nipple removal

[kiton]

With a few tips and some good advice, for which I am thankful, I am ready for step three of a drain replacement.

The old (68 years old) 1.5 inch steel line is suffering from wall build up.
I have changed the bathtub drain and vented the bath P trap, changed the bathroom sink and all the drain line up to the last 3 feet. Which has moved the bottle neck to the last leg of the pipe.

New ABS is attached to the old steel with a shielded clamp for now.

I am a little worried about damaging the old stack while pulling the last leg of the galvanized pipe.

Any suggestions or warnings before I attack this?

Am I best off to start with a pipe wrench or go straight to a nipple remover or internal wrench?

I assume there is a pretty big risk the nipple is rotted inside and needs to be cut out.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[SHR]

Do not remove the last nipple. Cut it off at least 1 1/2" from the hub. Put pipe dope on the nipple threads prior to sliding the shielded coupling over the stub. Tighten to the 60 ft lbs required and you should be set for a good long time. If the last portion of the nipple eventually rots off, worry about removing it then. I do not think it will be a problem.

 

[kiton]

Thank you SHR,

That was my original plan, out of fear of damaging the stack.
The rep at a the big colored box store said take it all out, right to the wye, the cast is holding steady at 68 years of age and I don't want to temp fate too much.
This is the last few feet of galvanized having pulled about 28 feet out over the last year.
I will stick with your plan of attack.

Thanks!