GoJacob

These past few days have been more than frustrating!

How much did you end up shelling out to get a machinist to free it? What kind of costs am I looking at.

These forums are so great. So many great ideas... and the encouragement to keep going

Reynolds 

He really went medieval on it, no?
A slide hammer could save your day, if you can get some expanding device to grab the lower end of the ex-seatpost. Or maybe you could slide some thick washers through the BB. Not sure about turning that clamp back into shape, though.
Good luck.

jccaclimber

I still think you're pressing too hard with the hack saw given that I've removed steel posts this way. Anyhow, needle nosed vice grips may be a good bet, or a slide hammer I suppose. I wonder if oven cleaner would get that out? I should add that I know the oven cleaner will destroy the aluminum, what I'm not sure of is what it will do to your steel frame.

cbchess

I think your dad killed this frame - it looks entirely too chewed up and bent out of shape at the top. - you said the frame is steel? I think you have a shim and a seat post in the tube.
Buy some needle nose vice grips. This is not a tool you will never use again You can never have enough vice grips!

DannoXYZ 

If you're going to be working on bikes yourself, you'll need about $100 in specialized tools. Might as well start with the needle-nose vice-grips.

enine

Turn the hacksaw blade so the teeth point upward so its cutting when your pulling now when your pushing, this will help with the bending. Also you can get reciprocating saw blades fine toothed like a hacksaw blade and they are stiffer.

silver_ghost

This thread is giving me PTSD.

I forgot to mention, I also made a puller from threaded rod, a bunch of washers and some PVC pipe on the advice of someone here. It was a really neat idea, but it didn't do a thing for me. The hacksaw trick got me nowhere because the post I was dealing with was fluted and near a centimeter thick, so when I cut a section out and tried to pry it free, the aluminum would crumble and break away, leaving the lower part of the post still bonded the the frame and totally inaccesable.

I was lucky. My machinist is a good guy and a friend of my employer (as well as a bike geek) so he didn't even charge me provided I promised to get the bike on the road. I don't know shop rates in your part of the world but it should certainly be less expensive than a new frame.

stausty

Pulling would be easier with a pair of needle-nosed vice grips. Clamp 'em on tight and start tugging.

une_vitesse

+1 on the ammonia since the seatpost is al. ammonia will dissolve the oxidation caused by the al and break the sp free. i've tried it once and it worked (granted i had to mount the seatpost in my bench vise and use the frame as leverage to twist the seatpost loose)

GoJacob

+1
I just took a closer look/thought to the actually shape of the seat tube. It's beyond saving. The frame itself is nothing worth losing sleep over... it's more the fact that I have to continue my search for a vintage touring frame in my size. Thanks for all the comments... I just think this project was damned from the beginning... and I should cut my losses now.

EDIT: It WAS a seatpost shim. Who knows how long it had been there and for how long it was oxidizing to the steel frame. The frame itself was not particularly cared for so I'm sure that it wasn't properly maintained/lubed... and considering the frame was made in 1985...

greyghost_6

This forum has turned into a community bike gang, bang. Where we each take turns doing some form of damage until the bike is no longer recognizable and we have pictures to monitor how bad it got haha.