Nasty, stinky stem/shank - help!

[schmitzbitz]

Today I took receipt of a meer-lined KBB that I had grabbed off of E-bay for a whole buck, with the hopes of playing around with refinishing and rusticating. Much to my chagrin, when I gave the stem a sniff, I noticed the smell of sour-vomit. This seems to be emanating namely from the stinger (I can smell puke in the button, but no-where near as strong as at the stinger end - also a slight odour from the shank of the pipe), and is particularly unpleasant.
So, is there anything I can do about this? I would like to smoke this pipe, but I don't really fancy the idea of smoking someone else's tossed cookies (hell, I don't really want to smoke my own for that matter). Normally, I would run S/A treatments on the bowl/shank, and get into the stem with some 99% Isopropyl, but I am afraid to damage the meer-lining and the aluminum stinger with the liquids. I do have potable alcohol handy, but nothing over 40% until the 99% Iso, and a bottle of Obsidian Stem-Oil somewhere in the mail; any suggestions are welcome...even though I won the pipe for $1.00, I'm cheap and want to add it to my rotation...
Also, since I'm at it, whats the best way to deal with a meer or meer-lined bowl that someone has allowed to cake (fortunately, this pipe doesn't have that issue, the lining is smooth and golden)?

 

[unclearthur]

For a buck I would trash it. But that's just me.

 

[bootlegbonvivant]

You could try all of the measures that you've stated. Maybe an alcohol soaked towel in the bowl and then pipe cleaners in the shank. Then with the stem and stinger, might be a good idea to soak it in some bleach and do the sanding treatment on it. The alcohol soaked towel should be sufficient to help clean the stinger as well. I'd just be sure to put some vaseline on the stinger before bleach.
For a buck, what do you have to lose?

 

[james]

If you really want to keep it and want to put a little bit of elbow grease into it-

http://www.seattlepipeclub.org/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=969877&module_id=16774

about mid-way down the page is the procedure you're looking for.

 

[eaglerico]

For the stem I would give it a good soak in bleach. Normally you wouldn't want to put the stinger in because the bleach will kind of eat at the stinger but it isn't anything you cant clean with a brass brush. I would do it an hour at a time. Pull it out and clean like you would a dirty dish. Run some pipe cleaners through it. If it still smells do it again.
Then, worse case, as uncle said, dump it.

 

[bytor]

Be careful when doing a bleach treatment on the stem if the stinger is permanent.
Take a look at this thread for an example of what can happen.
If it were me...I would alternate soaking/scrubbing the stem with 91% isopropyl until I felt it was clean, followed with a thorough rinse. I would then do a short soak (30 minutes) in 10% bleach solution, followed by another thorough rinse.
I always use a tall shot glass for bleach treatments...that way I can leave the stinger sticking up out of the bleach/water solution.
FWIW: My wife is a Microbiologist and does HIV research. She tells me that they use a 10% solution for 30 minutes when they sterilize.

 

[schmitzbitz]

Thanks for the tips - I pulled the stinger last night, and played around with isopropyl and bleach; the smell is removed from the stem completely (the stinger still stinks, but its destined for the round-file anyway). The shank seems to have lost any odour it previously offered after a night of air, but just to be safe, I'll swab it with whiskey this evening.
Bytor; that trick with the shot glass is awesome btw! 10% bleach solution is indeed the magic number - I am a food scientist by training, we use it to clean pretty much everything that isn't involved directly in production.