1915 Toilet Repair

[gman]

I bought a house about 2 years ago and recently I've discovered a slow leak in the downstairs' toilet. The house was built in 1915 and this toilet is just as old --> the bowl and tank are separate units with the tank hung on the wall and connected to the bowl by an L-shaped pipe.

The leak appeared to be coming from the gasket in the back of the tank and I've decided to break this toilet down and replace everything that I can on it. I thought about replacing the toilet itself, but I actually like the old bstard and just want it functional without leaks.

I'm documenting my toilet repair through pictures on Flickr.

Mostly though I'm posting because I'm not sure where to go from here. This is my first toilet repair - plumbing project and I'm very much looking for advice. Here's where I am:

-- I had to cut off the tank to L-Pipe coupling with a dremel.
-- 1 of the 4 toilet bolts in the floor disintegrated when I touched the nut.
-- All the rubber gaskets are cracked and leaving streaks of black when I touch them.
-- This toilet appears to have been made by the Keystone Pottery company out of New Jersey. Is there a good place to get parts?
-- ZERO wax ring on the base. Ummm?

My next step is taking my gigantic bag of broken, rusted, and old parts to Home Depot but I'm thinking they'll just try to sell me on a new toilet which is not what I want.

Any advise, please? My entire main floor reeks of PB Blaster

Thank you!

 

[phishfood]

Can you post pictures of what specifically you are looking for advice on?

 

[SlowDrip]

No sense taking your parts to depot, they will be confused as hell. Parts for a thirty year old toilet are nearly impossible to get, let alone one that is near 100 year old.

So, in order of appearance.....

-- Outer and inner diameters of pipe and pipe composition would help here.

-- Easy enough,just try bolts of a similar size, this part requires no real precision.

-- Probably going to be the worst thing here. The rubber is degrading rapidly (surprised it lasted this long) and
you are going to need to jury-rig something for replacement. this is the one case where taking the parts to a plumbing store (not home depot...a plumbing store) might be worth your time. Hopefully you can find something larger and cut it down, or something.

--Maybe an antique plumbing specialist website like Period Bath Supply Company an help.

-- Not sure why there is no wax ring. Plumbers used beeswax in the 1800s to seal water closets and yours should have something wax-like there. This stuff doesn't really degrade much so I am about as confused as you are.