Help identify mystery tub drain shoe sealant/gasket

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Dougster

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My 58 y.o. tract home has the usual enameled steel bathtub. I hope to replace the tub drain with a Geberit kit. The new rubber drain shoe gasket needs a stable, clean, smooth surface under the tub.

The photo is the old drain shoe. The light colored sealant from decades ago is hard to the touch. There's also a dab of the same material on a nearby girder where the installer wiped his finger.

I am worried the sealant is epoxy not putty. I would like feedback re:

(a) What type of sealant is it? Could it be a hard-to-remove epoxy or is it just hardened putty?

(b) If epoxy, how do I best remove it cleanly without destroying the tub drain hole?

Thanks
(also see http://imgur.com/a/DZJUy )

IMG_7223 copy.JPG
 
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Terry

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When I see old stuff like that and it needs replacing, I install new plastic and use the rubber washer that comes in the kit.

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I install the upper overflow, and the shoe to the tub first. Then I glue up the santee and pipe sections.
If needed, I then remove the entire glued up assembly if I'm going back and dropping a tub in over an area without access from below.
 
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Dougster

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Like Watco, the Geberit kit is plastic and rubber. My question is, can the old tub shoe sealant (see photo) be cleaned off underneath well enough, or would the scraping and residue prevent me from getting a good seal if I attempt to retrofit the old steel tub with a new Watco or Geberit drain kit?

(also see http://imgur.com/a/DZJUy )
 
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Dougster

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Given I want to keep the old steel tub, my original plan was to replace the old tub drain shoe & overflow assembly with rubber gaskets and plastic tubes. This was because the bigger project replaces the nearby galvanized drain lines with ABS, including the trap.

However given the rust on the tub’s overflow flange (see below), a safer approach might be to keep the old drain assembly, and just cut away the assembly's brass slip nut below the tee, leaving a stub of a tailpiece. (I figure I can leave enough of a stub for a Fernco DTC-150 to grab, i.e. at least 1-1/16”.)

The detailed steps are illustrated in the second photo below.

Am I too optimistic about the old tailpiece holding together?

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hallBath-tubDrain-01-marked.jpg


This looks like a Price Pfister tub drain.
 
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