how to replace 1980's delta roman tub spout & handles

i hesitate to say this project is complete, only because a leak could form at any moment and plumbing makes me nervous and insane.  that said, we have replaced both the tub spout and the handles from an old delta (circa late 1980's) wall mount roman tub contraption.

here's where we start, with the yellow polished brass fixture. notice that the finish on the spout is completely flaking off. (it was like that when we moved in).



those are some sweet handles, huh?  i'm willing to part with them for the right price.

first, we took off all the decorative pieces to see what lies beneath...

very exciting and a little bit scary.

yesterday we were able to get the spout on -- here's the picture as of yesterday (note the handles are still acrylic and partially gold).

today we shut off the water and took apart the... well, now that i think of it, i really don't know what these things are called... the things the handles go on. that'll do. 

the stems (the plastic thing poking out in figure 2) are held in place with a nut... (i neglected to take pictures of all this...). so you just unscrew that and the outside sleeve (the gold part) slides off and there's a little plastic ring behind it. the stem just comes out.

behind the stem are these little thingy's called "seats and springs". since there are two faucets, there's only one seat and one spring behind each stem. you flip those out with a screwdriver or needlenose pliers (carefully). and then replace with new ones.

this is important - you need to remember what direction the stems are installed. so make a mental note or take a picture or something. anyway, put in the new one in the right direction. put on the new sleeve and little plastic thing (making sure to line up the grooves) and then replace the nut. then put on the handle and tighten with the set screw.

these are the parts -- on the top are the stems and the bottom are seats and springs:

that is it, lather, rinse, repeat for the other handle.

then go turn on the water and pray that it works. it seems to have worked, but i'm still waiting for something to spring a leak.  at any rate, here is the finished product:

the lighting is a little weird, since it's nighttime. not the fixture of my dreams, but certainly more up to date than "the before".

i'd like to thank delta customer service for providing me with schematics of my old faucet valve that contained the replacement parts for everything you see here, ups for the overnight delivery of many of these parts, the awesome lady at mcclendon's hardware for actually helping us (i'm looking at you, keller "go to home-depot" supply) find some of the little doohickies that we needed, and finally and most importantly, my sweetie who has patiently done all of the work to get this mofo installed and operational. xoxo

tub filler... success

i said the other day that the new tub filler didn't fit. which was true. today while we were browsing through mcclendon's hardware store, we came across this little brass thingy that seemed like it would extend the pipe out of the wall further and it might be long enough to actually work, so for $5 we figured it was worth a shot.

we got it home, put it on, attached the tub filler... and it was just a bit too far away from the wall, but definitely progress, so my sweetie figured that he could cut off part of the piece so it would be shorter and thus, closer to the wall. fast forward a few minutes, reattach everything.. and it works! it's still not quite flush with the wall, but it's close enough for government work. and the filler more or less reaches far enough to clear the deck of the tub (so the stream of water doesn't splash everywhere -- well, it splashes, but just about as much as the old one did... so... eff it).

here's a picture (ignore the handles -- we will replace those soon):

baby steps...

sometimes, in the face of adversity, small wins give you some momentum. yesterday, i was able to complete a few of my tasks related to "operation: no polished brass".  i swaped out the recessed toilet paper holder, the tub overflow drain cover and the tub drain (although the part we got for the drain is a cheap piece of crap, so we might change it again). baby steps.