PDA

View Full Version : Old Oilers...Worth My Time?


Bull
07-17-2009, 12:28 AM
I've been holding onto these for a while, waiting to put them into action when I got around to them. They were my grandfather's. I decided to play with them tonight. I removed several decades worth of grime and grease from them, then tried them out.

The one on the left had some old yellowish oil in it. I poured some ATF in on top of the old stuff and started pumping the plunger. It made lots of squirting/farting noises, and would occasionally blow out a little bit of old oil, but was obviously not working properly. I unscrewed both the plunger and the nozzle and inspected the springs and seals. The seals are obviously old, but seemed intact. Springs seemed ok. Nozzle had some gunk in it that I cleaned out. It works better now, but is messy as heck. It will belch out a stream of fluid, but also dribbles fluid down the neck of the nozzle, which then runs onto the body of the piece and makes a mess almost right away. Is this just the nature of the design, or should it perform better than this?

The smaller guy is kind of neat because before I started cleaning it, I though it was a metal body. Under the gunk and grime was this cute little plastic body. Ok, cool. Had some old oil in it, so I tried it out. It does squirt, but the nozzle/neck seems to be made from a flat piece of metal that was rolled into the shape of a tube. The seam, if you will, has separated a bit down low, towards where it enters the body. So, oil comes out of this gap and, as with the other oiler, makes a big mess!

I just want something to use with a mix of ATF and acetone that I can squirt on rusty hardware on my cars. I'd like to use these b/c they are vintage, but are they worth the trouble? Are there clear fixes for the problems I am describing :headscrat

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v708/2ManyCars/100_1391.jpg

Big Pete
07-17-2009, 12:31 AM
The split seam could be soldered up pretty easy, thats the way most of them were originally made.

Bull
07-17-2009, 12:37 AM
The split seam could be soldered up pretty easy, thats the way most of them were originally made.

I can sweat a joint pretty well. Would I use the same kind of solder as with plumbing?

Big Pete
07-17-2009, 12:44 AM
Thats what I've used in the past, and plumbers *edit* flux is pretty aggressive, so if you haven't managed to get all the oil out of the joint theres still a fighting chance it will work. If you've got access to acetone tho, you should be able to clean off the oil pretty thoroughly.

autoace
07-17-2009, 02:39 AM
I only have "modern oilers",they look like Wizard or Oz props LOL, cool, but may not be metered right, dunno. Be careful of acetone, you don't want to breate it that much...can cause nervous sytem problems if inhaled too much. Ever date a blonde who painted her nails everyday? enough said.LOL

ItBurnsWhenIPee
07-17-2009, 02:46 AM
I dated a blond that painted her nails all the time. She was hella good at it...Which is why I dated her. As soon as she finished the pinstriping on my '72, I dumped her.

/Silver lining and all that you know...

old salvage
07-17-2009, 08:03 AM
I only have "modern oilers",they look like Wizard or Oz props LOL, cool, but may not be metered right, dunno. Be careful of acetone, you don't want to breate it that much...can cause nervous sytem problems if inhaled too much. Ever date a blonde who painted her nails everyday? enough said.LOL

Absolutely !
Also, acetone is a strong solvent. I wouldnt use it in a plastic bodied oiler.

jamesemery728
07-17-2009, 08:58 AM
Absolutely !
Also, acetone is a strong solvent. I wouldnt use it in a plastic bodied oiler.

Acetone + Plastic = Mush

Bull
07-17-2009, 09:12 AM
I'd only use the acetone in the metal guy, not the little plastic jobby.

Perhaps I will avoid the acetone if it is so nasty...I just have read here that it makes the ATF more effective as a penetrant.

Vince, what kind of modern oilers do you have and where did you source them?