[CR]Pierce crank removal

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To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
From: "Leonard Bulger" <lbulger@comcast.net>
Date: Thu, 3 Aug 2006 21:54:51 -0400
Subject: [CR]Pierce crank removal

I'm not sure if Ray's crank is the same as mine. My Pierce has the spindle and left hand crank as a single piece. The right hand crank has a 3/4-inch hole. Inside the hole is a nut that is threaded onto the end of the axle. The right crank arm is pressed onto the the spindle using a woodruff key for location. It is really hard to get the right arm off. The spider arms are very thin, and there's almost no room between the spider and the bottom bracket shell, so a conventional wheel puller won't work. I don't think a pickle fork will fit either. One of those pullers for stripped cotterless cranks might work, but I didn't have one. Oscar Juner and I spent the better part of the afternoon removing the crank, and we had to resort to increasing brutality to do it. What worked in the end was removing the nut on the left hand crank arm and unscrewing the left hand bottom bracket cup. The bottom bracket shell was supported by two metal plates over a 55 gal drum with the left hand arm hanging in between. Then we wailed on the right side end of the axle with a BIG hammer and drift. (The nut was unscrewed slightly, but left in place to protect the threads. That didn't work, so Oscar heated up the right arm with a torch, and we hammered some more and eventually the spindle popped out of the crank arm. The 80 year old grease caught fire too and made smelly black smoke.

Leonard Bulger Marblehead, MA

Ray Homiski wrote:
   >One thing I never
   > mastered was the removal of the BB. I'll give 10 bucks to anyone who could
   > explain to me how to remove a BB/crank set that has a 5/16 dia capped port
   > hole in the bottom that accesses a slotted internal flange. There is no
   > external means to remove it, the hole is small and dark and puting a
   > restrictor in the hole to line up with the slot and forcing the cranks in
   > either direction does not seem to do anything. I am afraid to apply to
   > much pressure as these old bikes are brittle. It has stumpped bike shop
   > mechanics and veteran Wheelman alike.