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Posted: 7/8/2016 11:19:24 AM EDT
I had a member of my family give me a old RCBS rock chucker that is a little rough. What can I do to clean this thing up? Is their anyone that refurbishes old presses?
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Take press apart. <a href="http://s250.photobucket.com/user/dryflash3/media/Tools/PB080602.jpg.html" target="_blank">http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg272/dryflash3/Tools/PB080602.jpg</a> Wire wheel the rusted parts. Lube and reassemble. Done. Nailed it. |
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Quoted:
Take press apart. <a href="http://s250.photobucket.com/user/dryflash3/media/Tools/PB080602.jpg.html" target="_blank">http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg272/dryflash3/Tools/PB080602.jpg</a> Wire wheel the rusted parts. Lube and reassemble. Done. Like always dryflash is spot on.. |
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dryflash3 for the win !! I just finished doing refurbs on 3 old RCBS presses. They now function smooooth as butter.  Yep. dryflash3 !!! It helps a lot if you pre-soak the parts in a light penetrating oil. Diesel fuel works great for this too.
If you have the patience soak them for a day or 2. It shouldn't take anything more aggressive than a fine wire will to clean off the rust like what's in dryflash3 photo. The handle of course is not as critical but don't damage the threads. Good luck. Post pictures of it when you are done. Motor |
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Handle is no problem, but the ram rod is instead.
Hence you don't want to under size the rod that much, or it going to be loose in the housing channel to cause problem instead. As most on the ram rod, would just glass bead blast with something like 400 glass bead, then just light polish it in a lathe if the pitting is not too deep (don't try to reduce the OD of the rod to take the surface down to remove the pitting). If the pitting is deep/too extensive, then get RCBS on the phone to send you a new ram rod; instead of under sizing the rod too much to be way too loose the housing channe instead. Also, mic the cam lever block pin channel against the cross pin, and if it has too much wear (lets say over .010" of slop), then RCBS will send you a new lever block as well. As for the tear down, C clips on the lever cross pin will remove the lever cross pin so you can remove the Lever block and the ram. On the upper lever pins, the Left hand side pin is hollow, so you use a smaller punch through it to drive the solid top lever pin out the right hand side. With the right hand pin remove, then use a larger punch to drive the left hand hollow lever pin out last. As for when you do manage to wear out a Chuckers (RCBS standards), it's when the housing ram channel is worn out way over size instead. If this happens, then the press has a life time warranty, and they will just send you a new press (the rest of the parts are replaceable at will isntead). As for the most desirable rockchucker, its the RCII with the cold rolled steel lever rods, isntead of cast iron lever rods isntead. 
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Disassemble, soak it in a bucket of white vinegar overnight...it will remove every speck of rust...then 000 steel wool all the bare metal parts to remove any crap left on after the vinegar soak, oil it up and start reloading...
Me personally I'd go whole hog and strip all that old paint off of it and start over with a new primer and wrinkle finish...auto parts store and Duplicolor are your fren... |
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Pass on the old wrinkle fine, i's a bare to keep clean!!!!!
The Rustoleum hammered finish does a great job on hiding the less than perfect finish of cast parts, and leaves behind a finish that is easy to clean instead. Note, why the new machines have this finish, instead of the old wrinkle finish instead. 
https://www.rustoleum.com/product-catalog/consumer-brands/stops-rust/hammered-spray/ |
| Me, I would just send it back to RCBS and they will either rebuild or replace it for you, RCBS is a great company to work with, I have never once had to pay them anymore than what my initial investment was, which as in your case was nothing as a friend gave me a set up that had sat in a barn for years. |
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Handle is no problem, but the ram rod is instead. Unless the rust is really really bad and you take of a large amount of metal the press is reasonably 'self centering' when pushing a shell into a die. One of the older tricks for reducing run out is to remove the spring clip forcing the shell holder against the back of the pocket that holds it on. A suitable sized o-ring is then used to keep the shell holder in place and let it float more. |
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