Fuel petcock repair?

I have a 73 850 roadster with original fuel petcocks, I noticed that my primary tap is dripping fuel slowly after shutting of the tap. Can these be rebuilt as I see a snap ring on the outside of it ?
I would like to keep my originals if I can. I heard once before that they have cork seals in them. Any help is appreciated, Thanks.

jsnorton said:

73 850

I heard once before that they have cork seals in them.

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If original they are likely to be the brass cone type.

Yes, mine were a tapered brass cone rotating in a matching brass seat. There is a spring washer that forces the cones together to make the seal. They wear out. You may be able to "re-mate" them with some fine grinding compound.
I made mine over with TFE male cones, which seal real well because they conform just a little bit.
Jaydee75

jaydee75 said:

Yes, mine were a tapered brass cone rotating in a matching brass seat. There is a spring washer that forces the cones together to make the seal. They wear out. You may be able to "re-mate" them with some fine grinding compound.
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Jaydee75

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I never had luck with any polishing compound I had, it would have to be very , very fine to not make things worse IMHO. Try a metal polish like Semichrome.

Yep lap it in with metal polish
Solvo autosol works well

I had pretty good luck with polishing compound.

Brasso works pretty well on these, it is a very fine compound indeed. I have to do it periodically on the Vintage Bentleys that I repair which also have tapered brass taps.

There is a special type of lubricant for these taps called Ezy Turn. You can buy it from Aircraft Spruce. It makes a huge difference to the operation of these types of taps. It doesn't rinse off with gas. I have found it is great on the needle of my paint gun as well. I never knew about it for years and I always thought these taps were stiff and leaked. Then I bought some new fuel taps and realized they were nicely lubricated, and they didn't leak. I asked a friend of mine about it and he knew what the stuff was. He gave me a little bit of it, but then I starting using it for other things and I had to buy my own tube. I have heard that beef tallow will work as well but I don't think I have ever tried it.