How do you guys bust rust this bad?

[WillWork4Parts]

This is the Monark seatpost I was talking about...was beat and chewed on before I bought it. I had tried Kroil soaking already and managed to get it to run a steady flow from seat tube cutout to crank hanger. Previous to that picture I had drilled the top tapered over part out, put a 1/2" rod in and put a pipe wrench on it, that way it wouldn't crush. The pipe wrench bit alright! Turned and there was no slippage, only a loud "tink" before I busted my knuckle. The tapered tip sheared straight off! Monark posts are 7/8" dia but thinner wall tubing and more brittle than a Schwinn mind you. This was the point where I decided to call in the saws.

Started with a hack saw from the inside, 2 cuts, one across from eachother. Decided that was taking too long...so I ordered some 12" HSS blades for the sawzall. I was very paranoid about cutting into the wall of the seat tube, so I'd cut a little and try to stay as parallel to the seat tube as I could, pausing every little bit to run a spoke down the groove and make sure I hadn't made it through the post. Anything thinner than your saw blade and longer than your seatpost will work, you just run it down the groove to make sure you can feel it drop off over the end of the post and then touch the seat tube. If you don't feel that step, you've started cutting the seat tube. I completed one cut to where it was as deep as I was comfortable with and tried pliers on the little bit of the tube I had left sticking up. You could see the cut closing up and it would twist a bit, but it was only 3 or so inches down the tube that the split was flexing. It still wouldn't twist out without damaging what little I had left to work with. So I cut the second groove deeper. This time the split tube just wanted to fold over itself when I tried to twist with pliers. I made a tool from a solid 5/8" bar with a slot cut in the end and a flat piece of steel driven in the rod slot...to simulate a shaft and keyway that could then be driven into the 2 grooves I had cut in the seatpost. This tool was to eliminate any flexing or crushing of the seatpost. I ground 2 flats on the other end of the rod so I'd have something to turn it with, like a wrench. Keep in mind I had to make the tool match the grooves I cut in the post, since they weren't exactly opposite from eachother. The flat piece of steel I drove into the rod had to be just wide enough to fit the diameter of the seat tube and just as thin as the sawzall blade(which happened to be 1/16" thick). As I drove the rod/keyway setup into the post, you could hear the paper thin part that was left split. I twisted the post out with pipe wrench on the seatpost and pliers on the flat of the rod after that...almost as easy as a normal seatpost. What a relief! Turns out this post wasn't even rusty, but the last photo might show the bulge and bend that was holding it in place so tight. This is what you have to go through and why you don't just run that old bent seatpost on home!!! Sorry, end rant. But that's one sure-fire way to remove a seatpost if you're looking to save finish and not use heat.

 

[J-wagon]

Yup. Busting rust loose is the key. Then just a matter of grease including elbow. At least it is rust and not galvanized aluminum to steel. I had a galvined alum post smushed all the way down and the extreme measure was hook up to my truck and pull out. That did not even work.

 

[razinhellcustomz]

I bought this rusty Schwinn back in January for $20, and while it was not the slightly-less-rusty Schwinn straight bar I had driven an hour away from home to buy, I could tell from the remaining paint on this frame that this bike was special. While I'm no expert, it must've been a Black Phantom at one point in its life; now, only the frame, the pedal blocks and a little paint is all that's left to tell the tale. It It was completely frozen solid from rust when I bought it, but I figured it was worth a gamble at $20.
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A couple weeks ago, I started chipping away at disassembling this bike. First I mixed and applied a solution @Oldbikeguy1960 recommended of 1 part acetone and 3 parts used automatic transmission fluid to all the parts I wanted to break loose. It seemed to help on a couple parts after soaking for a few days, but I found that using a propane torch worked better on other parts. First, I took the rear wheel off, then I tried removing the bottom bracket assembly. I had never seen a pedal rusted this badly before, but I was able to get it off the crank at least.
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Getting the crank off the frame, on the other hand, proved to be more challenging. I found that hitting the crank arms with a hammer seemed to free everything up, but instead, I found that I was merely threading the crank through the bearing nut, which no amount of hitting with a hammer and screwdriver would break free.
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Here's what that first round of progress looked like.
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While I was able to free up a few parts thanks to that home-brewed solution and a torch, I would have to sacrifice a few parts if I wanted to get this bike torn down to the bare frame. I had no problem cutting the handlebar stem to remove the fork, but I would've preferred sparing the crank arm if I could. Still, I could replace it later, so I cut off one arm near the threads so I could remove it from the frame.
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If there's a way for me to save this bearing cup, I'd like to use it again, but it appears the bearing is stuck to it. No telling whether it's salvageable at this time. But that's not even the craziest part...
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I have never encountered rust this bad before. The bottom bracket bearings are fused to the bearing cups! And I wouldn't be surprised if the bearing cups are fairly stuck to the frame as well.
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It might be possible to get the headset bearing cups out, but they're pretty stuck as well. Also, one more hint that this might've been a Black Phantom is the bottom bearing cup seems to be designed for a locking springer fork. I've not seen a bearing cup like this before, so I'd like to salvage it if I can.
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I was able to cut off the seat clamp bolt, but the seat post is pretty stuck in there, even after soaking the solution around it for over a week.
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Here's where I stand and what I need help with: As rough as it looks, this frame does appear salvageable. There are no major dents, the rear triangle is straight, there are no rust holes, and I even loosened up the kickstand. I really want to try and build this bike back up, either with equally-rusty stock Black Phantom parts, or as a custom rat bike. Either way, I want to preserve what's left of the original paint, as it's the whole reason I even bought this bike. The problem is that I don't know how I'll remove the last few remaining parts without damaging the frame or the paint. Last time I tried to remove a really-stuck seat post, it did not end well, mostly because I took it to someone who didn't know what they were doing. I also don't know how I'll remove the rusty bearing cups, as hitting them with a hammer and screwdriver doesn't seem to be enough. And my ATF/acetone solution seems to be capable of only so much. If anyone here can help me figure out how to save this frame, I'd really appreciate it!

Hey Austin, I know of your dilemma all to well. If you can get a brass drift you could knock out those bearing cups from the inside out... Once your done with that you could soak them in apple cider vinegar for a few days and the rust ill eat away from the cups should clean up... Good luck... Razin..

 

[WillWork4Parts]

Also, I guess no one has said this yet...if your ball bearings are seized in the cups, there will be pits in the bearing surfaces. Aka the bearings are Beyond Economic Repair.
The crank bearings in this looked like walnuts! Lol I had to cut the cranks off of this one because someone welded the Left pedal to the crank. But believe it or not, the seatpost and stem came right out!

 

[razinhellcustomz]

here are a few things a person needs when taking parts off a stuck bike. first a big giant vice bolted to the floor. second would be a metal bar or thick wall tubing that fits in the gooseneck, along with other assorted bars to twist what will twist, once you get that stem twisting you are half way there to remove it from the fork. cutting the stem does not make it easier to get out. 3rd is PB Blaster. some times you need to apply the PB blaster every day for a week.

I recently bought a girls frame and parts for the fork and dogleg crank. never saw a bike so rusted stuck, yet I was able to get everything salvageable off. the bearings and cups looked a lot like yours.

When me and my brother used to work on stuck hit and miss engines he always used oil of wintergreen.. That stuff works better than any penetrating oil iv'e EVER seen or used... This stuff is AMAZING.. You can get this at any drug store.. Good luck...

 

[Tuxguy66]

Yeah, I understand what they're saying now. In the comment you responded to though, I was referring to soaking the bottom bracket to free up the bearing cups. I think I need to tackle the bearing cups first, then try to remove the seat post.

I'll definitely want to soak the seat post in some penetrating fluid, but this was roughly how I planned to remove the seat post, thanks to a tip from @RustySprockets on RRB. R.S. can explain it better than me, but this is the general idea:

1. Remove seat from seat post.
2. Get a piece of all-thread long enough to travel all the way through the seat post into the bottom bracket, so I can mount the washer and nut to the end of that all-thread. The nut and washer need to be just small enough to fit inside the seat tube, but big enough to butt up against the bottom of the seat post.
3. Get a piece of tubing, one wider than the seat post I'm pulling out, but not wider than the seat tube. If I understand correctly, the spare tubing needs to be about the same diameter as the seat tube, so it can sit on top of the seat tube.
4. Put a washer and nut that's big enough to not fit inside the spare tube on top of the spare tube, and tighten that nut to pull the seat post out of the seat tube.
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If this idea doesn't work, I'll try some of the others that were shared with me. I won't try this without first letting the seat post soak for a while in whatever penetrating fluid I choose to use though.

This sounds and looks like a great, simple and effective solution. Let us know how it goes.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

10% molasses and water and let soak , it could take a week or a month but I guarantee it will come out. Here is a rack and a couple lights i soaked for about 3 - 4 weeks and as you can see every spec of rust is gone . The pictures of the rack legs and mount that look brighter is from a wash in phosphoric acid after removing all the rust with the molasses and water ( you don’t have to do this step if you don’t want to it just brightens up the metal ). The pictures of the rack where it looks a little darker is from a clear coat spray to keep it from rusting again .
First you need to wash the frame to remove all grease and oil , this is a water based rust removal and it won’t penetrate through grease and oil

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That's quite impressive! I might just have to try that!

 

[Bike from the Dead]

I pulled a really stuck seat on a Schwinn post one time by drilling the hole in the end a little bigger, tapping it for a bolt, running the bolt down, then getting a hold on the bolt with a BA slide hammer. It took a few attempts but once the rust was broken loose, it came out fairly easy. You cannot be timid.

I was wondering if that would be the best solution for removing the seat post before I even saw your message. I think I'll try this, once I've let the seat post soak in some penetrating fluid for a while.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

This sounds and looks like a great, simple and effective solution. Let us know how it goes.

It did sound like a good idea, but the way this Schwinn is put together, I can't try it. The weld joints prevent me from fitting the right-sized washer and nut inside. It might work for other bikes, though.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

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This is the Monark seatpost I was talking about...was beat and chewed on before I bought it. I had tried Kroil soaking already and managed to get it to run a steady flow from seat tube cutout to crank hanger. Previous to that picture I had drilled the top tapered over part out, put a 1/2" rod in and put a pipe wrench on it, that way it wouldn't crush. The pipe wrench bit alright! Turned and there was no slippage, only a loud "tink" before I busted my knuckle. The tapered tip sheared straight off! Monark posts are 7/8" dia but thinner wall tubing and more brittle than a Schwinn mind you. This was the point where I decided to call in the saws.
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Started with a hack saw from the inside, 2 cuts, one across from eachother. Decided that was taking too long...so I ordered some 12" HSS blades for the sawzall. I was very paranoid about cutting into the wall of the seat tube, so I'd cut a little and try to stay as parallel to the seat tube as I could, pausing every little bit to run a spoke down the groove and make sure I hadn't made it through the post. Anything thinner than your saw blade and longer than your seatpost will work, you just run it down the groove to make sure you can feel it drop off over the end of the post and then touch the seat tube. If you don't feel that step, you've started cutting the seat tube. I completed one cut to where it was as deep as I was comfortable with and tried pliers on the little bit of the tube I had left sticking up. You could see the cut closing up and it would twist a bit, but it was only 3 or so inches down the tube that the split was flexing. It still wouldn't twist out without damaging what little I had left to work with. So I cut the second groove deeper. This time the split tube just wanted to fold over itself when I tried to twist with pliers. I made a tool from a solid 5/8" bar with a slot cut in the end and a flat piece of steel driven in the rod slot...to simulate a shaft and keyway that could then be driven into the 2 grooves I had cut in the seatpost. This tool was to eliminate any flexing or crushing of the seatpost. I ground 2 flats on the other end of the rod so I'd have something to turn it with, like a wrench. Keep in mind I had to make the tool match the grooves I cut in the post, since they weren't exactly opposite from eachother. The flat piece of steel I drove into the rod had to be just wide enough to fit the diameter of the seat tube and just as thin as the sawzall blade(which happened to be 1/16" thick). As I drove the rod/keyway setup into the post, you could hear the paper thin part that was left split. I twisted the post out with pipe wrench on the seatpost and pliers on the flat of the rod after that...almost as easy as a normal seatpost. What a relief! Turns out this post wasn't even rusty, but the last photo might show the bulge and bend that was holding it in place so tight. This is what you have to go through and why you don't just run that old bent seatpost on home!!! Sorry, end rant. But that's one sure-fire way to remove a seatpost if you're looking to save finish and not use heat.

Dang, I really hope it doesn't come to this on my bike. I'd be so afraid of messing up. Still, glad to see it worked for you! Thanks for sharing!