I removed the old drain cover in my 11-year old shower to install a new one. I found the cast brass pipe had two brass screws, which were frozen in place and the heads stripped off when I tried to remove them.

My first question is why are there brass screws in a brass fitting with no thread compound? Why not use stainless, or aluminum, or nylon screws? Why install the parts in a way that guarantees they will freeze and the heads will strip off?

The second question is now that I have no screw holes for new screws how do I mount the new drain cover? I have installed a snap in replacement cover but it would be nice to have the original style cover held in place with screws.

I am considering using epoxy to glue a couple of nuts to the inside of the grain. Maybe something like a large volume of JB weld will work and I can drill and tap for new screws.