Cleaning up an ebay faucet and tower?

[hexmonkey]

I bought a used brass faucet and tower from ebay, and I need to clean it up and get it ready for use.

My questions:

1. The outer parts I can clean and polish up easily but what about the inside of the faucet/shank assembly? It looks like it's got some residue in there, is this something I can expect to get clean with a nice hot soak in PBW?
   
2. in order to remove the shank, I'll need to take the cap off the top of the tower. Is this just a friction-fit, or are there threads? It doesn't seem to want to budge by hand, can I put a dowel or something inside and knock it out with a few taps of a mallet?
   
3. do the forward-sealing faucets fit on the same shank, or will I have to replace that too?

 

[hexmonkey]

Anyone?

 

[thedude123]

1. Yes, a hot soak will clear some of that out. Then when you connect it to a cornie, fill the cornie will the same solution and run it through the tap. Then do it again with hot water, then again with sanitizer and then again with hot water.

2. Just a friction fit.

3. No you will not need a new shank.

 

[BigKahuna]

I would take it all apart, HOT soak in PBW, use a brush to get into the nooks and crannies....AHS Sells a tap brush.

seems to me that all faucets have the same threads.