Before:
After:
Cleanliness is next to Godliness when working with JB Weld. No grease, wax, teflon, paint or curious fingers can contaminate the area you’re trying to repair. Get several dozen Q-Tips, the kind with a paper stick – NOT PLASTIC. Each end only gets used once. I use 3 solvents to remove the contaminants – Goof Off, acetone and alcohol. Goof Off (Wal-mart or Home Depot in a small yellow can) dissolves just about anything and smells like dry cleaning solvent. Evil stuff, it even cut through the oxidation. But first, remove the screen from the inlet.
I cleaned it up good with Goof Off. Then I used a small wire brush to get into the crevices, pluck out the stubborn stuff and roughen up the surface. Then I cleaned it again with Goof Off until the Q-Tips come out clean. Next, I used nail polish remover with the Q-Tip routine. Finally, I used 70% isopropyl alcohol (only other ingredient listed on the label should be water!) with Q-Tips. Then I let it dry. The male insert was carefully cleaned to remove all debris. The threads on it must be in good condition, this is your mold for the new threads! Since the mold must release from the JB Weld, I gave the threads a couple coats of car wax.
Mix up JB Weld, apply a thin coat to male and female threads. Use a good quality toothpick to apply it. No splinters wanted here. Work the epoxy into the female first, keep it away from the non-threaded portion of the inlet. Then work the epoxy onto the male threads. If there is a little grip left in the threads, insert the male into the female and screw it all the way down. Now, leave these parts alone. Don’t fool with them!
The JB Weld must set up before you touch it again. Otherwise, you’ll have a botched up mess to clean up and have to start over again.
Keep the leftover glob of JB Weld to track the curing. Increased temperature and humidity decrease curing time.
If there are no threads left for the insert to grip, let the JB Weld get stiffer so it doesn’t sag and can support the insert. Assemble the parts and use aluminum foil to hold things in place and keep JB Weld from dripping elsewhere.
When the leftover JB Weld is dry to the touch and hard, you can put your wrench to the fitting. I let this cure for 10 hours at 63 degrees F and 40 % humidity. With a gentle yet firm grip, you’ll end up unscrewing that fitting and gasping in amazement at the beautiful new threads. Insert the screen and let it fully cure before installing it on the tractor. No leaks!
