Low-budget Special petcock rebuild

[Ken Talbot]

I got around to tearing down the petcocks on our recent acquisition - an '81 Special. It is no wonder the petcocks were leaking fuel even when in the off position:

You can see how the raised lip around the lower right hole is all chewed up, and there is also some slight damage around the upper left hole. Fortunately, the other side of the rubber piece is still in good condition:

This lets you simply flop the rubber over to a fresh side, with the most damaged hole around the solid bit, not one of the fuel passages:

A bit of tweaking on the wavy washers and now they are working again. Wonder if they'll last another 24 years!

[chevy45412001]

doubt it

I originaly tried that with mine Ken,but to no avail. it seems once they were chewed up mine just tore alltogether.I bought just those rubbers from dealer,they were a little steep not real bad,i think 11.00 for both, as i didn't need the rest of the kit,so i didn't by it. Good luck with yours though.

[skids]

Ken, one thing that helps in preserving the rubber, is to sand and polish (with Mother's milk, of course) the handle-valve. On all of the standard units I have seen, the machining is rough where it slides against the rubber. Another good place to polish, is the conical seat (standard only, I believe) where the o-ring on the diaghragm plunger makes contact.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey there Ken,

I don't have any pictures, but I did a slightly more involved cheap repair on mine. I went to the local hardware store, got some large ~2" wide neoprene washers about the same or slightly thicker than the OEM valve, and cut a circle out of it, then took a single hole puncher and punched 5 holes in it to approximate the OEM design. Was a bit tough sliding the washer around inside the punch since it didn't want to open that wide(designed for paper!?) but was able to make a pair for under a buck since I already had the punch! Just another idea when you need it NOW vs. waiting to order one!
T.C.

[Ken Talbot]

TC - you need to get yourself a punch like this one:

[JohnSg]

Thanks for the tip Ken, I just used it today.