Potatoes and Evaporust

Len · Post by **Len** » Wed May 06, 2009 8:35 pm

Now wait.....I am spending gas money on trying to find what has been called "freeze plug" and "rubber expansion plug" but so far all I got was a larger carbon footprint. At Kragen's I did get one that was a bit to small in diameter (1 1/4") and with a too short a bolt. Another store had one for plumbers but that t'wernt it neither. So where are you getting these wonder nuts?
Oh, and a testimony, Evapo-Rust rocks! as my son says. On 55 year old tubes that have been sitting outside for the longest, it did a surprisingly great job. But now to take the emery cloth to them will require a better method than by hand. So clue the clueless....and thanks for the posts.

judaspre1982 · Post by **judaspre1982** » Wed May 06, 2009 8:52 pm

=====================

mickyd · Post by **mickyd** » Wed May 06, 2009 9:20 pm

Len wrote:Now wait.....I am spending gas money on trying to find what has been called "freeze plug" and "rubber expansion plug" but so far all I got was a larger carbon footprint. At Kragen's I did get one that was a bit to small in diameter (1 1/4") and with a too short a bolt. Another store had one for plumbers but that t'wernt it neither. So where are you getting these wonder nuts?
Oh, and a testimony, Evapo-Rust rocks! as my son says. On 55 year old tubes that have been sitting outside for the longest, it did a surprisingly great job. But now to take the emery cloth to them will require a better method than by hand. So clue the clueless....and thanks for the posts.

ANY auto parts store should carry the expansion plugs. On cars, they are used when replacing the blocks freeze plug. Call around first. Much cheaper. You'll need a 1-1/2" to 1-5/8" for the bench tubes and 1-3/4 "to 1-7/8" for the way tubes.

Your second sentence.....can you elaborate what your looking for regarding the emery cloth method. I don't understand.

mickyd · Post by **mickyd** » Wed May 06, 2009 9:24 pm

judaspre1982 wrote:JPG, I like your setup to polish your tubes. Looks like it is nice and stable during the polishing process. Excellent use of exsiting methods and then adding your own ideas to improve the process. Did you polish on the slowest setting on the speed dial? Also what size rod coupling ( threaded coupling ) did you use on the freeze plug?---3/8?----5/16? Great work!------Dave

POLISH = progressive SANDPAPER starting as fine as you can to get the job done. Badly rusted starts at around 60 grit. Fair condition should be able to start around 150. You'd go up to around 400 for final sanding prior to POLISHING with Johnson's Paste Wax

judaspre1982 · Post by **judaspre1982** » Wed May 06, 2009 9:35 pm

=========================

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Thu May 07, 2009 12:27 am

mickyd wrote:Continuous process improvement.....that's what it is all about. This is what makes this forum ROCK!! I made sure that I edited my post on the "How To" Guide to Recondition Your Bench and Way Tube thread to include this. Again, great job!

You did not need to. Your initial link to the thread does work(I checked that). BUT the new link is direct to the polishing posts so it IS better that you did it!!!!

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Thu May 07, 2009 12:48 am

Len wrote:Now wait.....I am spending gas money on trying to find what has been called "freeze plug" and "rubber expansion plug" but so far all I got was a larger carbon footprint. At Kragen's I did get one that was a bit to small in diameter (1 1/4") and with a too short a bolt. Another store had one for plumbers but that t'wernt it neither. So where are you getting these wonder nuts?
Oh, and a testimony, Evapo-Rust rocks! as my son says. On 55 year old tubes that have been sitting outside for the longest, it did a surprisingly great job. But now to take the emery cloth to them will require a better method than by hand. So clue the clueless....and thanks for the posts.

I purchased three different sizes at my local Auto Zone(auto parts store). I purchased three because the first one I purchased would not work on either the 10 e/r tubes(< 1 3/8" ID) or the Mark 5/v tubes (1 1/2" ID). I was not sure of the ID's at the time. I need to be able to polish either vintage tubes.
Since my tubes were in pretty good shape, I used 220 grit sandpaper and jumped to 600 grit. I used two surfaces of full sheet folded into 1/4ths of both grits. I cupped the paper around the tube and squeezed with my palm while moving it back and forth.
I ran it at slowest speed.
A Caveat: Make sure the tube clears the hole in the tailstock adequately. You do NOT want to score a ring around the tube or wear the edge of the hole in the tailstock(proper idler pulley positioning).
I did have one problem with the expansion bolt. It was not straight and caused excessive wobble. Using the bolt from one of the other plugs fixed that.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Thu May 07, 2009 12:51 am

mickyd wrote:ANY auto parts store should carry the expansion plugs. On cars, they are used when replacing the blocks freeze plug. Call around first. Much cheaper. You'll need a 1-1/2" to 1-5/8" for the bench tubes and 1-3/4 "to 1-7/8" for the way tubes.

Your second sentence.....can you elaborate what your looking for regarding the emery cloth method. I don't understand.

Did your Greenie have 1 7/8" OD bench tubes?????

heathicus · Post by **heathicus** » Thu May 07, 2009 12:53 am

Len wrote:Now wait.....I am spending gas money on trying to find what has been called "freeze plug" and "rubber expansion plug" but so far all I got was a larger carbon footprint. At Kragen's I did get one that was a bit to small in diameter (1 1/4") and with a too short a bolt. Another store had one for plumbers but that t'wernt it neither. So where are you getting these wonder nuts?

It took me several stops to find them locally as well. Lowes had a spot for the 1-1/2" plugs in the plumbing section, but were out of stock. They only had 2" in stock. Autozone didn't carry anything above about 1/2" and the staff there acted like they had never seen one any bigger than that. I finally hit pay dirt at Sutherlands (a hardware store chain similar to Lowes or Home Depot, but not as large), again in the plumbing section. They had a big box of 1-1/2."

If you can't find any locally let me know and I'd be happy to pick up a couple for you and send them your way.

JPG, good call on the threaded coupler! I wish I had thought of that!

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Thu May 07, 2009 12:57 am

judaspre1982 wrote:JPG, I like your setup to polish your tubes. Looks like it is nice and stable during the polishing process. Excellent use of exsiting methods and then adding your own ideas to improve the process. Did you polish on the slowest setting on the speed dial? Also what size rod coupling ( threaded coupling ) did you use on the freeze plug?---3/8?----5/16? Great work!------Dave

The threaded coupling MUST have the same size thread and pitch as the expansion plug bolt!