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Build A Lo-Buck Gear Lube Pump:

drive em

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Joined
May 27, 2009
Messages
66
I can't believe I went this long without building this project. I do alot of rear end work on my own cars as well as customers cars, and it is always a pain in the A$$ to get gear lube back in rear ends and trannys. I have used the store bought pumps, funnels etc. and I always seem to make a mess. I built this pump with parts and pieces that I had on hand in my shop, and I am sure that most of you all have everything to build one as well. Follow along:

I first needed a resevoir of some sort. I could have scratch built one, but I wanted to keep it simple. I settled on a cat litter bucket that was somewhat rectangular in shape with rounded corners. It holds about 3 1/2 gallons:

oilpump.jpg


I next needed a plate to mount a pump to. I used a piece of 6" wide x 1/8" steel plate. I traced the shape of the top of the bucket and cut it out:

oilpump015.jpg


I now needed a pump. It didn't take long to figure out that an old engine oil pump would do the trick. Since I have a yard full of vintage Fords, a Ford small block pump was the winner. You can also use any pump you have on hand, but the fact that the Ford uses a bolt on oil pickup tube made things alot easier. You may also choose to use a high volume pump for when you really need to fill that rear end in a hurry:

oilpump003.jpg


We now need a couple of plates that the pump will bolt to. I traced both ends of the pump on some 3/16" plate and drilled the holes for the mounting bolts and for the oil inlet and outlet:

oilpump005.jpg


You will also need a way to attach the hoses to the inlet and outlet plates. I used a couple of steel A.N. plugs that I could weld to the plates. I drilled through the plugs to make a nice fitting that an A.N. hose would attach to. I used #8 on the inlet, and #6 on the outlet. You could also tap the plates and use pipe fittings:

oilpump017.jpg


oilpump004.jpg


I next TIG welded the fittings to the plates:

oilpump002.jpg


Now, bolt the plates to the pump using gaskets to make sure there are no leaks:

oilpump014.jpg


Place the pump on the top plate and weld the pump plates on:

oilpump016.jpg


oilpump006.jpg


oilpump001.jpg


A couple of tabs welded to the top plate will hold it to the bucket:

oilpump007.jpg


A couple of 90 degree fittings and some hose finish things up:

oilpump008.jpg


The inlet is a #8- 90 degree push loc fitting:

oilpump009.jpg


The outlet is a #6-90 degree fitting:

oilpump010.jpg


I was going to make a hand crank to actuate the pump, but I tested it with my cordless drill and it worked like a charm. You will need an oil pump drive shaft off the engine your pump came off:

oilpump011.jpg


oilpump012.jpg


I poured a gallon of gear lube into the bucket, and pumped it out in about 30 seconds. I am going to attach a small screen to the inlet, and add a cover to the open end of the bucket to keep out debris, as well as something to hang the hose on:

oilpump013.jpg
 
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e-tek

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Dec 19, 2007
Messages
10,690
Location
Saskatoon, SK
Very good idea - and well-made too!!! I saw CarCraft do something similar to pressure oil an engine before start up (can't recall why they didn't do it the regular way..). As for the oil pump drive shaft - you can usually just grind a rod end to fit (either a blade or hex end).

Thanks for posting!!
 

mobetta

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Feb 10, 2010
Messages
370
Location
twin cities, mn
sweet. I modify SBC pumps for collecting veggy oil- very durable pumps, and i get them free from an engine rebuilder.
 

csp

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Mar 23, 2010
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5,719
Location
Franktown, CO
Wish this had been posted a few hours earlier yesterday, or prior to adding 5gallons of hydraulic fluid to my tractor. Sure would have cut down on the mess I made.

Nice work! Gonna have to make one that will work on a five gallon bucket.
 
OP
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drive em

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Joined
May 27, 2009
Messages
66
I managed to find the lid to the bucket. I also eliminated the pickup hose and used a piece of 1/2" aluminum hard line with an A.N. fitting on the end. I used a grommet where the line passes through the lid:

oilpump018.jpg


I also added a filler port so I can pour in the gear lube when it runs dry. I used a metal snap in cap that I bought at Lowes:

oilpump019.jpg


Finally, I bent up a piece of 3/8" hard line into a "J", so I can hook it into whatever I am filling. I also added another hole with a grommet so I can insert the filler hose when not in use:

oilpump020.jpg
 

tylerae40

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Joined
Dec 1, 2009
Messages
145
Location
western Australia
Nice work mate, would you be able to tell us what model/ year/ car/ engine the pump is from? I'd like to make my own. cheers mate.
tyler
 
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drive em

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Joined
May 27, 2009
Messages
66
Nice work mate, would you be able to tell us what model/ year/ car/ engine the pump is from? I'd like to make my own. cheers mate.
tyler

The pump is off any Ford 289-302-351W-351C- or 5.0 from '63 to '97.
 
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aczr2k

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Joined
Oct 24, 2007
Messages
523
Location
NW Minnesota
Why not just buy a pump lid for a 5 gallon pail? We've had one for years, always works great, no mess and when the pail is empty just pop it on a new pail. Seems like overkill for something so simple??
 

mrpowderkeg

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Joined
Dec 9, 2008
Messages
776
Location
Bismarck North Dakota
I ran into the same problem, and here is my solution, though I do have to paint it blue as to not be mistaken for a real fire extinguisher, along with big letters that say lube. Just dump the necessary amount of lube in, pressurize and slide under the car, and let it rip.

IMG00053-20110118-2019.jpg
 

kruegdr

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Joined
Nov 26, 2009
Messages
176
Location
Kansas
Awesome project, drive em. I needed this the other day when putting my diff back together. Next time I'm at Pull-a-Part, I'll be looking for one of those ford pumps. I checked out a Chevy SBC pump today at Summit and they're not as easy to adapt to as the Fords.

Anyone know what thread is on top of the 1 gal jugs of gear lube or ATF? I was thinking it might be possible to piggyback on there somehow.
 

SCscoutguy

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Feb 23, 2010
Messages
2,229
Location
South Carolina
I have been using these little pumps I got on clearance at walmart for .99 cents each for years to fill my differentials and transfer case and it has worked pretty good for what I need.
 

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e-tek

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Dec 19, 2007
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Saskatoon, SK
I ran into the same problem, and here is my solution, though I do have to paint it blue as to not be mistaken for a real fire extinguisher, along with big letters that say lube. Just dump the necessary amount of lube in, pressurize and slide under the car, and let it rip.

IMG00053-20110118-2019.jpg

You can re-pressurize a fire extinguihser?? How so? I've never even seem one you can remove the top/handle from - they are all pressed on.


Why not just buy a pump lid for a 5 gallon pail? We've had one for years, always works great, no mess and when the pail is empty just pop it on a new pail. Seems like overkill for something so simple??

Good point. Don't most shops have one (or three) of these? The inlaws pump a lot of hydraulic fluid like that (farm vehicles).
 
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tonydanzah

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Nov 14, 2009
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the champagne of people
You can re-pressurize a fire extinguihser?? How so? I've never even seem one you can remove the top/handle from - they are all pressed on.




Good point. Don't most shops have one (or three) of these? The inlaws pump a lot of hydraulic fluid like that (farm vehicles).

you squeeze the handle and blow compressed air down the hose
 
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drive em

Well-known member
Joined
May 27, 2009
Messages
66
I have been using these little pumps I got on clearance at walmart for .99 cents each for years to fill my differentials and transfer case and it has worked pretty good for what I need.

I have used those as well, but they never seem to last very long. My brother and I race a couple of Legends cars at three different tracks, so we are constantly changing out rear end centersections. My new pump made gear changing super easy now.
 

PAToyota

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Jan 20, 2006
Messages
4,366
Location
South Central Pennsylvania, USA
You can re-pressurize a fire extinguihser?? How so? I've never even seem one you can remove the top/handle from - they are all pressed on.

I have three water extinguishers. All of them have screw off tops and a Schrader valve on them to pressurize with a compressor. They make great water guns for when the kids get uppity too!
 

e-tek

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Dec 19, 2007
Messages
10,690
Location
Saskatoon, SK
I have three water extinguishers. All of them have screw off tops and a Schrader valve on them to pressurize with a compressor. They make great water guns for when the kids get uppity too!

I knew you could do it with these types ^^^^

But didn't:headscrat know you could do this:

you squeeze the handle and blow compressed air down the hose

Learning never ends!!! Thanks.:thumbup:
 

kruegdr

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Joined
Nov 26, 2009
Messages
176
Location
Kansas
Drive Em, I eyeballed this thread a long while back and thought, "I really need one of those". I'm insanely gifted for making a mess with any kind of automotive fluid.

Thanks for sharing your pics of your build, it's definitely better than whatever comes through the door at Harbor Freight, or those hand transfer pumps from the local parts shop.

Here's what I put together:
Mcmaster 1-gallon plastic bucket
Ford Oil Pump
AN fitting and line (too bad Summit down the road didn't have any of those nice 90 deg fittings! For now, the hard line does a swoop-a-loop.
3/8 NPT fittings
fuel line
scrap steel.

With my cordless drill, this will empty a bucket full of water in a few seconds, shooting it about 10-15 feet!

Picture attached...
 

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Strouty

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Mar 21, 2010
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38,209
Location
Southern Maine
I ran into the same problem, and here is my solution, though I do have to paint it blue as to not be mistaken for a real fire extinguisher, along with big letters that say lube. Just dump the necessary amount of lube in, pressurize and slide under the car, and let it rip.

IMG00053-20110118-2019.jpg

I know this is older, but how did you dump the lube in? I understand that the valve is one way, but do you put the lube in that way too? If you put the lube in the small hose, doesn't that make a mess too?
 

mrpowderkeg

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Joined
Dec 9, 2008
Messages
776
Location
Bismarck North Dakota
On my fire extinguisher setup, you unscrew the top to add whatever fluid you want to fill. In the picture, you can see the pressure gauge, but on the opposite side of the aluminum valve area, directly opposite of the pressure valve, I drilled and tapped a hole so I could add a Schrader valve. Just pressurize with a standard tire air chuck. The toughest part of making this is getting all the yellow fire suppressant out. The rest took 5 min to make. I'll post pics tonight
 

Lippyp

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Joined
Jun 26, 2006
Messages
6,720
Location
Shropshire, UK
I just use a 500cc metal oil syringe, just **** up the oil and squirt it into wherever you want it to go although I have to say a pumped one like this would be great for manual gearboxes where theres a fair old amount of oil to add.
 
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