Originally Posted by
bikemig
The stein tool is great and well worth owning. The problem is the spanner. I've had good luck with a 15 inch crescent which will set you back considerably less than a $100 (post 32). The back up is the Sheldon Brown tool described above (post 5).
By the way, I have a 70s era Mercier 300 in the build queue. It came to me with a VO bottom bracket and a stronglight 99 crank. The two worked well together.
I tried the Sheldon Brown "tool" method and couldn't get it to budge, the nut side of the tool turned regardless of the torque I put on the sandwich. I did not find the finer pitched bolt that he spec'd in my local Ace, so I was limited in tightening to a course-threaded bolt. Call to my LBS (I do want to do most of this DIY, but I also want to move on here) resulted in an interesting recommendation: He had me plug the spindle hole with a cork (from inside the BB), lay the bike down with the fixed cup down, and fill the fixed cup & BB above with heated Canola oil and leave it overnight. So that's the current status. He is a seasoned vet and was a certified TDF mechanic & lived in France for several years, so I trust him. He said even if I end up bringing it to them tomorrow, this will help immensely.