Mechanical floor jack restoration

[don long]

I picked up this small floor jack one day in my travels and it has been sitting in the shop waiting for some love.

I was cleaning up the shop and the jack was in the way but it called out for some help. It has no handle and the knee is stuck up in the air

3 by don long, on Flickr

1 by don long, on Flickr

I put it up on the work bench and took a hundred pictures of the jack

2 by don long, on Flickr

Then I sprayed all the jack joints, nuts and shafts with rust off to loosen things up and walked away for a couple of days while I finished up another small project.

When I got back to it, things went pretty well as I started taking the jack apart.

I took more pictures as I removed each nut and washer documenting each piece (my memory is too short to not have back up)

I finally have the jack totally apart

IMG_0784 by don long, on Flickr

Some of the issues I've run into is where the connecting shafts were pinged over to hold them in place

2019-03-14 15.52.38 by don long, on Flickr

I was lucky on this one, I only had to grind off one end and pushed the shaft out the other end. you can see the lip on the unground end.

IMG_0751 by don long, on Flickr

 

[Offcenter12]

Looking forward to this resto. You must have the coolest vintage garage on the planet. I can see some cat with a pack of non-filter Camels rolled up in his T shirt sleeve and a DA changing a tire on a '36 Ford with this in its heyday.

 

[whateg01]

For future reference, sometimes, you can get a carbide burr in there and grind away the lip that is formed by the peening. That allows the length to be left almost the same so when you reassemble it, you can just peen the end again. Depends on how authentic you want the restoration to be, of course. If that's not a consideration, a new pin turned for snap rings is an easy and clean way to reassemble it.

Dave

 

[don long]

Looking forward to this resto. You must have the coolest vintage garage on the planet. I can see some cat with a pack of non-filter Camels rolled up in his T shirt sleeve and a DA changing a tire on a '36 Ford with this in its heyday.

Thanks Offcenter
I can picture your vision and I have the 37 Zephyr that goes with your vision
I think this jack will show well when finished

For future reference, sometimes, you can get a carbide burr in there and grind away the lip that is formed by the peening. That allows the length to be left almost the same so when you reassemble it, you can just peen the end again. Depends on how authentic you want the restoration to be, of course. If that's not a consideration, a new pin turned for snap rings is an easy and clean way to reassemble it.

Dave

Thanks for the tip Dave
This will be a custom resto like most of what I do

 

[don long]

I made a little headway on the jack today
All the pieces have been sand blasted or hit with the wire wheel

2019-04-03 08.07.18 by don long, on Flickr

I straightened the sheetmetal cover that goes on the knee of the jack and started grinding and cleaning up the shoe so they can go out to be chromed.
I also cleaned up the main gear and smoothed the teeth so the chrome will be smooth when it comes back

These are the pieces that will go to the chrome shop next week after a lot more work

2019-04-03 08.08.59 by don long, on Flickr

And just for fun I spun one of the axles in the lathe and ran the pistol grip sander against it to see if it would clean up

2019-04-03 08.36.35 by don long, on Flickr

I like the results well enough to spin the other axle and the lower spacer
to the same shine tomorrow

I think this project is taking shape

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[ndnchf]

Nice project, keep the updates coming!

 

[Stuart in MN]

Do you have a regular plating shop you use for your projects? I can imagine them rolling their eyes whenever you walk in the front door..."What kind of weird stuff is Don bringing in this time?"

 

[don long]

Nice project, keep the updates coming!

Thanks ndnchf
I'm all over this project so the pic.s will be coming

Do you have a regular plating shop you use for your projects? I can imagine them rolling their eyes whenever you walk in the front door..."What kind of weird stuff is Don bringing in this time?"

Yes Stuart

The same guy that Chip Foose uses for his cars.
He is a long time friend from my bodyshop days

 

[don long]

I found some time to work on the jack today.
After looking at my pictures for a while I started the reassembly process by welding the spacer studs back onto a leg of the jack Knee and grinding them smooth

IMG_0989 by don long, on Flickr

I filled all the rust pits with body filler and hung all the pieces in the booth for primer

IMG_0990 by don long, on Flickr

I mixed up a batch of primer and blasted all the parts

IMG_0997 by don long, on Flickr

I turned my attention to the parts that were going to the chrome shop and started smoothing them out. I got a little carried away with the gear and decided that it would be a hard job to chrome so I just polished up the teeth a bit more I liked the result. next I grabbed a wheel and mounted it in the lathe. I spun it and ground the pits out of it. I decided that I could just polish them and save a ton of time and several $$$ so I gave it a whirl.
I like the results . 45 minutes and a few pieces of sand paper and the wheel is shinny. So I grabbed the splash shield and went to work on it and here is the results of my shine efforts

IMG_0994 by don long, on Flickr

IMG_0996 by don long, on Flickr

I think they turned out ok for this old jack.
I'm not sure what i'm going to do with the butte plate yet.

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[Offcenter12]

As always, stellar work! Reminds me of a time when items were pretty much designed to do only one thing, but do it well, which is probably why a lot of it is still around. Your Zephyr is a beauty! This floor jack ought to pair up nicely with the tire changer you did.

John

 

[MushCreek]

I have the twin to that jack. Any idea what make it is? I also can't figure out how you lower it. It goes up, but I haven't figured out a mechanism to get it to come down under control.

 

[whateg01]

It's hard to tell in the pictures, but on an old jack like that, I would expect it to lower similar to how a come-along can be let out slowly. There must be a pawl that holds it up when you get another bite going up, so is there something that releases that pawl?

Dave

 

[Sevenhills1952]

I have that jack my Dad (r.i.p.) got in the 50s (used). Turn handle cw and it raises one tooth at a time, ccw it lowers one at a time.

Sent from my SM-S320VL using Tapatalk

 

[MushCreek]

Rotating the handle wouldn't do anything on my jack. There's nothing inside the hole for the handle, just a smooth hole.

 

[don long]

My jack is missing the handle. could you please post a picture of your handle for me so I can get some idea of how to build one

 

[don long]

As always, stellar work! Reminds me of a time when items were pretty much designed to do only one thing, but do it well, which is probably why a lot of it is still around. Your Zephyr is a beauty! This floor jack ought to pair up nicely with the tire changer you did.

John

Thanks John
I'm thinking to paint it red and black and letter it with the Signal gas logo and put it with the gas catty and battery charger in front of the gas station

 

[don long]

I made some time to work on the jack today.
I have all the pieces primed and needed to put the jack knee together to drill and tap some holes to hold the polished skirt in place. It was welded before but I couldn't reweld without destroying the polished finish.

IMG_1023 by don long, on Flickr

IMG_1024 by don long, on Flickr

After drilling the holes I took the jack back apart and painted the knee and drive gear red

IMG_1025 by don long, on Flickr

I'm happy with the way this project is coming together
I think it will be a keeper


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[akdiesel]

Don

Beautiful work as always.

 

[don long]

Don

Beautiful work as always.

Thanks ak.
I'm planning on working on the jack today and getting the 2 sides painted and hope to get another wheel or 2 polished

 

[don long]

An update on the jack progress.

I managed to get the knee parts painted and then welded all together.

Today I painted the welded panel and the rest of the small parts red.

I painted the 2 body sides black last week after grinding all the rusted pits out of the panels. Today I managed to get them color sanded

2019-04-16 16.01.41 by don long, on Flickr

Then buffed up to a high shine

2019-04-16 16.12.42 by don long, on Flickr

2019-04-16 16.13.45 by don long, on Flickr

I'll be putting this jack together in a couple of days.
I'm hoping that the polished steel pieces will pop against the black and red colors


.

 

[don long]

The jack is finally coming together.
I managed to get the jack together today

IMG_1035 by don long, on Flickr

IMG_1038 by don long, on Flickr

IMG_1039 by don long, on Flickr

I started to build the handle this afternoon.


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[J.C.]

Wow - vive la différence!

 

[don long]

Wow - vive la différence!

Thank you J.C.

The jack came with out a handle so I'm having to build one with a nut driver in the bottom of it. I welded an old socket into the end of the pipe tonight but had no way to keep the handle attached to the jack so it's back to the drawing board in the morning

 

[akdiesel]

The wheels look nice.
This is going into the show case right?

 

[don long]

The wheels look nice.
This is going into the show case right?

Thanks AK
It takes me about an hour to polish each wheel I've done 2 of them so far.
The jack will sit infront of the Signal Gas Station when it's completed.
I did get the handle made today.
I made it out of black pipe. I welded a socket in the end of the pipe to turn the directional nut on the jack. Then I screwed a pipe cap on the other end of the pipe and turned it smooth. The pipe is now ready for paint

30 by don long, on Flickr

31 by don long, on Flickr

33 by don long, on Flickr


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[OldNeons]

Jack looks great! Nice work! Can't wait to see it at the station.

 

[don long]

Thanks Old Neon
Here is what the jack looks like tonight. About 95% finished

38 by don long, on Flickr

 

[930dreamer]

You do good work!

 

[Bears Fan]

You can add master polisher to your resume now

 

[ClappedOutBport]

Absolutely gorgeous Don! I bet it works really nicely too.

 

[don long]

You do good work!

Thank You Dreamer
It's nice to have it in the garage on display

You can add master polisher to your resume now

Good idea Bears fan

But who would I show my resume to??

Absolutely gorgeous Don! I bet it works really nicely too.

Thanks ClappedOutBport

It does work smoothly and quietly now. It was a real mess when I first got it

Here is where I've placed it for now.
It is scheduled for the pin striper next week

2019-04-23 15.13.16 by don long, on Flickr

 

[lukedwag]

Thank You Dreamer
It's nice to have it in the garage on display



Good idea Bears fan

But who would I show my resume to??



Thanks ClappedOutBport

It does work smoothly and quietly now. It was a real mess when I first got it

Here is where I've placed it for now.
It is scheduled for the pin striper next week

2019-04-23 15.13.16 by don long, on Flickr

I love your old school tire equipment. My dad and I still change a lot of tires by hand on the farm. It's kinda like splitting wood by hand. A real labor of love.


Sent from my Pixel 2 using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[gpw_42]

Don, it's a great outcome, especially comparing before/after pics, well done!

Do you use wax or some other product to protect the polished surfaces from oxidation? If so, what?

 

[Fabricator]

We need a video of that "old school cool" tool in action!!

 

[Keyblazer]

Wow, just WOW!

 

[pancho400cid]

Wow, just WOW!

What he said... Nice!

 

[don long]

Thanks guys
This was a fun little project that will display well in the party garage
I just got it back from the striper last week and it's ready for display

2019-05-13 14.49.05-1 by don long, on Flickr

 

[casmurbax]

Don, another project well done.

Do I see scuff marks on the wheels?

 

[don long]

Don, another project well done.

Do I see scuff marks on the wheels?

Thank you casmurbax
Yes I'm afraid that the wheels will have to be chromed. They seem to be scuffed up by rolling them on the cement

 

[casmurbax]

Still looks great.
John