peppiace

Would someone tell me how to best remove this? 1980 peugeot PKN10 bottom bracket on drive side.
Should I try to find a 38mm socket? I am guessing this is a right hand thread but I am only guessing from research so please let me know if I am wrong. Obviously I will never get it off if I am turning it the wrong way. Have everything else off and ready to start working on the frame but this last piece has me stumped.

conspiratemus1

The internet is full of methods to remove fixed cups. But first ask yourself why you think you need to remove it “to start working on the frame.” If you think about it, you will probably decide to leave it where it is, unless you have already decided to replace the entire BB with a cartridge or something.

SJX426 

@peppiace - A socket might not work because the flats are so shallow that the beveled edge of the cup and the socket will limit engagement if any is achieved. My suggestion is to place the cup in a vice with copper jaws and use the frame as a leaverage.

The other option is the Sheldon Brown approach, which worked well with me after heating and cooling the cup without burning the paint.
Tool Tips--Bottom Bracket Cups (sheldonbrown.com)

oneclick 

If you have a bench vice you can use large bolt&nut and two thick washers to hold the frame in the vice; one washer goes inside the cup, the other bridging the slot underneath the vice jaws. I had the same cup to deal with (well, 38mm which I didn't have either as a socket or a flat spanner) and that's what I did.

If you are not sure of the thread try each way alternately, increasing the effort a little each time. When it moves you reverse and the difference in feel tells you which way is undo.

Sorcerer

This dilemma is one of those dramatic ones. Good luck.

I don't have anything to contribute. I'm going to try to remove a seized BB myself today when it warms up outside later using some techniques I saw on YouTube.

At least I know which way to turn the cups!

There's got to be a way to figure out what kind of threads you have before you start torquing on it. I'd be afraid of damaging the frame.

​​​​​​The person who suggested retaining the cup and restoring the original bottom bracket could be onto something. There might be spindles and cups that will work available somewhere.

Sometimes it takes a lot of patience doesn't it.

t1k

The RJ bike guy has a video where he shows various methods of removing stuck BB cups. I know that yours might not be stuck but RJ shows a couple of methods to remove the cup without a proper tool:

Hope this helps.

non-fixie 

8 sides, 3 rings. I do not have the decoder with me, so someone please confirm, but I think that might be a Stronglight Swiss-threaded cup. I've read that Peugeot had a fling with Swiss threading before going to BSA.

And +1 to leaving it alone, if possible.

repechage

Ya know, the three ring code... I would reference the second or third edition of Sutherland's... Rarely encountered, but agree Swiss is a possibility.
One way would be to reference the threading of the adjustable cup. If French, then suggests Swiss.
These Stronglight cups were always a bear to remove, there was a VAR tool insert that fit well, good luck finding one.

SJX426 

This is a non Swiss cup from a 1972 Motobecane Le Champion. I had challenges removing it. I tried the first method suggested by me and then heated it up with a torch to get it hot then used the SB method, also mentioned and it came off easily.

Stronglight BB Outside Cup on Flickr

Don't have the decoder ring.

nlerner

dddd

An common and inexpensive 1/2"-drive, 12-point socket in the 1-1/2" size will remove these 8-sided cups using a breaker bar with little effort.

A local pawn shop may have boxes of random 1/2" drive sockets to choose from.



The 1-1/2" (38.1mm metric size) 12-point socket just happens to engage properly with the 38mm octagon-shaped cup
I'm guessing that just four of the corners engage with the 12 internal flats but this is plenty.
I also tried a slightly-smaller 1-7/16" socket and it was solidly a no-go.

conspiratemus1

I like the way you corral the balls in the lock ring to make them sit still for their portrait. Nice.

randyjawa 

I use The Big Bolt Method and have had great success with it. Get a bit bolt. Install bb ends (drive side is already in). Set up the big bolt and a big wrench (I use a 15" adjustable or even a 12"). Snug the big bolt washers up against the wrench. Make sure that you know which way to turn to loosen and remove the assembly...

daka

A Peugeot that used to belong to my wife was ~1980 and had a Swiss fixed cup - left hand thread - clockwise to remove. She also used to have an Alfa Romeo whose lug nuts were left-hand threaded on the left side of the car and right-hand thread on the right side of the car. Not marked either - but described pretty carefully in the owner's manual with nice illustrations. I hate to think of how many tire-shop goons with air tools broke those off.......

oneclick 

The problem with this method is that the spanner jaws are often not square; and so you can easily have it slip off the cup facet because the outer washer pulls that side of the jaws flat to it.

With the proper tool however that is the preferred method.

peppiace

What did you use to clean those? They are pristine.

SJX426 

@peppiace - This is a pretty clean BB because it probably doesn't have more than a couple hundred miles on it if that much. Sat in a bike for over 30 years unused along with the crankset and the other parts on the bike.

Mineral spirits.

JohnDThompson 

The VAR-30 has a jaw that will fit the cup. Otherwise, the Sheldon Brown tool or professional equivalent will do.

Sorcerer

A seized run of the mill Shimano UN-52 was removed successfully this afternoon. I was unable to crack it last week using a 12" bar and a mallet.

​I went out and bought a couple of new tools after Saturday's ride: A welder's 12" F Clamp and a 36" pipe wrench.

The F Clamp held the splined removal socket tool securely on the BB so I could use the pipe wrench to turn it.

The tools are from Harbor Freight and cost $50 altogether. It's worth it to me because I have a lot of square taper bikes.

Not having Barked knuckles and over-strained muscles made it worth it. Both sides couldn't resist the powerful massive 36" pipe wrench. This was like power steering.

oneclick 

It's usually possible to just use a long bolt through the remover to hold it on the cup - bolt it to the axle.

And if you are stuck somewhere with a too-short spanner, a length of <2x4,iron pipe, anything> and some hose-clamps will make the handle long enough.

Pompiere

There was a tool like in the second picture in the Box O' Crap recently. I wasn't sure what it was at first. I already have a Sheldon tool and I haven't needed to resort to extreme measures (yet) so I left it in for someone else.

Sorcerer

Of course your right.

I had everything to do it with a QR to hold the tool and slip the handle from a Hi-Lift jack on there.

But I wanted these tools anyway.