OT: repairing/removing antique gas stove valves?

I am trying to resuscitate a very old "Detroit Jewel" 6-burner gas stove (teens or twenties), converting it to propane. I've successfully adjusted the burners to propane, but I had to remove and plug the tubes that lead to the 2 pilot light jets for the top burners because they were both broken and the jet was missing on one; since I've no idea how to ever locate replacements, I figure I can just use a barbecue lighter to light burners.

But now I find that the 2 valves that are used to "juice" (intensify) the pilot lights (by pushing a button on the front of the stove) are leaking gas out the front of the valves, so I'm trying to find a way to either remove those

2 valves or to rebuild them to keep them from leaking.

Here's a photo of the outside front of the stove (one of the 2 "juicer" buttons is the one with the smoke stains above it):

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Here's a couple of photos of the backside showing the valves that the keys are attached to (sorry, had trouble getting the pics in perfect focus because of the cramped quarters; each photo shows the manifold pipe with 1 pilot valve and 2 burner valves beneath it):
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I'm facing a "catch 22" situation:

The problem is that I can't unscrew the "juice" valves from the gas supply manifold pipe without first moving that same manifold pipe away from the front of the stove to provide clearance, and I can't move the gas supply manifold pipe because the outside keys on the 6 burner valves have set screws securing them to their respective valve stems, and those set screws are behind the stove face and aren't accessible (or at the least do not appear to be accessible) with the gas supply pipe in place.

I am wondering if I'm going at this the wrong way, and perhaps...

  1. there is some "trick" way all that all the valve stems (with keys) can be removed through the holes in the front of the stove... ie, maybe there's some trick way to remove the stem spring and a "keeper" from the back of each valve and simply pull each key and valve stem out from the front of the stove. That would allow me to shift the gas supply manifold rearward so I could then unscrew the "juicer" valves and insert plugs. But, what is the "trick"???

or,

  1. a similar "trick" could be used to pull just the "juicer" buttons & valve stems out through the hole in the stove front, clean them and lap them in their valve holes with lapping compound, then apply some stove valve grease and hope the leaks are gone when the valve stems are re-installed. But, the springs are not accessible from the rear, so this may not even be feasible.

Is there another way? Anybody have any words of wisdom?

Reply to
WayneC
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I have a 1960 Chambers cook stove myself.. now, search on antique stove rebuilders.. you should find a lot of places that someone might know of new parts, OR be able to make them for you.. dont give up yet.

--Shiva--

Reply to
me

I've done that... lots of parts for 50's & 60's stoves, not much of anything for stoves as old as mine. At the moment I'm not so much seeking parts as I am seeking knowledge as to how the valves come apart and how I can get them out, and what can be done to restore my old gas valves once I have them out.

Reply to
WayneC

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1750's old enough? lol
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--Shiva--

Reply to
me

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356

--Shiva--

Reply to
me

Yes, I've been to all those websites. Most of them sell restored stoves and offer few, if any, repair parts (they hoard the parts they have to restore the stoves they sell). Some sell only "add-on" safety gadgets. One site sells "memberships" for $40, at which time (presumably), they allow you to use their members-only forum to ask questions of other "members"; looks to me to be a scam.

I'm not looking to ship a 400 pound hunk of iron 1500 miles for a $5k makeover, I am just looking for information on how to disassemble and refurbish my stove valves.

Reply to
WayneC

I did a 1926 Roper a couple of years ago, and decided not to go into the business ("sigh," hopefully not escaping gas). On my quest, I met a local hardware guy who does stoves for Greenfield Village. With the sure voice of experience, he told me of doing some things I would consider outrageous. Re-threading modern iron valve bodies and coating the outside with POR to look like stove enamel, for instance. Cutting valve bodies and brazing them back together to create angle-mount valves (of course, he had a pressure-test rig in his shop, so maybe not as death-dealing as it sounds).

I too had no luck at all with the supposed parts suppliers on-line; they were all selling restored stoves. But I did come up with a REAL MEANINGFUL safety warning: many of these stoves were pressure-tested on low-pressure "town gas," a cooked-coal product we may see again, not natural gas or propane. Make sure you have a regulator installed upstream to ensure delivery pressure is equal to what the stove was used to. Too high is obvious; too low is bad too, since some valves seat against a detent spring--too low a pressure will cause them to seep.

I had the same problem with the Chinese-puzzle aspect of manifold bolt-up sequence. From what I got told, there isn't any easy way. Analysis of thread direction will reveal in what order the factory bolted it up. Some fittings far downstream in the piping can only be changed out by disassembling the whole damn thing. You'll occasionally find a union, but there usually isn't room to add one. Big as the stoves are, the plumbing is very compact.

Reply to
comatus

I think you may be able to use fine grinding compound to lap in the gas valves so they seat better. Maybe just cleaning them up with baking soda as a compound would work? Maybe you could put stronger springs on them if they weren't designed for todays higher pressure?

Alex

Reply to
ALEX M.

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