80's Coming Back - Raleigh Volant

Hello. Building my first bike. No, no clue whatsoever, but learning a lot and having fun.

Please observe.

Its been in a shed for a while.

I was going to powdercoat it white and stick all black components on it, but it's actually cleaned up a lot nicer than expected, most of the rust has come off, and the horrific paintjob has unexpectedly grown on me. If it rusts a bit more I will strip & coat it eventually. The headset & bar, brakes & levers are good, so it was a bargain. More pics soon.

Now has:
Sturmey Archer crankset
black Raleigh wheels with 21mm Mach21 Omega rims.
Black chain & freewheel to start, but has a flip-flop.

Will have:
Black 23mm tyres
White brake cables (so the front matches when I take the back one off)
Black bar tape
Black seatpost
Black/Orange Charge Spoon seat.

If anyone wants a slightly tired-looking Shimano RSX derailleur-thingy with all the trimmings or a well-used BioPace chainring let me know, they aren't worth selling. Or are they? I dunno. Or care.

I'll leave this post here to see if the pic works.

Well that went well.

So, now to the Seat Post Clamp From Hell.

Rusted solid. That seatpost had to go though, feels like its made of cast iron (Sakae).

Two weeks of GT85 and positive thinking got me nowhere.

£30 worth of tools and a lot of swearing got me nowhere.

Trying to drill out a high-tensile steel bolt (I'm an optimist) got me nowhere:

In the end I took it to a shop where they got the seatpost out and removed the cranks for £12. Lesson learned. Got some nice tools now though.

BUT the shop muppets drilled out HALF of the bolt, leaving the other half in. So there's no way to secure the seatpost with a bolt.

I've looked at lots of solutions but I don't know there's anything better than a really tight lockring and a lot of hope. Other than that its a small c-clamp on the bolt housing which would look fugly.

Sorry this was initially meant to be all about the seatpost bolt in Mechanics & Fixing but its turned into more of a "Current Projects" thread.

Can you get a screwdriver in the other end so you can whack it out with a hammer?

Anyway, while we're here.

The seatpost that came out is 27.1mm.

I can get a black alloy System EX in either 27.0m or 27.2mm. Obviously out of those two I want the 27.0mm, but without the normal means of securing the post I'm a bit unsure, should I look farther afield for an actual 27.1mm?

27.1?

I highly doubt that

Butters - I don't think so. I don't have a pic but in the process of drilling it out the shop tried to get the other end out - I know because they've filed a groove into the screw end (the end in the first picture of the bolt) to use a crewdriver or drill, but haven't got anywhere with it.

Hilly Ben - yes I was expecting the seat tube to be a 27.2mm as I thought that was more common for 531 frames. I don't have calipers so took it to a bike shop, the bloke squinted at the worn-away numbering and swore it said 27.2 (I can make out the 27 but nowt else) but I took it up the road to Evans and with calipers they reckoned it was 27.1mm. I looked that up on the web and there do appear to be various asian seatposts that are 27.1mm.

Let's have a better photo. There must be some way to get this sucker out now there's only rust holding it together.

It's almost certainly not a 27.1. Get your hands on a super cheap 27 and try it out.

OK, thanks, I don't have any pics post-shop-drilling so I'll take a couple tonight and upload them.

Here are some more pics. It's not even drilled half way through, really.

There isn't clear blue air between each half of the bolt, theres enough room for a file, but it would be a long hard slog through that bolt.

Holy crap. Did they think it was the seatpost or the frame you were trying to save? Looks like you have another appointment with a drill and maybe another type of seatpost clamping bolt.

Take it back to the shop and tell 'em to finish the goddam job

Told you it was a nightmare.

I did ask why they hadn't finished the drilling and couldn't they go at least a couple more millimetres, they said that's as far as they could go and I couldn't persuade them to go try any more. It was Chelsea Bikes, I only went there because Evans were booked up solid for 3 weeks and they did it the same afternoon. The race is not always to the swift or something.
To be honest at the time I was just happy to have the seatpost out, I'd had it for weeks and none of the methods advised on here had worked, I was starting to think I'd bought a dud and had nothing to lose.

Before that I'd taken it to a couple of metal workshops/dodgy garages, and they just shook their heads. They didn't reckon they had any drill bits that could make a dent but would give it a go if I supplied the drill bit. I was worried the bolt housing would just snap off if it was given too much torque.

If I could drill it right through any nut and bolt would draw it together. I don't think it's going to happen though.

I could try and just c-clamp the bolt housing, see if pushing it inwards will crack some rust, but I think that would more likely just bend the lip of the bolt housing.

So, methods of securing a seatpost without a seatpost bolt.

Because of that curved minimalist lip it doesn't look like there's enough room for a seatpost clamp around the actual top of the seat tube to try and draw it together.

I would recommend submerging the clamp/bolt in a bath of penetrating oil (http://www.3inone.com/products/penetrant-drip-spray/) for 24 hours then try to grab to 0.5 cm end of the bolt that’s still protruding from the clamp either in a vice or with a heavy set of plumber’s pliers and twist using the leverage of the frame (same method as for removing a seized bottom bracket cup).

penetrating oil for 24 hrs
3mm drill bit
thread extractor
blow torch

Penetrating oil, OK. I'll try that and let you know how I get on.

I do appreciate all the advice, many thanks to everyone.

It seems as if they already tried to unscrew it by creating flats in the end, so I take it they were not successful in attempting that method.

Nevertheless, the drilling process has already created a good conical surface to center a drill bit, which may give you the opportunity to drill a portion of the rest out - without damage to the threads. Use a drill bit about 2mm smaller than the remaining threaded end of the bolt - chances are the rotational torque will break the bolt loose from its threads before you get 3/4 of the way through.

-Kurt

Right. I might as well soak it for a bit anyway to see if that helps.

Any pointers on what sort of drill bit to use?

masonry bit
wood bit
high speed steel cobalt or carbide bit - from a reputable maker, like bosch. get a three pack as if it's hardened steel then the bits will blunt quickly. also keeping it wetted, ideally with metal cutting coolant, even water will help.

Drill the rest out. Replace with Allen bolt and hex or square nut. I'd guess it may be more likely to be 27.0 than 27.1. See Sheldon Brown's list of frame and seat post sizes.

I'll have a look at the drill bits.

It's not on Sheldon Brown's list. I did finally find the catalogue, it's from 1990 it turns out:

http://classiclightweights.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/1990-Raleigh-Catalogue-8-9.jpg

Oh and thanks, sorry, terribly rude of me.

A good penetrating oil is plugas you can get it at most car parts places or a good hardware shop. Hope this helps.

sorry, terribly rude of me.

And so you should be, this is, after all, the friendliest forum!