Morgan Wright Posted April 20, 2018 Share Posted April 20, 2018 My 1917 has these weird grease cups all around it. Is there anybody who uses modern grease fittings for driving the car, and then swap them out for grease cups for shows? Because I think they are a million times better. And besides, I have no idea what "cup grease" is anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trimacar Posted April 20, 2018 Share Posted April 20, 2018 Grease cups are very simple. You fill the bottom and top with the appropriate grease, then at the proper intervals screw the top piece down a turn or two. This forces the grease into the area that needs greased. It works, but like any early car, you need to give some attention to the details. You need clean pieces, and no old grease, and no clogs in the passageway that actually feeds the grease to the wear point. Properly maintained, filled with grease, and turned, they work great. If you feel better having fittings that you put a grease gun to and pump, then go right ahead....but the old fittings aren't "weird", in my opinion, they do exactly what they should do.... 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted April 20, 2018 Author Share Posted April 20, 2018 I see, you turn them as they run out of grease, to force more grease down in. I thought they relied on gravity or something. Never mind. And thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trimacar Posted April 20, 2018 Share Posted April 20, 2018 8 minutes ago, Morgan Wright said: Never mind. And thanks. As I tell my kids, you're mostly welcome. I'm glad I could help.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted April 20, 2018 Author Share Posted April 20, 2018 I gotta say though, a modern grease gun shoots the grease in at what, 2000 PSI? Good enough to fill all the spaces and squeeze out the old crumby grease. I used to put the track back on my bulldozer with a grease gun every time it popped off.......I doubt you can get that sort of PSI by turning these cup thingies. So maybe I'll grease up the fittings with a grease gun and when I get it good and greased, swap out the fittings with the cups for normal use. And when I pull my ancient Buick into a Jiffy Lube and ask them for a lube job, hope they don't charge extra if they have to fill all these grease cups and hand tighten them to 2000 PSI. Umph@! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloo Posted April 20, 2018 Share Posted April 20, 2018 No, you cant get that kind of pressure with a grease cup, and whatever is underneath it may not be expecting 2000psi. People have broken water pump castings (and probably other things). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted April 20, 2018 Author Share Posted April 20, 2018 3 minutes ago, Bloo said: No, you cant get that kind of pressure with a grease cup, and whatever is underneath it may not be expecting 2000psi. People have broken water pump castings (and probably other things). My water pump shaft bearings call for motor oil in my manual, just pour it in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloo Posted April 20, 2018 Share Posted April 20, 2018 9 minutes ago, Morgan Wright said: My water pump shaft bearings call for motor oil in my manual, just pour it in. Mine too.... but the current pump has zerks, apparently intended for some little gun that doesnt make any pressure. Grease (when used) is also different for a water pump. I wish I still had oil cups.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted April 20, 2018 Author Share Posted April 20, 2018 My water pump is sealed (E-49) and has no zerks, requires no grease. While breaking my engine free after 80 year nap, I cut the upper hose off, and filled the whole pump with about a cup of "WD-40 with rust release penetrant" through the hose. It has no zerks but has a petcock for when I let the WD-40 out. Will work on breaking the engine loose in the spring. I still have a foot of snow and it's in the 30's, was 21 degrees last week. They say this is the coldest April on record in northern NY. Too cold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinneyhill Posted April 21, 2018 Share Posted April 21, 2018 2 hours ago, Bloo said: the current pump has zerks, apparently intended for some little gun that doesnt make any pressure. That sort of grease nipple may have no ball in it. They were used on steering boxes (e.g. my 1939 Studebaker) and caused the demise of many steering boxes. They were for use with the heavy-oil push gun that came with the vehicle. Ignorant subsequent owners (and mechanics and their helpers) just pumped grease into the steering box and after a couple of full lock turns each way the grease is wiped off the worm and doesn't flow back to it, meaning no lubrication. As they add more grease it just gets forced up inside the steering column. Cup grease is just chassis grease these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Engle Posted April 21, 2018 Share Posted April 21, 2018 There are a number of locations such as the leaf spring shackle bolts where you can remove the cup and drill and pipe tap the bolt for grease gun use and you can still put the cup on the outside for correct appearance. The cups are a nuisance to fill with the large number of them on the 17 cars. I am still looking for grease cups to replace the zirk fittings so I have the correct appearance. Bob Engle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hubert_25-25 Posted April 21, 2018 Share Posted April 21, 2018 (edited) Snyders has these to get the best of both worlds. www.Restorationsuff.com has a good variety of the old style grease cups You could probably tap your old ones and install a zerk fitting. Hugh https://www.snydersantiqueauto.com/zerk-grease-cups Edited April 21, 2018 by Hubert_25-25 (see edit history) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
27donb Posted April 21, 2018 Share Posted April 21, 2018 9 hours ago, Hubert_25-25 said: Snyders has these to get the best of both worlds. www.Restorationsuff.com has a good variety of the old style grease cups You could probably tap your old ones and install a zerk fitting. Hugh https://www.snydersantiqueauto.com/zerk-grease-cups How perfect is that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted April 21, 2018 Author Share Posted April 21, 2018 1 hour ago, 27donb said: How perfect is that! It looks great but it's only 1/8 inch, I have a few different sizes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
27donb Posted April 21, 2018 Share Posted April 21, 2018 2 hours ago, Morgan Wright said: It looks great but it's only 1/8 inch, I have a few different sizes There are pipe thread reducers and adapters commonly available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinneyhill Posted April 21, 2018 Share Posted April 21, 2018 1/8" NPT (National Standard Taper Pipe Thread) has an OD of 0.405". Some of those you show will be this thread. https://www.engineersedge.com/hardware/taper-pipe-threads.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted April 27, 2018 Author Share Posted April 27, 2018 The 1922 shop manual says to use an "Alemite Gun" every 500 miles on the grease cups, I'm assuming this means to remove the grease cups and do this, and put the cups back on. I googled alemite grease fitting and it says invented in 1918. Still in business. Very interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted April 27, 2018 Author Share Posted April 27, 2018 http://www.skf.com/alemite/index.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RivNut Posted April 27, 2018 Share Posted April 27, 2018 On 4/20/2018 at 4:34 PM, Morgan Wright said: I gotta say though, a modern grease gun shoots the grease in at what, 2000 PSI? Good enough to fill all the spaces and squeeze out the old crumby grease. I used to put the track back on my bulldozer with a grease gun every time it popped off.......I doubt you can get that sort of PSI by turning these cup thingies. The same principle the Army uses (used) to tighten tracks on an APC after changing track pads. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted April 29, 2018 Author Share Posted April 29, 2018 On 4/26/2018 at 10:03 PM, RivNut said: The same principle the Army uses (used) to tighten tracks on an APC after changing track pads. Don't remind me. I wore that bulldozer out to the point that I was spending more time putting the track back on than I did using it. I had it down to a science, I did it so many times I could put the track on in half an hour with just a shovel, a log, a house jack, a spark plug wrench, and a grease gun. 1. the house bottle jack to lift the side of the dozer up 2. take the grease fitting out with the spark plug wrench 3. put the log between the front of the track and the dozer blade and use the power of the blade to push the track backwards and squeeze all the grease out 4. the shovel jammed into the ground to pry the track back under the idler wheel 5. jack it back down on the track 6. put the grease fitting back in with the spark plug wrench 7. grease gun to tighten the track up again 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RivNut Posted April 29, 2018 Share Posted April 29, 2018 (edited) I was the platoon sergeant. I knew what to do and how it was to be done 'according to the manual'. There were lower ranking guys who did the dirty work. Edited April 29, 2018 by RivNut (see edit history) 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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