Old Blackhawk S-4 Original Colors

[dnroe]

I have an old blackhawk S-4 floorjack that I plan to redo this spring. When I first purchased the jack it had been sitting in an old shop with no roof in the elements for the past few years. After cleaning it up somewhat the jack seems to be functioning correctly. I lifted my blazer and it sat overnight without dropping or leaking any fluid. I plan to sandblast the larger pieces and clean everything up for a simple repaint. My trouble is determining what the original paint scheme was. The little paint left on the jack looks like it was mostly red but there are some places showing orange paint on top of the red. Is there any thoughts that this could be factory or did it just get a coat of orange in the past. All pictures I see have them red with with silver or white raised letters and handle. Also the side plates appear to be aluminum or some other alloy. Is this normal? Here are some close up pics of the remaining paint specs. I will get a good picture of the whole thing after the final clean up. Am I wrong or are these not aluminum side plates? Anybody have one like this because the ones I have seen online look like steel.

 

[bl00]

Cool jack.

Check the post here for some original advertisements for the S4.

 

[dnroe]

I guess getting it for 1/3 of the original sales price is pretty good considering it still works. Those pictures look like mine but they have no mention of alloy side plates in the ads. Seems like the weight savings would have been a sales point.

 

[moparmuscle88]

i have one like that cept its a 4 ton. mine was all red, and had a myuch larger brass serial plate on it.

its from around the 40's and it still works great, definatly underated on lifting capacity as well

 

[CRTDI]

When I saw your first posting of this jack, I assumed it was painted silver at some point. The two S-4 units I own appear to have cast steel frame side plates. I believe S-4 jacks were still produced during WWII, so perhaps cast aluminum alloy side plates may not be all that unusual.

There might be some other differences. Could you please post some pictures of the top of the jack and of the "T" handle.

 

[CRTDI]

Mopar,

Isn't your Blackhawk jack a 2 Ton, S-13? I would really like to see some detailed pics of it.

 

[dnroe]

CRTDI I will try to snap a few pics of it today on my lunch break if I get a few extra minutes. It has the little button on the bottom like the ones do with the light but I dont believe mine ever had a light on it. Both sides of the handle are hollow with the one on (I think) the left having threads in it. The side plates have nicks and scratches into them and it is shiney metal so definately not cast steel and have that dull soft aluminum sound when tapping. The shop it came from was built in 48 and this was the oldest jack in the place so I am guessing late 40's and maybe early fifties. I will put a magnet to them tonight just to make sure there not ferrous. Oh and its definately a 4 ton.

 

[1320stang]

I think I'd paint it red and lightly sand the raised areas on the sides, then clear coat the whole thing. Or polish the raised areas and tape them off, then clear coat it after painting.

 

[dnroe]

I hadnt thought of polishing the raised letters yet Stang. Not original but could look pretty neat and would be easy.

 

[dnroe]

Tried to take a few more pics but only managed 2 before my camera batteries died.

 

[CRTDI]

dnroe,

Thanks for the pics. For the most part, your jack looks like every S-4 I've seen without the light set-up. What is very interesting, is again the aluminum side plates. From your pics there is one structural difference that I have noticed. The rear caster housings have an added webbing on the forward leading edge root where it meets the frame.
I can only assume the design engineers added this to strengthen the housing areas. The casting of the housing also looks to have a more finished appearance as compared to the steel version.

I am now curious to know if there is also some added webbing on the aft edge root of the caster housings. I suspect there might be some other strengthening refinements to be found with your unique jack.

Now, if you got a lot of time on your hands, you might want to polish all that aluminum goodness to look something like this:

http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=89377&highlight=blackhawk+jack

 

[dnroe]

That polished blackhawk is amazing! Is that a factory piece or has it been modified? Love the streamlined look. It would take a tremendous amount of time to get mine to that point with all the scapes in the aluminum. I will get some more pics of the rear caster housing if your interested. I dont recall if it has an added web on the rear or not. Its not something I would have noticed since I have only seen others online. You think this would be a rarer model? I am sure someone out there would know when the aluminum versions were made.

 

[CRTDI]

That SJ-18 is really sweet, one of my favorites in the "looks" department. Its an original factory produced jack that's appears to have been a bit over restored. Some more info on that model here:

http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=86255&highlight=blackhawk+jack

I would be very interested in seeing some more pics of the rear caster housing areas as well as the bottom and inside areas of the side plates if possible.

Me not being an expert of any floor jack, I can't really say if your jack is any more rare or has added value due to the aluminum side plates. I do know that the S-4 was a very popular jack in its day. In my searches for Blackhawk jacks, I can tell you that I come across the S-4 model more than any other. Luckily for my wife, most of them are too far away for me to retrieve them at a reasonable cost.