4 Point Sockets

[Strouty]

Another update, no luck with anything so far. The corners were pretty much gone so I drilled a hole through the plug and put a bolt in the middle and pried / hammered on that, just bent the bolt. Then I cut a notch and used the chisel, just broke more off. I did get some Kroil and used more heat / air hammer, I thought while I was heating it I noticed something bubbling from behind the threads, not sure though. To be honest I think I knew I would need to drill it out. My biggest concern now is I am going to cut into the threads and or get a large piece stuck in the tank. I was going to do as suggested, drill a hole, saw as close to the threads as possible then use chisel / hammer to collapse the piece in, and hopefully pull it out. Any nuances to doing this?

Because the plug is cast iron, you don't need to be as close to the edge as possible, just get near it. The key is to make at least three cuts, think slicing a pie. That gives the plug space to move when you hit it and the cast should break off. If it doesn't break off, you can always cut another slice or go a little closer. As for the people who are saying it isn't easy, the threads will get destroyed, or you are going to get pieces of metal in the tank, well they obviously have never done this.

Also, the propane torch is not going to do anything, accept waste propane. Get yourself a bottle of mapp gas, that will work much better. O/A would be the best, but you can easily buy a mapp gas cylinder and use your torch head.

 

[Kevs02Accord]

Good spot for divot, pic 1.

Or, maybe use a cutoff wheel and cut a 1/4" or so slot in the square and use a piece of flat bar to help, pic 2.

Thanks for the visual, that helps a lot, I will give it a try. I am betting what is left of the plug will break off but worth a shot.

Because the plug is cast iron, you don't need to be as close to the edge as possible, just get near it. The key is to make at least three cuts, think slicing a pie. That gives the plug space to move when you hit it and the cast should break off. If it doesn't break off, you can always cut another slice or go a little closer. As for the people who are saying it isn't easy, the threads will get destroyed, or you are going to get pieces of metal in the tank, well they obviously have never done this.

Also, the propane torch is not going to do anything, accept waste propane. Get yourself a bottle of mapp gas, that will work much better. O/A would be the best, but you can easily buy a mapp gas cylinder and use your torch head.

Ok, that makes me feel a lot better. I will just drill out more in the middle so the piece can fall that way easier I did just get a bottle of map gas so I will try that first with the air hammer, then the pry bar, then drill cut if I have to.

 

[sam.coll]

Have you got a die grinder and carbide burr? Eat away at the plug until you get close to the threads then collapse the rest in

 

[littletoes]

Another update, no luck with anything so far. The corners were pretty much gone so I drilled a hole through the plug and put a bolt in the middle and pried / hammered on that, just bent the bolt. Then I cut a notch and used the chisel, just broke more off. I did get some Kroil and used more heat / air hammer, I thought while I was heating it I noticed something bubbling from behind the threads, not sure though. To be honest I think I knew I would need to drill it out. My biggest concern now is I am going to cut into the threads and or get a large piece stuck in the tank. I was going to do as suggested, drill a hole, saw as close to the threads as possible then use chisel / hammer to collapse the piece in, and hopefully pull it out. Any nuances to doing this?

did you mention what brand of compressor this was? Some have 0-rings on the inside of the bushing...I'll just bet that is what you have.

 

[sk farmer]

so much in this topic.

you have it all fubarred now. just start cutting grinding chiseling until you get it into small enough pieces they will either fall out or you will get it loose enough to turn out.

any pieces left inside? um, there will be a 2.5 inch hole. use the shop vac and a magnet.

 

[Kevs02Accord]

did you mention what brand of compressor this was? Some have 0-rings on the inside of the bushing...I'll just bet that is what you have.

Its a LeRoi / Wayne / Dresser 5000, tank plate says 1972. I am sure anything that makes disassembly harder has been built into this compressor.

so much in this topic.

you have it all fubarred now. just start cutting grinding chiseling until you get it into small enough pieces they will either fall out or you will get it loose enough to turn out.

any pieces left inside? um, there will be a 2.5 inch hole. use the shop vac and a magnet.

Lol, see that is why I ask questions, you all have thought of so many tips I never would have thought about.

While I was trying to remove the motor end cap last night I had a come to jesus with myself and the compressor, then I realized nothing about this compressor was going to be easy. I'll get some updates going once I get to cutting and hacking.

 

[Kevs02Accord]

Just a quick update. I did find an impact socket set that had the correct size female pipe plugs and I was able to get the smaller plugs out. One of which was previously pretty damaged from another inspection I am guessing. I just bought some vintage 4 point sockets on ebay, one happens to be 1.25 in so I am stoked, we will see how far I can get with that. I am going to put some filler / expoy / jb weld into the upper pipe plug that is really messed up.

 

[Kevs02Accord]

Another update with pics. I got the SOB out, was a PIA but its out. Of course it was solid, oh well. I did try the socket I got but all I did was damage my breaker bar and my impact didn't do anything, looks like I will have to cut both of them out. You can see form the pics I nicked the back thread just a little, but I dont think it will be a problem. Also notice not much scale on the plug, makes sense, being the upper plug. There wasnt too much scale on the inside of the tank either, but it was kind of hard to see for certain.

 

[metaldad]

always better to use a ****** and a cap, instead of a plug.
if you dont have a tap to chase the threads, a stainless ****** will work.

 

[erswill]

If you are using the same type of metal plugs, grease them and wrap some ptfe plumbing tape around them. This will prevent rust.

 

[SASORacing]

I am not sure if this has been said. But get a set of cheap Evolv cman sockets that are spline drive or whatever. They had a demo in store and a 4 point bolt was one of the things that it could fit onto.

 

[Kevs02Accord]

If you are using the same type of metal plugs, grease them and wrap some ptfe plumbing tape around them. This will prevent rust.

Good suggestion, in case I ever need to remove them again.

I am not sure if this has been said. But get a set of cheap Evolv cman sockets that are spline drive or whatever. They had a demo in store and a 4 point bolt was one of the things that it could fit onto.

I did look into some spline sockets, however, from what I could see it looked like they made contact with the head on the corners, like a 12pt vs 6pt socket. My problem was after using the pipe wrench there weren't many corners left, and the torque I was applying to them was bending my pipe wrench and my breaker bar so I had my doubts about something else working.

 

[Kevs02Accord]

Update, got the second plug out, much more of a PIA than the top plug, but its out. Ended up having to break it up into about 4 pieces. I attached some more pics of the whole thing, both plugs, then some pics of the inside of the tank. Its got scale in pretty much the whole tank but its very thin, I can see clean metal in most of the tank, even the bottom so it looks like all is well with the tank.

Appreciate all the help guys. I am going to try and start a rebuild thread when it comes time for that.

 

[littletoes]

Amazing how clean the threads come out looking, ain't it?

That's how I do it....drill, then cut to the edge with a sawz-all, then knock in the pieces with a hammer and cold chisel, careful to not destroy the threads.

Drilling is the hardest part.

Good Luck with the rest of the build.

 

[Kevs02Accord]

Amazing how clean the threads come out looking, ain't it?

That's how I do it....drill, then cut to the edge with a sawz-all, then knock in the pieces with a hammer and cold chisel, careful to not destroy the threads.

Drilling is the hardest part.

Good Luck with the rest of the build.

Thanks man. Yeah I figured they would be all corroded and nasty. I only nicked the threads in one spot on each plug way in the back.