Rethreading cast iron sucks...

[EternalArianne]

So I noticed the 102 I got was missing one of the grease zerks on the front axel. Well, missing was an understatement, it was more like broken off with a small portion of it still threaded inside the hole. I ended up disconnecting the steering rod and removing the entire left side wheel portion and tapping it out through the hole, which destroyed the threads. And I tell ya, rethreading cast iron sucks ass we ended up using a threading bit attached to a drill with some oil squirt. Now it has a new zerk and I can grease the axel. 2/10 not recommended lol

[Graflex45]

What do you mean tapped out the old fitting? You drilled out the broken fitting or used a tap to push out the broken piece?
if you have a sheared off fitting with a hole through it the best thing to do is use an e-z-out tool
Yes cast iron can be a bother to tap, but with the proper well tapered tap (not a bottoming tap) with multiple flutes so the chips are small, it should go ok if you go very slow.

[ironman]

I hate to be a party-pooper but aren't those fittings the push-in type with no threads?

[Grandpa53]

Per the parts books they are indeed push-in fittings. They can be replaced with zerks that have 1/4" x 28 threads. Holes will need drilled and tapped as such. Plenty of YOU TUBE videos showing how to tap cast iron. I've had to do several that way because of a tight fitting grease gun and over time they will become loose in axle and pull out. Once they become loose the push-in type will continue coming out. GOOD LUCK with your repair.

[green407]

Originally Posted by EternalArianne

So I noticed the 102 I got was missing one of the grease zerks on the front axel. Well, missing was an understatement, it was more like broken off with a small portion of it still threaded inside the hole. I ended up disconnecting the steering rod and removing the entire left side wheel portion and tapping it out through the hole, which destroyed the threads. And I tell ya, rethreading cast iron sucks ass we ended up using a threading bit attached to a drill with some oil squirt. Now it has a new zerk and I can grease the axel. 2/10 not recommended lol

As stated above the original grease fittings are just a press in type, when broken off you can just punch it the rest of the way through, then drill and tap for 1/4-28.

Cast iron is self lubricating and requires no cutting oil or coolant.
I think your biggest problem is that you didn't drill out to the tapping size before tapping, which means you tap is trying to bore and thread a hole at the same time. A job for which it was not designed.

[darkminion_17]

Originally Posted by ironman

I hate to be a party-pooper but aren't those fittings the push-in type with no threads?

What he said.
BTDT, just punch it through.

[garydee]

Tapping cast iron shouldn't be too hard. As was mentioned, using the correct drill bit to prepare the hole for the tapered tap is VERY important. There are handy little tap drill charts made of plastic that show the tap thread size with threads per inch and corresponding drill bit to use to make the job easier. These should be available from most tool suppliers.

[EternalArianne]

Thanks everyone I guess we (me and my mechanic neighbor) don't have much experience with cast iron. Regardless, we got it tapped and new zerk installed and axel greased.