Had a customer bring in a vintage Peugeot with a seized seatpost that had been soaking in penetrating oil for three days.

I tried everything from a bench vise to a cheater bar, but it was a $12 bottle of ammonia from the hardware store that finally broke the corrosion. Just poured it down the tube, waited an hour, and it twisted out with almost no force. What's the weirdest chemical trick that's saved your butt on a stuck part?

3 comments

3 Comments

martin.tyler1mo ago

Glad you got it out, but yeah, @bailey.xena has a point about the aluminum. That's a rough way to find out. Weirdest chemical save for me was probably using Coca-Cola on some rusted bolts.

bailey.xena1mo ago

That ammonia trick is solid, but I feel like I should mention it can be bad news for aluminum frames. It causes something called stress corrosion cracking. I had a buddy who used it on an old aluminum seatpost and it left these tiny, almost invisible cracks near the lug. The frame was basically junk after that. It's perfect for steel on steel, but I always check the frame material first now.

phoenix84514d ago

I had a buddy try the ammonia trick on a steel frame and it just made everything smell like cat pee for a week.