I did a stupid thing to my SpeedSeal impeller cover

[mattman]

As others have noted in previous threads it's a bummer that this company is out of business, so I'm not sure if I've "ruined" my SpeedSeal or maybe I'm overreacting.

I pulled the cover for the first time since installing it two years ago, looking to replace my impeller. I decided to clean the corrosion on the cover with a brass wire brush on a drill, and of course noticed all the scratches once I was done.

I've attached pictures. Are these scratches small enough that the "engineering" seal should still be fine? If not, can I use 600-800 grit wet/dry sandpaper and smooth them out? Any other suggestions/advice?

Thanks!

[Captn_Black]

You're good mate, liquid gasket will probably fix it as-is. But a bit of careful buffing will help. You could also buy some gasket paper and install that, either alone, or with grease/liquid gasket. Imo, try the less destructive methods first.
If you're going to sand it, stick some fine wet/dry paper onto the face of the pump with cheap glue, and work the cover face against that, or use some grinding compound and do the same. That will give you a good result, but may not be necessary.
The damage is probably not that bad, and may not even leak as it is. Avoid free-hand sanding though, unless you have experience and a steady hand.

Edit - That said, if you were to go to a high grit, like over 800, you really couldn't do much harm if you are careful

[jamhass]

Speedseals are normally sealed with a very fine o-ring, so you don't want to over-sand the cover. If you have already sanded the groove out of the cover, you will need to make a paper gasket. If the groove is still there, you don't really need to do anything else, as the o-ring will seal it fine.

If you need a new o-ring, measure the existing one carefully, and you can likely find on at McMaster-Carr.