Need some advice for a vintage Peerless radiator valve hookup

FIshermanPete

I have a vintage Peerless (American Radiator Company) cast iron radiator that I'm trying to use in a bathroom renovation. My contractor's plumber is unable to to easily remove the old bush ends (he tried heat but didn't want to try too much pressure for fear of breakage), so we're attempting to use the old original pieces. Unfortunately they seem to be about 1-3/8 and he's having a tough time finding applicable bushing adaptors/reducers.

Does anyone here have history with these old beauties and can help point us in the right direction?

mattmia2

You have to remove the spud and replace it with the spud that comes with the new valve. If your plumber doesn't know how to do that without breaking the radiator, find a better plumber.

FIshermanPete

Thank you, that was very enlightening. Now I'm questioning if the plumber is simply inexperienced or that it was the spud he had trouble removing when he tried to apply heat.

After watching THIS video from youtube I'm leaning towards him being unfamiliar with what he's doing…

Mad Dog_2

That brass spud can be carefully cut and caped out. You rarely have to remove them bushing unless you cut too deep in to the thread. As Mattmia said, this is plumbing 101 stuff. Mad Dog

Jamie Hall

an lesson 2: that spud has to come out anyway, since it is actually half of the union connecting the radiator to the valve. The other half is/was on the valve, which I suspect is long gone. A new radiator valve will have the matching spud with it, and that gets threaded back into the radiator.

EBEBRATT-Ed

Saw the nut off the spud by cutting in two places to split the nut. Then put something metal a piece of round stock use threaded rod, a cold chisel handle or whatever you have inside the spud so it doesn't crush with a pipe wrench on it