"Bushing" Inserts at Sizing & Seating Stations

[FOR_Star]

See Picture.
What is the reason for the doughnut-like insert in the base at the sizing and seating stations?
Can it be replaced?  If so, how?

[rbwillnj]

It is a hardened insert to prevent wear.   I have replacement "wear bushings" , but you would have to send your reloader back to me for the repair.  It requires a fair amount of fitting to do the job right.

Bruce Williams

PS, No offense, but did you pull that out of a pond?

[FOR_Star]

Ha.  It's an Ebay fixer-upper.  Something obviously got on the right side of the machine causing rust & corrosion.  Mostly around stations 4 & 5.  Non-ferrous metal was discolored, but not damaged. The shell plate took the brunt, but the index holes & shell holder openings left the top of the Steel Floor Base (#12U) exposed at those points.  You can see in the pic two deep pits where an index hole was situated.  I'm trying to think up a creative solution to help smooth out the top of the #12U steel base between #3 & #5.  Ever tried using JB Weld as a filler?

Bruce, you may recall the email I sent you in mid March about a corroded #79U strap.  It's from this machine.

[rbwillnj]

I have seen worse.

Bruce

[NYKenn]

I have used minor mounts of J&B weld to fill in imperfections (pitting, etc.) in automotive applications in the engine compartment before detail painting. I see no reason it should not work to fill in the imperfections visible on the base. 
Good luck. 

[FOR_Star]

NYKenn,

Thank you for the input.  Some areas of this machine will never be pretty, but I hope to get it 100% functional.  I may need to purchase a few parts, or have a little machine work done to get there.  I think I'll try using some JB Weld as a sort of metal Bondo on a small area and see how it goes.

On arrival, the machine was quite wet with a lightly oily substance.  It appeared like someone recently had hosed it down (fully assembled) with WD-40 or something similar.  So it has been a disassemble, de-grease, de-rust, and clean up operation so far.
The de-rusting process removed all traces of bluing from the affected parts.  I'll try to find a way to re-blue or blacken those parts.  Been doing some reading/research on cold bluing & blackening products, but haven't tried any yet. 

I'll try to make postings with pics as it moves along.