Removed a seized stem/insert today

[fordmike65]

Picked up this 36-37 Colson fork here a while back just in case. Glad I did since the '36 tanked straightbar I recently picked up oddly had a later peaked fork installed. When I went to mock it up, I found that it had a section of busted stem & insert seized in the fork tube. Crap! Soaked it in WD40 for days with no luck. Screwed in an old stem bolt & fashioned a puller of sorts to try & pull it out. This puppy wasn't going anywhere. I brought it to work today & used a super long expander style seatpost bolt with a slidehammer weight to try & knock it loose. No bueno. Finally mounted it in the vise, reinstalled & tightened up the puller of sorts & applied some heat with the shop acetylene torch. After only 3 seconds of moderate heat and POP! Removed heat, allowed to cool a bit & the insert pulled right out

Stuck stem piece & wedge:

Stem piece out with Snap-On puller:

 

[fordmike65]

Attempted to pull out wedge with slidehammer action.

Attempted to pull out with made-up puller

Still not budging...

 

[fordmike65]

Note bulge? That sucker's in there!

Time to add fire!

(sorry no cool flame pics. 3 sec later & it was out!)

Just a lil toasty

And she's out!

 

[bricycle]

It's been so long since I used mine, I can't remember what to set th primary and working gauges at.. oxy 100 & 10? acetelyne?

 

[tech549]

ok mike what do you do if the stem is frozen in the tube ,but fork is still on the frame?cut the stem off?

 

[GTs58]

Man, judging by the bulge in the steertube, I'd say someone tried to drive that wedge to China with a 10# sledge.

 

[momo608]

An acetylene torch for the serious hobbyist is a must have. Maybe some of you guys don't know this but you can have your own including tanks for a very reasonable cost. In many areas of the country you can have leased tanks for no charge other than the cost of the gas to fill them. No monthly or annual fee, you simply have to bring the tanks in for exchange filled tanks when you need more gas. For the cost of the tank cart, hoses, regulators and the torch set itself which are easy to find used or new at very reasonable prices. You can have your own torch set like the one above for a few hundred dollars. I have a contract with Linde here in Southern WI.

 

[pedal_junky]

And if you smoke, you can light your cigarette with it.

 

[OhioJones]

Could not agree more. Have had to use my personal time several times now at work in order to use. Contemplating just picking uo the tanks and cart for home now. And as previously mentioned, just about everything else can be had used relatively cheap. See them on crapslist, garage sales, and swap meets on a regular basis. Solid investment. Who hasn't needed a torch while working on an older vehicle? Things pay for themselves in a couple of uses.

 

[rideahiggins]

A couple of years ago when acetylene got scarce I switched to a propane / oxygen setup. Now I just have to remember to put the tank back on the grill.