Thread: Bath tub repair
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[email protected] hallerb@aol.com is offline
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Default Bath tub repair

On Feb 19, 2:07�am, mm wrote:
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- Hide quoted text -


- Show quoted text -


be careful with heat if the drain foot for lack of better term is
plastic

assume if things go bad you will be replacing parts under the tub