heavy. Even lead dust is conspicuously heavy. Lead is also very hard to strip. If you have any reason to think you have found lead stop a while and reconsider project. Definitely no sanding on lead. Whatever you decide to do you have to have a plan to contain the residue, keep it from contaminating your workspace.

A color like rustoleum red or rustoleum yellow would be a clue. Grey would not go one way or the other. Reason to not use lead in the first place was that it was expensive, always. Reason some would use it would be the superb rust protection and it was easy to get a high quality smooth finish.

randyjawa 

This is why I try to not use environmentally unfriendly procedures and/or products when engaged in most things that I do, especially restoring bicycles. That chemical, when you are done with it, does go somewhere else. Be Green, if you can and you can!