Seized Seatpost Removal Tricks

[anthonymaietta]

I am doing an S&S retrofit and repaint on a 1999 I.F. Planet X. The nano-welds have Flannigan's name all over them. Wicked cool frame. Part of the job entails removing a seized seatpost. I've got some ideas, but its looking like its going to be a real b***h.

You guys got any unconventional tricks that kick ass?

[e-RICHIE]

heat up the post and waver it all over slowly, and sooner or later you will sent it beg to melt, or become its constituents atmo. tease it to this point, let it cool slightly, and tease it again. do this 3-4 times then put the torch down immediately (or hand it off to someone), QUICKLY clamp the entire length of the seat post in a vise, and as the post cools and contracts, you will have a small window of time in which to wiggle the frame off. i have done this 20-30 times without fail. use an oxyacetylene torch with a big, lazy but hot flame. if you don't recognize what a hot flame looks like, google image me and leave your laptop open when you do this atmo.

[progetto]

Tony, very unorthadox but I have used a 1" drill bit for a 27.2mm post. Cut off post at top of seat tube, drill out as much of the post as possible by giving the drill a bit of a wobble, go at it with an adjustable reamer then your 27.2 seatpost reamer. You will probably find that you will bust through 1 edge of the post somewhere along in the process, if so it should be thin enough to turn in on itself and pull out. Only recommended on steel frames and as a last resort, as Richie would say "show that post who's boss".
Bill

[Clockwork]

I've seen more America classic seat post stuck than any other. What's the deal?

About 10 yeas ago I foolishly tried to unseize an American Classic seat post from a steel frame by locking it to a pole outside upside down and filling the seat tube with muriatic acid. I failed to notice there was no sign on the post and somebody stole the frame by sliding it up the pole. Hopefully they poured acid on themselves.

A week later I cleaned a chain with a little muriatic acid and it sure got it clean--though, every plate on the chain cracked immediately. I then realized my mistake with the frame.

-Joel

[anthonymaietta]

heat up the post and waver it all over slowly, and sooner or later you will sent it beg to melt, or become its constituents atmo. tease it to this point, let it cool slightly, and tease it again. do this 3-4 times then put the torch down immediately (or hand it off to someone), QUICKLY clamp the entire length of the seat post in a vise, and as the post cools and contracts, you will have a small window of time in which to wiggle the frame off. i have done this 20-30 times without fail. use an oxyacetylene torch with a big, lazy but hot flame. if you don't recognize what a hot flame looks like, google image me and leave your laptop open when you do this atmo.

Gonna give this a try tomorrow. Thanks Richard.

[EnginCycles]

Gonna give this a try tomorrow. Thanks Richard.

Tony,
Not that Richard's method does not work but here is a hint. The action of moving the frame back and forth makes life harder. It creates a groove that can ultimately make the post even harder yet to get out. Make sure you have enough room to turn the frame in a full circle and always turn it in the same direction. Pull and turn at the same time and it will spiral out but not bind on a batch of rust or get more stuck. Once it moves and you keep turning in that direction it rarely won't come out. Next is the frame and what you are about to do. There is no breather hole in that BB and is probably the issue since it has rusted shut. Drill a hole in the post so you don't load the seat tube up with gas when heating it ( I can not recall if the cheaper AC post was sealed at the top so it is worth mentioning). When done, drill two holes in the frame. One from the outside of the BB and keep going into the seat tube. It will help prevent this in the future.

I hope you are charging for this part of the process. Removing seat posts is a serious time bandit and hard to re-coupe the cost. Unless it is a frame of your making it is not a no charge thing.

-Drew

[e-RICHIE]

Unless it is a frame of your making it is not a no charge thing.

-Drew

yeah - add at least $90 to the bill to cover your time and liability atmo.

[anthonymaietta]

When done, drill two holes in the frame. One from the outside of the BB and keep going into the seat tube. It will help prevent this in the future.

I noticed that there was no breather down there...which was surprising and I am sure the reason the post is seized. Both bottle bosses and the seat tube pulley boss are sealed bosses. Not sure what the rationale was behind this on a cross frame.

One of the first things I did was drill a BB hole and continued it up to the bottom of the seat tube. Right now the frame is hanging upside down with a healthy amount of lubricant injected into the new seat tube hole. We'll see if that helps, or just creates the worst smoke haze when I heat things up. Hopefully I'll get both, but at least one is a definite.

Thanks for the tips, I do appreciate it.

[e-RICHIE]

I noticed that there was no breather down there...which was surprising and I am sure the reason the post is seized. Both bottle bosses and the seat tube pulley boss are sealed bosses. Not sure what the rationale was behind this on a cross frame.

One of the first things I did was drill a BB hole and continued it up to the bottom of the seat tube. Right now the frame is hanging upside down with a healthy amount of lubricant injected into the new seat tube hole. We'll see if that helps, or just creates the worst smoke haze when I heat things up. Hopefully I'll get both, but at least one is a definite.

Thanks for the tips, I do appreciate it.

oy - OY.
i didn't mention lubes or chemicals in my reply.
all bets are now off.
do NOT use my advice, especially the part where the word "TORCH" is used.
use one method (mine) OR another method (from the cat on the lube forum whose name i missed) but NOT both.

[EnginCycles]

do NOT use my advice, especially the part where the word "TORCH" is used.

Yes I am with Richard 100% now that the FLAMMABLE liquid is in there you have a science experiment that requires care not fire.

-Drew

[anthonymaietta]

oy - OY.
i didn't mention lubes or chemicals in my reply.
all bets are now off.
do NOT use my advice, especially the part where the word "TORCH" is used.
use one method (mine) OR another method (from the cat on the lube forum whose name i missed) but NOT both.

I'll call in the troops if needed.

[e-RICHIE]

hey man - WE'RE the troops atmo.
remember- the deer hunter - one shot.
i fired mine in post 2.

I'll call in the troops if needed.

[bellman]

OOh, don't torch that thing wiith oil in it........... One more thing to try, now that there is a hole in it, fill it with plain old coca-cola and let it sit for a day (if you have the time)
This may eat enough gunk to work and if it doesn't it will serve to remove some oil with it when you pour it out before heating.
There is also the option of cutting the top of the seatpost head off and using a slide hammer if you can get it to hook the bottom of the post....

[pruckelshaus]

How much post do you reckon is in the frame? If it's 3-5", cut the post down to 2" or so showing, and use a hacksaw blade holder to carefully quarter the post vertically. I would definitely not use heat now that you've introduced chemicals. Alternately, you can use lye, nasty stuff but do a Google search as its fairly well documented.

BikeForums Classic and Vintage is a good place to go for help, too. Good bunch of people there.

Pete

[steve garro]

OOh, don't torch that thing wiith oil in it........... One more thing to try, now that there is a hole in it, fill it with plain old coca-cola and let it sit for a day (if you have the time)
This may eat enough gunk to work and if it doesn't it will serve to remove some oil with it when you pour it out before heating.
.

Jake beat me to it. but yeah - don't make a bomb out of it heating it full of flamable liquid. I saw some scary shit up to a guy actually getting blown up heating a barrell of glue with a heat gun - blew his femur in 14 pieces & then there was the gas tank welding incident at work........me, I'd cut it near flush if Coke didn't remove it {phosphoric acid} and then hacksaw it in two places & then crush it with a vise/channellock. - Garro.

[e-RICHIE]

... and then hacksaw it in two places & then crush it with a vise/channellock. - Garro.

what's the time involved in something like that?
i wanna see how much money we can make tony for this value added task that came with the S+S job.
i'm serious atmo.

[steve garro]

what's the time involved in something like that?

A metric schitt-tonne, I figure. Hell, you could waste the whole day & still destroy the frame - full disclosure - As a bike mechanic for over 20yrs I wouldn't have taken it on.
Hard to make $$$$ on something you don't know how to do or how you are going to do it - how could you start to make a reasonable guesstimate for your work?
either that or it's a huge "add on" he never asked for - send it back / throw it away / suck it up, you're in the resto biz now.
Just wait until he sees all the pinholes in the bottom of the seat tube when it's sandblasted...........
Vent holes are good! - Garro.

[pruckelshaus]

what's the time involved in something like that?
i wanna see how much money we can make tony for this value added task that came with the S+S job.
i'm serious atmo.

It took me about an hour to hacksaw an alloy stem out of an older Schwinn Peloton a couple of years ago using the method I outlined above. And stems are tougher than seatposts due to the smaller diameter.

The important note is that I wasn't afraid of completely f*cking up the fork. If I did, I would have just tossed it.

Pete

[e-RICHIE]

best advice so far atmo -

send it back

[Bssc]

Thermodynamics heat the seat post up then cool it with a CO2 fire extinguisher by removing the horn insert the tube in the bb into the seat tube let the seat tube fill ( have frame upside down) with liquid CO2. Fire extinguisher use a dip tube and draw liquid from the tank this is the best way to super chill, let the CO2 boil off then let the seat tube post return to room temp then try removing.

Buy a set of adjustable reamers and hand ream that puppy out should take about two hours at most.