Conway 87 Restoration Advice Needed

[PeterR-C]

I have recently inherited a couple of pens from my father. I'm mainly a Parker freak, and one of them was a battered P75 I've repaired and put back on the road. The other takes me out of my comfort zone: a Conway 87 - see photos below. It's in quite a bad way and needs a good deal of TLC. It is inscribed 14CTGOLD on the nib, and 'Conway 87 made in England' on the barrel. I've found a website that sys these pens were made (or started being made) in 1960.

 

The sac has totally perished. It looks to me as if the squeeze filler is not a removable converter, but is fixed into the pen. Is this correct? I don't want to apply too much force. What is the best way to disassemble the pen? I've recently successfully replaced a sac on an old Parker Duofold, with the help of advice from people in the FPN and a couple of Youtube videos, but there seems to be nothing equivalent for Conway Stewarts. Is it the black ring that unscrews, with the help of a hair drier and section pliers? I imagine the nib must be removed outwards, but is it a straight pull or does it unscrew?

 

All help and advice gratefully received. It would be really nice to put this veteran back into working order.

 

Peter

 

[PaulS]

the sac protectors on these more modern C.S. models, should simply pull away from the section - you might have a tight fitting example in which case you could warm a little with the hair dryer, but it should'nt be difficult to remove. Grip the protector fairly close to the section and use a non-slip material such as cycle inner tube or similar.

Whilst you have the sac protector away from the section, you might flush the pen with warm water and a hint of detergent, but my advice would be to leave the nib in the section and not to remove the nib.

Like the looks of the nib - think this should be a good writer.

Must apologise as I can't offer advice as to which size sac replacement - hopefully someone else will. I very rarely re-sac my pens and usually only dip test them. Of course you might buy a selection of sacs and this should then provide at least one that fits correctly.

Best of luck.

Edited May 6, 2019 by PaulS

[pen lady]

When you do get the sac protector off, and PaulS's advice is very good, measure diameter of the nipple in 64ths of an inch. However many there are, that's your sac size. Good luck, it does look like a nice pen.

[PaulS]

Pen Lady's explanation is correct ………….. and these were Richard Binder's useful and slightly more amplified words some year or two back:-

 

""The dimension you need is simply the outside diameter. It's the sac number times ¹/₆₄". Thus, a Nº 16 sac is ¹⁶/₆₄" in diameter. That's ¹/₄", or 6.35 mm. For your purposes, the stretch in putting this sac over a ¹/₄" tube would do the job nicely. Adjust the sac size to the diameter you need.""

[PeterR-C]

Many thanks to both of you. Nice to hear from you - you have both helped me with previous restoration efforts, elsewhere on FPN.

 

And I'm glad to report that everything has (so far) worked perfectly. I've managed to detach the metal sac protector, which was pretty tighly attached. The old sac has come free in brittle bits, and I've flushed it - glad to hear I don't need to disassemble the nib and feed.

 

And who would have guessed that sac size was measured in 64ths of an inch? My trusty osteometric callipers reveal the nipple to be precisely 0.25 inches across, or 16/64ths, and a couple of size 16 sacs are en route. I'll report back as and when I put the thing together.

 

Peter

[pen lady]

Good news about the sac protector. Do you have shellac and pure talc on order too or do you have them already? Good luck with everything.

[PaulS]

quote ................................"And who would have guessed that sac size was measured in 64ths of an inch?" oh, I think coming from the other size of the pond Peter, we would have guessed something archaic and not metric

 

Pen Lady is right again - you will need shellac and talc - let us know when the job is done and how the pen writes.

[PeterR-C]

Right, I've managed the whole thing. Yes I had shellac and talc from sorting out the duofold. Everything seems to have gone well, the replacement sac went on easily and filled well, and the nib is great. Thanks again!

 

I have a nice photo of the restored pen but I don't seem to be able to upload it. But take my word for it - it works.

 

Peter

[pen lady]

Oh good. So glad it all went well.

[PeterR-C]

Thanks Pen Lady, I have renewed confidence to tackle this sort of thing. I'll be keeping my eyes open at carboot sales etc.