# Head Badge screws



## Rusty Klunker (Dec 15, 2018)

How are you guys removing the head badge screws? Have a few bikes I'm working on and would like to remove the badge. Never had any luck with these.


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## Sven (Dec 15, 2018)

The screw(s) , are they rounding out" ? Do you have a picture of the screw / head badge, so we know the situation at hand?


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## Rusty Klunker (Dec 15, 2018)

Just the normal screws from 60's, 70's, 80's schwinns. Back in my youth we could never get them out or tighten a loose head badge. Never knew they looked like a wood screw till much later. Now I have a few bikes I want to restore or repaint. Some I want to save the badge some don't matter and will be replaced. I just can't get those wood screws out, they are frozen.


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## Sven (Dec 15, 2018)

Have you tried PB Blaster, Special Sauce (Automatic Transmission fluid /Acetone solution / 50 ; 50 mixture)or any type of penetrating oil?


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## A.S.BOLTNUT (Dec 15, 2018)

I've never had a problem, after doin this for 25 + years , I have a nice lil Craftsman screw driver,  I place it in the slot tap it a few times with a plastic dead blunt hammer and they usually come out , if not the first time then i do it again , must admit I've lost my fair share of those lil disappearing things !


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## Rusty Klunker (Dec 15, 2018)

Nothing is working. Some look like they might have been pressed in as the head is kind of flattened. I remember way back seeing them that way.


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## A.S.BOLTNUT (Dec 15, 2018)

Hows about a pic , must be a purdy rusty specimen?


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## BFGforme (Dec 15, 2018)

Tapping and PB blaster usually do the trick...


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## the tinker (Dec 15, 2018)

Are you sure they're screws?. Schwinn , Colson, and Shelby used screws, others used rivets. I have never had a problem unscrewing them, unless the head broke off, from excessive rust. Do as A S Boltnut says and they will come out. Always lay a sheet or tarp on your floor when taking them out, or re-installing. They drop, they bounce,  they're gone.  I have a full proof way of taking out rivets without damaging badges. Works perfect every time. I remove the fork.  Look into the head tube and on the inside you will see a tiny amount of the end of the rivet protruding through. I take a 3/8 ratchet extension bar and place it into the head tube with the female end up against the protruding rivet,and using the bar as a lever, I pry it up. I have a very good pair of electrician's pliers that can firmly grasp the rivet head, that is now sticking up a bit, and turn it out counter clockwise. Don't try to pry them up with a screwdriver, or pound it under the head thinking it will pop up. You will have success, but ruin your badge.  Always place tape over the face of the badge before removing or installing  screws, or rivets, so you don't mar up the face.


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## barneyguey (Dec 15, 2018)

David Amsbary said:


> Tapping and PB blaster usually do the trick...



I agree, tapping the end of the screw driver with a hammer always does the trick for me. It breaks the rusty threads loose.


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## mr.cycleplane (Dec 17, 2018)

a little tap well placed on the screw to 'break' the rust and a very narrow blade screwdriver (for better fit deep into slot)and they should come out. apply firm pressure with fingers around the screw so if screwdriver slips you don't gouge the head plate.  replace with fresh screws. bob u has a bunch of them-bobcycles.


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## Freqman1 (Dec 17, 2018)

This is why learning how to post pics is important. We can sit here and do the kabuki d!ck dance all day long but without seeing exactly what you are dealing with we can just keep guessing. V/r Shawn


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## Sven (Dec 17, 2018)

Freqman1 said:


> This is why learning how to post pics is important. We can sit here and do the kabuki d!ck dance all day long but without seeing exactly what you are dealing with we can just keep guessing. V/r Shawn


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## mr.cycleplane (Dec 17, 2018)

pictures.....you're joking-right? we're talking about head plate screws....not removing a one piece crank for the first time. a picture of a screwdriver and a screw.....c'mon......I think we're all on the same page here......


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## Freqman1 (Dec 17, 2018)

Judging by the first six posts I believe that would be a false assumption. V/r Shawn


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## mr.cycleplane (Dec 17, 2018)

grasshopper....I assume nothing. years ago I taught a couple kids how to work on bikes. these were teenagers mind you. they did not know how to remove or tighten nuts and bolts. I had to use the 'karate kid' thing on them...righty=tighty...lefty=loosey. there are skill levels for everything. thinking outside the box isn't possible for everyone either. actually the best way to learn is by doing something yourself. thinking about it and then how you are going to do it. what we can do is offer encouragement to someone with what seems like a simple task and let them think it through for themselves. they will get it. we're not laughing at them-we're laughing with them-because we have all been there at some point in our life.


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## Freqman1 (Dec 17, 2018)

c'mon......I think we're all on the same page here......  This wasn't an assumption?


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## mr.cycleplane (Dec 17, 2018)

might be construed as 'support'....


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## Rusty Klunker (Dec 17, 2018)

Freqman1 said:


> This is why learning how to post pics is important. We can sit here and do the kabuki d!ck dance all day long but without seeing exactly what you are dealing with we can just keep guessing. V/r Shawn




Hmmm, have you ever looked at a Schwinn head badge? Then you know what I'm looking at. For over 40 years I've tried to get them out or tighten loose ones They don't move. Looking at the threads and the peened over heads I'd say they are pressed in. When I was a kid we taped around them when painting a bike. This one, I gave up ripped the head badge off and pulled the screws out with a claw hammer. I have a couple more bikes to clean up this year, probably gonna do the same thing. Its simple. Sorry I asked


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## mr.cycleplane (Dec 17, 2018)

good for you-you figured it out...well sorta...not the way I would do it-but you accomplished the task. truth be known-I had to do a couple like that myself years ago. now lightly tap the metal around the hole with a hammer to 'move material' back(make hole small again) and use new screws when



 putting a plate back on. congrats-you're done!


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## Rusty Klunker (Dec 17, 2018)

As for my mechanical ability, I can tell you I laced my first wheel when I was about 10.   No youtube, no computers, no books. I can tell you how that came about. We were just starting to appreciate our rides,.. washing and waxing them. Well, I got this brilliant Idea to take a wheel apart. Clean and polish the rim spokes and hub with a brillo pad. Wax every thing and put it back together. I had a front wheel to look at, no spoke wrench just a screwdriver. Trued it up on the bike,... patted my self on the back... I did this, wasn't that hard. ... Then I went to put air in that 20 inch stingray tire. Wasn't easy with the spokes crossed over the stem. Everyone was amazed at what I had done... nobody noticed what was wrong. It stayed that way for a while... being without wheels for a couple days wasn't fun. So yeah, I've been tinkering with things for a looong time, and I work with my hands. But those screws,... I cant get them out!


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## Rusty Klunker (Dec 17, 2018)

This badge didn't really matter but I didn't want to destroy it. Now a couple of the others have the build date stamped in them, and I'd like to save them.


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## Sven (Dec 17, 2018)

You accomplished your mission. 




Its not your mechanical aptitude, I question. Its more of a curiosity thing for me,  is why these screws wouldn't come out.


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## GTs58 (Dec 17, 2018)

I do the tapping method also. But after one of my attempts with a small screwdriver with a small diameter toy sized handle, I said this is BS. I sacrificed a larger screwdriver (Harbor Freight) with a good size handle and wider blade than the width of the screw head. Ground down the blade to fit tight in a undamaged slot, grabbed the handle tight and put turning pressure on it. Then I increase the turning pressure just as the hammer head hit the screwdriver handle, and with a real hammer, not a little rubber or hard plastic hammer. These are sheet metal screws and maybe one and a half threads are all that's holding it in.


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## A.S.BOLTNUT (Dec 17, 2018)

Disclaimer; my method dosent work for everyone,  you have to be highly Skilled, Patient, and have many years of handling tools as if they were Surgical Instruments.


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## mr.cycleplane (Dec 18, 2018)

we'll chalk this up to experience-trial and error-experimentation-something along those lines! whatever it takes!


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## the tinker (Dec 18, 2018)

Schwinn 60's badges go for ten cents each. Rip the thing off and use a vice grip to turn the screws out and be done with it.


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## Vicious Cycle (Nov 10, 2019)

the tinker said:


> Schwinn 60's badges go for ten cents each. Rip the thing off and use a vice grip to turn the screws out and be done with it.



I have had good luck, with stubborn screws, using a impact driver (the kind you hit with a hammer to tighten or loosen, that takes a 3/8" drive socket) using a custom ground tip to fit the screw exactly. also a fan of Kroil penetrating oil. 
Now if I could find a source of screws that are 3/16"- 1/4" long instead of 1/8" to reach the fresh meat in the hole


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## Rivnut (Nov 10, 2019)

I've had luck removing rivets by sticking a solid 7/8" bar down the head tube and sitting the edge of the bar on the tip of the rivet. The side of the bar rests against the head tube. A couple of smacks with a good sized ball pen hammer and the rivet will move enough to get a pair of side cutter pliers on the rivet head and remove it.  Haven't run into a head screw yet that I couldn't get a grip on with a good screwdriver.  The iron bar might work on a screw with a boogered up head.


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## GTs58 (Nov 10, 2019)

Vicious Cycle said:


> I have had good luck, with stubborn screws, using a impact driver (the kind you hit with a hammer to tighten or loosen, that takes a 3/8" drive socket) using a custom ground tip to fit the screw exactly. also a fan of Kroil penetrating oil.
> Now if I could find a source of screws that are 3/16"- 1/4" long instead of 1/8" to reach the fresh meat in the hole




They are #2 round-head type "B" sheet metal screws. 





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						Slotted, Steel Zinc
					






					www.valuefastener.com


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## Rivnut (Nov 10, 2019)




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## GTs58 (Nov 10, 2019)

Rivnut said:


> View attachment 1093803





There ya go, the hardware list that Metacortex posted


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## GiovanniLiCalsi (Nov 10, 2019)

Use a high wattage soldering iron and hold it on the screw for ten minutes at a time, then spray rust buster on the screw. Do this a few times and it will move.


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## SKPC (Jul 24, 2020)

Bump.  Today I wanted to remove an original head badge from an old frame that had never been off,  but the flathead screws were fused/stuck and the slots  were full of debris.  I tapped them with the driver but nothing.  So I heated both of the inside screw tips for awhile inside the head tube, then lightly tapped the screw into the screw slot again with a tack hammer then gently worked them loose.  If the frame has good outside paint be gentle. Worked really well.



Loose.


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