23 year old RL550B Brought back from the dead

[bobonit]

I wanted to make this post to say hello and to say thanks. I joined the forum back in Sept of last year but this is my first post. I have an RL550B that I purchased new in 1991 and it got a lot of use until about 1995. All of our favorite shooting spots got built on and I settled down with a family so free time wasn't as plentiful. So the Dillon sat in the garage collecting dust. Well, I wanted to get it back up and running so I uncovered all the clutter from my loading bench, and under the dust I also found a lot of rust which really gave me cause for concern. I thought maybe I had ruined it by letting it decay.

However, once i joined this site and read all the posts regarding cleaning up old presses, I figured I'd give it a shot. Well, a week and some elbow grease later, its as good as new. The paint looked like it was starting to turn green, but after cleaning it up real good with some Simple Green, its Dillon Blue again. I took some 0000 Steel Wool to all the rusty parts, including the dies. Some of the screws that had a bit more rust needed to be soaked in some Kroil to get the rust off. All the metal parts except the Pins and Shaft got a good coating of Nu Finish car polish and the dies got a good run in the tumbler. I only had to order replacement Powder Bar Return Springs, Primer Slide Return Spring and the Cartridge Spring which all were covered under warranty. When I told the man on the phone that the Powder Measure Tube had come out (it was glued in) because the glue disintegrated, he sent a new Tube and the 2 screws for free as well. I'll just have to drill the holes for the screws. While I have the tube off I still need to give the bottom of the powder measure a good polishing with my dremel.

I followed the articles for Lubrication and gave all the pins and linkages a coating of Slide Glide Lite and the shaft is coated with Amsoil Synthetic SAE 30 Small Engine oil. The press hasn't operated this smooth since I took it out of its box in 91. I'm still waiting on the parts to finish the rebuild as well as a bunch of stuff I ordered from Brians online store but I can't wait to start using it again.

I just wanted to say thanks for all the advise that you guys post here, I didn't even have to ask one question and I found all the information I needed to do my rebuild.

Thanks,

Bob.

[Lifeislarge]

Halleluja!!! Finally proof that the search function is in operating condition. Welcome back, enjoy your "new" old Dillon.

[reichebrown]

I recently acquired a 550 that was purchased new in 1985 and never used. I plan on sending it to Dillon for a refurb. It's comforting to know that my son will be handed down something that will last.

[michaelnel]

Nice to hear you were able to revive your old friend!