Victory over a rather stuck freewheel

I'm feeling terribly sorry for my poor Indy 500, after I'd had some difficulties with the stem, the seat post and the bottom bracket, the freewheel gave me some attitude. It's not the bike's fault; it must have been kept outside in all weather conditions, hence the rusty frame, parts, and bits. You know me, I don't give up when I encounter a problem; far from it. I love a challenge, me. Unfortunately, not everyone does, and I ended up with a freewheel which had parts of the splines broken by what I think was not the appropriate approach, meaning the freewheel removal tool wasn't secured tightly in place.

So, for future reference: If you're faced with a freewheel like the one in the picture, with the two notches on top (not the holes), do not attempt to just chuck a tool like this onto the freewheel and the whole thing into the vice, without fastening the tool to the freewheel with either the QR skewer or, if it's a solid axle, with the nut. I believe you can also use the Park Tool FR2C. 

Beautiful unbranded Viscount hub

After I was given the advice--to my horror--to take an angle grinder to the freewheel, I took it to the one place I knew I'll get my hub back in one piece: Noah. (Damn do I need my own workshop!) We both have the mentality of trying everything to keep the bits/bikes usable and only if nothing else works, we'll apply brute force and destroy. While an angle grinder in the right hands can be a very apt tool, I wouldn't ever suggest to cut through a freewheel with it. You have no chance of knowing how far you're in, no matter how delicate you handle it, and will most likely end up cutting into the hub. And Viscount hubs are precious! 

The holes of the Tiger freewheel are much deeper

Back to my freewheel. It was so far damaged that it was impossible to remove it with the tool--even when secured in place; it kept stripping. Now we had a problem. It was seized up and as stubborn as the rest of the bike. Luckily, Noah had the right idea: after applying a bit of Plus Gas (the freewheel was worn and I was only after the hub) and armed with a centre punch and a large hammer, he set his jaw, put the tip of the centre punch into one of the holes and moved the inner ring clockwise, slowly, but steadily. A few minutes later, the freewheel was dissembled, bits and bearing scattered around the workshop. Now, with the freewheel body still screwed onto the hub, we could clamp it into the vice and turn the wheel anti-clockwise (if memory serves me correctly). It didn't give much resistance anymore and came off easily. Finally, I just needed to cut the hub out of the wheel. Happy days. Although on closer inspection after cleaning them, I found that some moron has tried to build wheels--badly. The flanges of the rear hub show massive dents from lacing it wrongly and with way too tight spokes, but since they're for one of my bike projects, I'll see what I can do about it, possibly sanding them down a miniscule bit before mirror polishing.

Damaged rear Viscount hub

Damaged non-drive side

Unfortunately, they also came with steel axles, which I'll replace with alloy ones. It's amazing how heavy they are just because of that, totally defying the original purpose of those beautiful alloy 1-piece hubs. Oh, and the bearings are worn, too. I'm sure, though, it'll all be worth it in the end, although I don't know yet which bike they'll go on, possibly the blue frame which is still waiting to be freed from the badly mangled seat post it came with. Everything in time, right? I think I'll first get the Indy road ready.
On that note I'd like to take the opportunity to give a shout out to Sean, who contacted me after stumbling over my blog. He, too, is in the progress of re-vamping an Indy 500 and has offered to give the original part to me. It's very much appreciated.