the freewheeler
Finally riding a big boys bike
Hello!
I recently picked up a 1944 BSA Airborne that I'm in the process of cleaning up. In the process of cleaning the frame, I attempted to remove the crank arms. The binder bolts were/are stuck on really hard, so I broke out the hammer to tap them out. Little did I know, but the quality of the bolts are cr*p (metal is EXTREMELY soft), so the only result of hitting the bolts was that the end of the bolt flattened, ruining the threads. The only fix for this I know of is to file flat (taper) the beginning threads, but this actually made it WORSE. I've used this same method many times with 100% success, but not this time for whatever reason. To say the least I am very, very p*ssed off now that these are ruined. Does anybody have any recommendation for something to try? I'll be forever indebted...
photos:
I recently picked up a 1944 BSA Airborne that I'm in the process of cleaning up. In the process of cleaning the frame, I attempted to remove the crank arms. The binder bolts were/are stuck on really hard, so I broke out the hammer to tap them out. Little did I know, but the quality of the bolts are cr*p (metal is EXTREMELY soft), so the only result of hitting the bolts was that the end of the bolt flattened, ruining the threads. The only fix for this I know of is to file flat (taper) the beginning threads, but this actually made it WORSE. I've used this same method many times with 100% success, but not this time for whatever reason. To say the least I am very, very p*ssed off now that these are ruined. Does anybody have any recommendation for something to try? I'll be forever indebted...
photos: