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Elgin Cardinal Stem Removal - Help Please

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It's back......and time to get back at it :)

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it looks nice now...would be great if you could just leave it in there, but not without the washer and lock nut...

Can you spray lube under the steer tube?
Remove the partially loose collar nut.


Then try two things:

!. screw bolt about 1/2" back into the stem. Strike the bolt head with a mallet, ball pein hammer and piece of wood. to minimize bolt damage.
2. remove the front wheel, flip bike over and take a 1/2" socket extension or steel/brass round metal. Srtike from bottom.

 
Hello Mr. Kato,
If you`ve not got the stem loose yet, humor me and read this when you have time.
In the past few months I`ve had a total of four of these stuck stems or seat posts. Gave up on the first one- sold the Prewar Cycletruck frame as-is, tried everything I knew, soaked it with PB, WD-40 and tried heat- nothing, Even cut the stem off, so I could remove the fork from the frame-to better work on it by putting it in a vice. Finally, gave up and Sold it... Ran across the same problem again,Prewar Dayton Frame - nice fork with stuck stem. It`s hard to say how I came up with this. Again, I soaked it for days with PB- nothing... Didn`t try heat on this one.
Let me back up just a little... I have a 1946 Columbia that I ride. A few months ago, I bought a set of Bare metal repro tanks, rack and chain guard off Ebay. I put them on the bike as-is and have never painted or even primed them. So, every once in a while I take WD and steel wool and quickly knock the rust off. Well, one day I was out of WD. So, I put some regular PINESOL, in a spray bottle and it worked as fast as the WD on removing the rust. So, I used it from then on.
Back to the Dayton Stem--- had soaked it for days... nothing! I had spent about a half hour that day trying to break it loose--wouldn`t budge. Something sparked in my head to try the Pinesol. I don`t know why. I sprayed the stem several times- waited about 15 minutes and "IT BROKE LOOSE !" I don`t know if it is a chemical reaction between the PB Blaster and the Pinesol, or if the Pinesol is simply washing out some of the rust material and dirt that was loosened by the Blaster -or what. But it worked. A few weeks later- a stuck Seat Post in a Schwinn Phantom---wouldn`t budge. Didn`t soak it for days this time- sprayed it with PB, still wouldn`t budge. Waited 15 minutes and sprayed it with Pinesol- had it out within 10 minutes. Might be a FLUKE... maybe, but another guy on the forum had a stuck seatpost in an Aluminum Silver King. I told him about it, but I don`t think he put much belief in it. But he said he tried it. He eventually got the post out- but said it was the combination of everything tried that did it. That is my POINT...
Okay, circumstantial evidence so far. This Week ; another stuck stem in a 1946 Schwinn Girls B6- broken stem bolt " This Junk is KIlling Me --nothing is easy!!!" Again, with the Blaster- sprayed it for a couple of days and let it soak. Wedge had fallen down, but stem wouldn`t budge. Finally had a little time to spend on it-- Tried it first to see if it would break loose--nothing ! Sprayed it with Pinesol, waited - and again had it out of the Bike in a few minutes...
My point is---after you`ve tried everything else, spend two dollars--Humor an Old Man, and let me know if it works... I am three for three, help me with my research...
I wish You Good Luck My Friend, -------God Bless,---Cowboy
I don`t know why it works- I`m not a chemist... And, Your Bike is AWESOME !!!
Let me just say WOW! I just found a mid 20's Elgin that I was currently taking apart and I found myself with a very stuck stem. I soaked it with PB and waited for what I thought would be a 2 week fight. After filling the headtube with PB I thought I would hit the cabe for some tips when I stumbled on this advice. I went back to the bike and added some pinsol to the headtube and went back inside for 15 minutes. When I returned, a couple of sharp blows to the stem bolt and it popped loose! I then gave the stem a couple of taps from the side and it loosened up and I could actually work it out by hand! I dont know what kind if witchcraft this is but it saved me a ton of hassle! Thank you Cowboy in NC this will be my go to trick! 👍👍👍
 
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