Tomb Stone Porto Power rebuild

[don long]

A couple months ago I was fortunate enough to receive an empty Tomb Stone porto power case in poor condition. I already had one with the original porto power in it. I thought it would display better if one could see the open case with the tools inside and the closed case next to it. I went ahead and restored the new case




I recreated the decals inside and out. Chromed the handles and with a bit of assembly the case was finished.

 

[don long]

So after a few months I have found the time to start cleaning up the original porto power for the finished case



The work started yesterday by pulling everything out of the case and sorting through the parts to see what I would keep in the case and what would go into my stock pile.



With the parts all sorted I started by sand blasting all the pipe fittings



Next I took sand paper to the pipes and sanded out most of the nicks and gouges before using the wire wheel on my block grinder to clean up the threads. The hydraulic hose will have to be replaced and shortened to fit the case better.



That's where I left it last night

 

[don long]

Today was a long tedious day. I took my 3" pistol grip grinder and with 80 grit sand paper I started cleaning and smoothing out the different feet for the porto power. At this point I've decided to pretty up the pieces for a prettier display. Looking at each piece individually I decided what areas to polish to a chrome finish and what areas to paint. Then started working over each piece. I smoothed each piece completely to a 220 grit finish before going any finer with the sand paper on the areas to be polished



This took up most of my day. Each piece will be masked off to cover the polished area before I paint them.
Next I turned back to the pipes and finished smoothing them out before masking off the threaded areas

 

[don long]

So the pump is next up. The ram is in with the pipes ready for primer. After looking over the pump and deciding how to proceed I went after removing the handle first. It was attached with a pin and a spring. I pulled the spring loose then punched out the pin and the handle was free. I unthreaded the barrel of the pump from the pump mechanism and discovered that it is a brass tube (That will polish up nicely) and now I have 3 parts to the pump. The 4th part is the end cap that went with the foot pieces to get polished.





I went to work on the pump first, Taking the screws and knobs off and seeing what was inside. Then covered all the openings in the pump and took all 3 pieces over to the sand blast cabinet



I decided not to blast the brass pipe but to sand it with 220 paper and smoothed the handle and pump body after sand blasting

And that's how far this project has gotten

 

[Farmer J.]

Looking very nice Don, as your projects always do.
I was wondering why you had 2 of those cases, and it makes sense for a good display.

 

[captain14]

Very nice.

 

[thehorse13]

I'd love a walk-in blasting booth. Imagine all of the fun...lol.

Fantastic work as always.

 

[don long]

Looking very nice Don, as your projects always do.
I was wondering why you had 2 of those cases, and it makes sense for a good display.

Thanks J
A before and after or open and closed display

Very nice.

Thanks Captain

I'd love a walk-in blasting booth. Imagine all of the fun...lol.

Fantastic work as always.

Horse
I don't have to imagine it lol

 

[don long]

only got about an hour in the shop due to the storm clean up but all is well tonite.
I managed to get primer on all the needed parts to the porto power set

 

[don long]

Worked on the pipes for the porto power set today and got them all painted along with the few feet that go with them



I unmasked the feet to look at the process and I will have a bit of clean up on them but I'm happy with the look

 

[don long]

Thanks to all who have been following this project. I have really enjoyed the work.
Today I managed to complete this project. First I unmasked all the pieces and set them together to get an idea of how I wanted to put them in the case.



Next I took the pump handle and polished the letters and lines to a high shine before assembling the pump.




After first look at the porto power in the case I thought it needed something more



I had to go shopping for a new hydraulic hose so while I was out I picked up some liner for the case. I cut cork and the rubber liner to fit the case then loaded it up again



After installing the new hose I've decided that it was a couple of inches too long so back to the hose shop for the adjustment.
With the shorter hose the pieces fit much better (just like the decal on the lid)



Happy with the results I took the porto power back to the party garage and put it back in its place in the display cabinet



This one is now in the books. Thank you for following along

Don

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Nice!

 

[1982fxr]

Awesome. What method did you use to polish the raised letters and lines?

 

[nadogail]

Awesome work

 

[don long]

Awesome. What method did you use to polish the raised letters and lines?

After painting the handle I let it dry for a couple of days. Then I masked off the top of the handle and with 220 grit sand paper and my small grinder I start sanding the raised letters and graduate the sand paper til I get to 1200 grit