Need for brass punches

[Psomion]

I was surprised recently when I went to sears for some brass punches, they were mail order only! I needed them to change a fuel pump (steel on steel around gas is a bad idea). I came up with a way of safely and with good control converting a steel punch to a brass one. The punch I needed was slightly smaller than .22 cal.. and what quality human doesn't have a ton of this brass just sitting around?!?! If you don't, ask a quality friend to take you to a gun range and it will likely be all over the ground (unless brass prices are really high). Now, I do recommend putting some dish detergent in the case to neutralizer any residual powder and clean it out with a q-tip, it would be silly to replace steel on steel with steel on gunpowder (that would go in the "don't do this" forum). It worked great and I didn't have to buy a rather expensive brass punch!

[rohnk]

I've seen them at Harbor Freight stores before. Maybe in the plumbing section of Lowes or a place like that would have something you could use.

[68AMXGOPAC]

Hmmmm, I was thinking he was refering to causeing a spark when useing the punch.........?

[eaglefreek]

Hmmmm, I was thinking he was refering to causeing a spark when useing the punch.........?

Yes, this is what Psomion is referring to. I've used a wood dowel when I couldn't find a brass punch handy. However, if it's really tight the would dowel will just splinter.

[Psomion]

Indeed I am talking about striking, not connections (connections are a whole different issue with dissimilar metals). This is more a safety tip for rambler mentality types who don't even want to buy cheap tools but also don't want to catch on fire! A nice feature of the shell case is that it hugs the punch so you don't lose it while working the tool. For any reading this and not sure the process I'm talking of, on fuel tanks there is a steel ring that screws into the tank and holds fuel pumps. It has small tabs that stick up around the diameter and rather than using a wrench you must hit these tabs to tighten and loosen the ring. A wood dowel isn't a bad option either (and you could always reinforce it with the brass too!)

[carguy87]

Hmm, I have done hundreds of those style fuel pump retaining rings using simply a screwdriver and a hammer, no problems at all.  And most of the fuel pumps you get nowadays are aluminum or some kind of composite rather than steel.