From an early 1970’s Raleigh I picked up for $25
Feel free to laugh but be gentle, this was clearly a struggle! This cotter pin is so deformed, my photo app thought it was a bug (last pic for laughs).
Short story long, I have no idea what I’m doing. This looks so insane and it was.
The first pin came out fairly easy with PB blaster, clamping the bike down, and a bolt and a hammer with quite some force.
Despite me eating the metal, snapping a drill bit sideways, and basically smooshing the metal into a bow tie shape with an outward wedge shape at each side…it finally came out.
I celebrated so much, alone in my garage. The axel was totally undamaged!
This is a bike before standardization of parts was more common… these Raleigh’s are notorious for odd parts.
My only choice would have been to source these original parts on eBay. Now all I need it new cotter pins.
I’m just so relieved.
by undernightmole