On Sun, 17 Feb 2008 13:33:47 -0600, "twfsa" wrote:

I need to replace the lever(over flow plate)
http://www.hometips.com/content/popups_intro.html

that allows the tub to drain,its wore out.

I bought the replacement at a big box store, there are two screws that hold
the overflow plate to the tub but I am afraid that I will twist them off
removing them, and don't want to have to replace the whole drain mechanism.
The old screws are tight, I need a big screwdriver with vice grips attached
to the screwdriver for leverage.

If liquid wrench works, you're gonig to need a lot because there is an
empty space btween the plate and the threaded holes.

Mine were easy to get off, but only 10 or 15 years old. A propane
torch will probably work well. That's helped with my 40-year old
motorcycle bolts. You don't have to keep it hot, while you are trying
to unscrew. You just have to get it hot for 10 seconds or a little
more, but again, Remember that the part that matters is not the head
of the screw but down a half inch or more. So it will take a little
longer.

I guess a...what's it called...oh, yeah, an impact driver would help
too. (Don't confuse this with an impact wrench like I did for a year
or two.) It looks like a solid steel cylinder and takes screwdriver
tips or sockets at one end. You put it in the screw and hit the other
end with a hammer. Hard or not so hard. It only applies torque for a
moment so I don't think it will turn the headds off, but the shock
might free up the screw.

Harbor Freight sells a full size iirc (about as big as the cardboard
roll inside a roll of toilet paper), and a small size (a bit bigger
than a cigar) cheap; and JCWhitney sells a couple models, including a
really good one for bigger jobs than this one (the bigger one has a
red rubber covered handle and a rubber guard to keep you from hitting
your hand with the hammer, but if you keep your eye on the end you are
trying to hit, you *will* hit it. Sort of like hitting a baseball.

Strangely, I haven't seen them for sale anywhere else.

Any ideas?

thanks
Tom