Pilot Custom 74 Section Really Does Unscrew Into Two Pieces

[Bookman]

I'm going to assume others have made this breakthrough and either they didn't post any pats on their own backs or their self-accolades, crazy-glued to helpful suggestions, are parked way in the back. I did a search, but reading through all the Custom 74 results was like reading a smartphone contract.

 

Anyway, have any Custom 74 owners found ink down there inside the see-through section, trapped between the plastic grip on the outside and the metal conduit on the inside? Of course you have. And of course you saw those threads in there. I know Stephen Brown saw them when he reviewed the Custom 74. He said he'd tried to unscrew the plastic from the metal interior, but the pieces wouldn't budge; and, since he feared he might break the section if he applied more force, he abandoned the attempt. I didn't exactly abandon the attempt. In fact every time I cleaned the pen I gave that threaded area a snappy twist. Not too hard. I didn't want Stephen Brown saying he told me so, even if he only said it in my mind's ear. Just a twist—a one-off and then done. And today, after a year and a half, I felt movement. So this time I forced the matter somewhat, not twisting hard, still afraid something could go wrong. It didn't. It opened up.

 

For those of you who have already performed this miracle, my hat's off to you.

 

A little lesson for the kids. Tiny strokes fell great oaks.

 

The metal piece inside the grip looks like an ordinary liquid conduit with a stationary flange in the middle between the two sets of threads, one for the removable plastic grip and the other for the barrel. Take care when you remove the grip: between it and the flange there's a chrome washer that may decide to make a run for it while you're not paying attention. And, in case you didn't know (I didn't), there's a skinny O-ring on the other side of the flange which, when the barrel is attached, rests between the flange and the opening to the barrel.

 

The O-rings Goulet Pens sells for the Platinum Preppy fit over the threads that the plastic grip screws onto. I've installed one and we'll see if it keeps the ink out. If not, I'll try removing the chrome washer next. And if that doesn't work I'll try silicone grease.

Edited July 10, 2017 by Bookman

[LuckyKate]

This is really helpful, though maybe not for the reasons for your post (sorry). I have a Pilot 74 whose con 70 wouldn't twist off. It seemed to be superglued to the section. I finally got the converter to twist off but now it won't fit back again.

 

Looking at your photos I can see a piece is missing, the piece at 9 o'clock. Is that the nib collar? Does anyone know where I could find another one? My pen came minus that piece, with the converter glued onto the section directly!

 

Thanks!

[Bookman]

  On 7/12/2017 at 8:36 PM, LuckyKate said:

This is really helpful, though maybe not for the reasons for your post (sorry). I have a Pilot 74 whose con 70 wouldn't twist off. It seemed to be superglued to the section. I finally got the converter to twist off but now it won't fit back again.

 

Looking at your photos I can see a piece is missing, the piece at 9 o'clock. Is that the nib collar? Does anyone know where I could find another one? My pen came minus that piece, with the converter glued onto the section directly!

 

Thanks!

 

That sounds bad indeed. Yes, the piece at 9 o'clock is the collar. And it's too bad you don't have it, for obvious reasons. Since the Custom 74 is still in production, Pilot's in-house warranty-repair division would have these readily available to its technicians. I would try to contact Pilot Pens and see if this is a part you can buy directly from the company.

[fjoly79]

Looks very much like a TWSBI Vac 700R doesn't it? I have the TSWBI, tried to dismantle it (changed the original TWSBI find nib for a Goulet #6 1.5mm stub nib) and worked perfectly well; changed back to the TWSBI Fine nib and writes perfectly.
​Thanks for sharing, Bookman. I share your passion for pens and looking at your profile, simple boring stuff...

[Bookman]

  On 7/17/2017 at 5:11 PM, fjoly79ink said:

Looks very much like a TWSBI Vac 700R doesn't it? I have the TSWBI, tried to dismantle it (changed the original TWSBI find nib for a Goulet #6 1.5mm stub nib) and worked perfectly well; changed back to the TWSBI Fine nib and writes perfectly.

​Thanks for sharing, Bookman. I share your passion for pens and looking at your profile, simple boring stuff...

 

I would say that the similarity in appearance is deceptive. The difference is that the section of the TWSBI doesn't comprise a metal conduit covered by a plastic grip that screws onto it, a union as difficult to separate in this instance as two pieces of steel welded together. That's what faces the owner of a Pilot Custom 74, and that's the point of my post and the video. Owners dismantling the Custom 74 get down to the section as shown in my last photo above and that's as far as they get, despite the fact that (1) threads are plainly visible to the demonstrator owner when he/she sees through the see-through plastic grip and (2) ink gets trapped in that space; and, because the grip won't unscrew from the metal conduit, the ink stays trapped in there and risks permanently staining the inside of the grip. This isn't a problem for Custom 74 owners with solid-color pens: you can't see the ink trapped in the section anyway. But for us who own the demonstrator, it's a problem because that trapped ink is an eyesore.

Edited July 18, 2017 by Bookman

[Bookman]

New link for the YouTube Video. If you own the Custom 74 in the demonstrator model, and you've been unable to separate the see-through plastic grip from the metal part of the section, this is a must-see video. Not on-the-edge-of-your-seat exciting, but helpful, I trust.

[MathurinKerbouchard]

Thank you so much for sharing this, Bookman! The video is especially helpful.

[Bookman]

  On 10/22/2017 at 6:20 AM, MathurinKerbouchard said:

Thank you so much for sharing this, Bookman! The video is especially helpful.

 

You're welcome.

 

Someone pointed out to me recently that at least one other pen model, a Sailor, comes apart in the same way. I suppose that was his way of saying my feat wasn't special. And I replied that, well, that's the difference then, isn't it? Both pens are designed to come apart that way, but the Pilot Custom 74 actually doesn't—or hasn't, except for me, as far as I know. I'd be happy to start keeping a tally of Custom 74 owners who have succeeded in removing the plastic grip from the section of the Custom 74 as opposed to some other pen. Anyone reading this who can show that they've accomplished this feat, PM a photo to me of the section taken apart and the grip removed.

[Bookman]

​I am still looking for anyone else who has successfully unscrewed the plastic grip from the metal conduit in the section of the Pilot Custom 74. Tell me how you did it and PM photos to me. If you own a Pilot Custom 74 or are planning to buy one; if you know exactly what I'm talking about in this thread; or if you don't; then you have to watch this.

[adatse]

Thanks for this post! The ink trapped in my Custom74 grip has long irked me as well.

[Bookman]

  On 7/30/2018 at 4:04 AM, letterByOwl said:

Thanks for this post! The ink trapped in my Custom74 grip has long irked me as well.

 

You're welcome. I separated the grip from the metal part. After that I just did what I was told: If you see something, say something.

[minddance]

This is helpful and interesting. Thanks for sharing.

 

Yes, Sailors can be taken apart like that and it is very helpful in cleaning out Demonstrator versions where ink almost always seep (a matter of time) into the section.

 

Now I wonder how much ink is trapped in my Pilots.

Edited August 5, 2018 by minddance

[JDH UTD]

  On 7/12/2017 at 8:36 PM, LuckyKate said:

This is really helpful, though maybe not for the reasons for your post (sorry). I have a Pilot 74 whose con 70 wouldn't twist off. It seemed to be superglued to the section. I finally got the converter to twist off but now it won't fit back again.

 

Looking at your photos I can see a piece is missing, the piece at 9 o'clock. Is that the nib collar? Does anyone know where I could find another one? My pen came minus that piece, with the converter glued onto the section directly!

 

Thanks!

Expand  

 

Did you happen to get to the bottom of this? I just pulled mine apart and don't have the nib collar either. I wonder if the design changed?

[LuckyKate]

N

  On 2/10/2021 at 10:25 AM, JDH UTD said:

 

Did you happen to get to the bottom of this? I just pulled mine apart and don't have the nib collar either. I wonder if the design changed?

Expand  

 

Unfortunately, I never did. The pen without the nib collar has been sitting unuseable in a pen cup since 2016. I never liked the bland nib too much, nor the con-70, even without its being super-glued directly into the section, so I have chalked this pen up as an expensive learning experience. I prefer Sailors and Platinums.

[Omkarma]

Hi all - those who have done this…

 

If I can’t get the SBRE method to work to remove the collar.

 

Can I still proceed to do MR. Woodman’s approach of twisting the section?