Re: Newbie Questions Restoring 1957 Johnson 18hp FDE-11

[frankr]

Once upon a long time ago, I attended a class given by Locktite, telling us about their products. I remember they told us that the anaerobic sealants require a catalyst to make them set up and cure (in addition to lack of oxygen). The catalyst is the metal that they are in contact with. They cure very quickly in the presence of brass or copper. Considerably slower with aluminum. Very slow if at all with stainless steel. Not at all with plastic. That’s why the cap doesn’t seize on the plastic tube. However put some primer (catalyst) on that cap and see what happens. I suspect the primer has some sort of copper material in it.

All that to say that the aluminum – to – aluminum joint will cure slowly, and possibly unreliably. Put the primer (catalyst) on it and it will cure quickly and every time. When I was making the timing fixtures (now made by Richard White) I used Locktite to fixture the aluminum top bar to the aluminum center hub until I got them drilled and screwed together. Without primer, they cured over a long time, but with primer just about 10 minutes or so.

BTW, concerning the spray can. They also make that stuff in a bottle with a little brush in the cap. One of those little bottles will outlast a whole bunch of spray cans