Really stuck handlebar stem

[bentpedal]

I am unable to get the stem out of the head tube. It's a 52 Schwinn with a springer fork. There's very little rust on the chrome or paint. It's not the binder bolt wedge nut, I finally got that free. Although the top of the wedge bolt might of broke off & is still stuck. I'm down to just the frame & fork. I've used a 1ft 6" long piece of "all thread" & 4 nuts & 4 washers to act as a stabilizer/hub for the fork ends. I've taken the bars off so as not to bend them & replaced them with a 6" long piece of threaded pipe & screwed giant nuts on and up to the sides of the stem to stabilize that. I've put penetrating- SiliKroil and Rust Buster fluid down the head tube, turned the bike upside down & squirted some in the hole under the fork crown. I've done this over a period of days. I've used a heat gun too. The stem was pushed as far down as it will go so I even used a hacksaw to score the underside of the stem extension where it starts curving out so I had just enough of a gap to loosen the lock nut a fraction. I've also used a rubber mallot & beat on the bottom of the stem to try and Jar it loose. Rather than risking damaging the fork, I think it makes most sense to cut the neck off so at least I can pull the fork off and find another way to get it out. Anyone have suggestions or methods?
Thanks.

 

[bikeriderx]

I feel your pain brother! Here's what I did to free a stuck stem on my '56 Schwinn American: First I used 'PB Blaster' as my penetrating oil. (Not shilling...It's just one good product of many...) I sprayed it from top and bottom, like you, turning the bike upside down, until the stuff dripped out, for several days. Periodically beating on the stem with a plastic dead blow hammer. Now here's the intense part: I already had the front wheel off...So then I took a 2x4 and put it between the fork lags and braced it against the frame so that the fork couldn't turn. Then I put an iron bar in the handlebar clamp (be sure to screw the clamp screw closed to improve leverage) and then took a 3' pipe to use as a breaker bar and slid that onto the iron bar...Now, turning the forks until they stopped against the 2x4, I began to twist that stem with the breaker bar one way and then the other way, re-positioning the 2x4...And I REALLY had to lean on it! I worked that stem back and forth until it finally broke loose!! After it broke loose I beat it out by hammering up on the underside of the handlebar clamp with my dead blow hammer. Be sure to position the 2x4 right up to the fork crown and pay attention so as not to tweak the fork. Good luck!!

 

[Strings-n-Spokes]

I took the handle bars off of my last bike with a stuck gooseneck then secured the gooseneck itself in the vise. a few turns of the fork loosened everything up. Its all about the leverage. securing the forks or the wheel( if still attached doesn't do it, but immobilizing the gooseneck did the trick. Also have you taken a long stembolt put it in the gooseneck to make sure the wedge/nut dropped down you gotta pop them down with a hammer sometimes if they are rusted in place. Let us know how it goes.

 

[bentpedal]

Thanks, Nice Job. yeah sometimes a screwdriver, a pair of pliers & a can of W D40 just doesn't get it done, does it? LOL! The 2x4's sound like a good is way to keep the fork from turning. On the Schwinn springer fork, the fork crown is just that sleeve that holds the horizontal pivot bolt. I am just not sure how much torsion that & the bolt can take. Replacing a springer fork is kinda spendy. I'm sorry for your toil, but I'm happy to know I'm not the only one attacking this problem using the same kinda logic. I'm going to try the 2x4's & give it some more time & effort & see what happens. Thanks for the advice.

 

[ridingtoy]

Thanks for this thread and tips! My 24" 1950s AMF Shelby Flying Cloud has a similar problem. The binder bolt was missing completely when I bought it, so I have no idea what's holding the gooseneck in so tight. I've tried pounding the undersides of the handle bar with a rubber mallet while using penetrating oil around the gooseneck and in the binder bolt hole. My fear is that someone did something really dumb like gunk some super epoxy adhesive in there before setting the gooseneck in, instead of going to a bike shop and getting a replacement binder bolt.

Dave

 

[bentpedal]

Just thought I would share some tips I got from a bike shop owner/mechanic. An old guy who actually knows about old bikes.& has faced some stuck parts problems over the years. Put a cork in your stem tube hole. Turning the bike upside down, then heating up the head tube with a torch or heat gun, either of witch could/would toast your paint and the pour ice water in through the bottom of the fork., The old temperature differential trick. Another, filling it up with Coke. The other more scary one is using a mixture of automatic transmission fluid and Acetone. They don't mix well & you have to keep shaking it up- wiggling the bike etc. Very caustic stuff and not something to get on yourself. The problem with that is even though if something is rusted enough- it is as good as "welded" there is probably a gap between the stem and the inside wall of the steerer tube somewhere and any type of fluid would overflow from the inside of the plugged stem and run down and out the head tube. You could use water to do a test. I think an experiment with the acetone & transmission fluid combo would be good to try on some other pieces of metal before pouring it down a steerer tube though.

 

[bikeriderx]

The other more scary one is using a mixture of automatic transmission fluid and Acetone. They don't mix well & you have to keep shaking it up- wiggling the bike etc. Very caustic stuff and not something to get on yourself.

Yikes! :eek: I think I'll stick with the PB Blaster and a breaker bar!

 

[JLarkin]

White vinegar will help loosen corroded metal-to-metal surfaces also. Cheap as it gets and safe.

 

[Gordon]

When I have exhausted all other methods, I just give up and cut the crook off the stem so I can get the fork out. Then I have a fork with a stub of stem sticking out. I heat the whole works red hot with a torch and then plunge it into cold water. Usually only have to do it once and the stub will turn out with a pipe wrench.

 

[bentpedal]

I'll remember that. Sounds better that taking the fork with the stem stub to a machinist & having him cut a gap down the length of the stem witch is what I thought I might have to do. I was just about ready to cut the crook off but decided I'd give it one more shot with the leverage bar. I heard that creak! yeah! it's loose, I could get it to move an 8th of an inch. After much toil I could only get it to move back & forth less than a half inch, much less up & out. I just figured I'd put the bars back in, turn it enough to center it up & leave it and get some different style handle bars. I was trying to muscle it back toward the center & it finally started turning from side to side & eventually I got it out.....I looked at it and it seemed there was no rust on it whatsoever. After running my fingernail up and down, I felt some small bumps. I looked at it under a magnifying glass and it seems there are some little pockets of rust under the surface of the chrome, -moisture gets under chrome, rust expands, pushes chrome against tube. There was know where for it to "flake to" and the rust dissolving fluids couldn't penetrate the chrome. Hope I remember to sand the bumps off before I push it back in. Then all I had to do was screw a bolt into the underside of the wedge nut, using the hole in the bottom of the fork and pound the bolt with a mallet to push the nut out the top. I'm happy.