Rebuilding my ALEMITE cart

[don long]

A few weeks ago a thread was started about an Alemite cart that wes posted in an auction. It caught my eye and the Thread generator kindly gave me the link to the auction. Well I won the bid on this cart and a few weeks later it was shipped to me.



After some heavy searching and help from the good fellows here on the G.J. I had several pictures of what the cart should look like.



More research and I found that the guns are held on the cart with special mount plates that have an info tag on it to identify the grease and it's use
Here is what they look like on the cart.



Needless to say they are nowhere to be found so my option is to make them. (HOW)
I called my son who is great with 3D printer and he has a hobby of sand casting with aluminum
I sent him this picture and with the info that came with it he was able to cast this piece for me.





With that problem solved, I moved on to finding the grease guns I need to load the cart with.
The cart came with 3 guns and I have managed to scare up one more so far so I think that it is time to start the work on restoring this cart.
I received one of the brackets made of plastic to see how close we are to original.
I'm happy with the piece.



I think that it will work just fine so I told my son and grand daughter to get me 6 of them.
So looking around the internet I found what the sign said that goes above the cart in the loop.



With all the mistery's solved it is time to dismantle the cart and start the restoration.

 

[vwpieces]

It went to a Good home.
Looking fwd to the progress.

 

[The Cobbler]

I'm in for this newest episode of "restoration at it's finest"!

 

[don long]

Thank you guys
I'll try hard not to disappoint

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

Looking forward to this one.

 

[bonneyman]

Yes, this looks to be another interesting restoration.

 

[4xdog]

Your restorations are always great fun to follow along, Don. I'm sure this one will be too!

-- Don (a different one)

 

[bbbarracuda]

Looking forward to seeing your magic on this!

 

[OldNeons]

Looks great Don - those brackets look identical to the ones hanging on a large rolling 3 head Alemite greaser I just picked up. If you want to borrow one for a pattern, I'd be happy to help. I'm sure your newly cast ones will work great if they are done- but if you want any help LMK.

 

[don long]

Hey Old Neon
Lets see this 3 headed monster you speak of PLEASE??

 

[OldNeons]

Here a few pics - sorry they aren't the greatest. These are from seller I bought it from. I just got it home after buying it almost a year ago and haven't taken any new photos yet. I tried to zoom in on the bracket in question. I believe they may be the same as on yours?? Happy to take some measurements for you to confirm? I haven't looked it up in the catalogs yet to find it - but I know it's a fairly early Alemite. Let me know how I can be of help.

 

[vwpieces]

Think you just made Don Longer

 

[ZRX61]

Came across this on Saturday...

 

[don long]

Looking forward to this one.

Thanks Galaxie
I'm getting excited to get it started

Yes, this looks to be another interesting restoration.

Bonneyman
I think it will turn out pretty cool and will fit into the Pennzoil/Alemite garage when finished

Your restorations are always great fun to follow along, Don. I'm sure this one will be too!

-- Don (a different one)

Well Don
Thank you. They are fun to do to

Looking forward to seeing your magic on this!

Magic? Cuda
NO Just determination and a little luck
Thank you

 

[don long]

Neon
That is one I've never seen before. I recognize the leavers on top coming from the old hand pumps.
I hung a gun with the plastic bracket and it looks great so I think we nailed it using some crazy math tricks the kid knows
If I think of something that will help i'll holler. Thanks for the offer

 

[don long]

ZRX
What is that board under those guns? is it a display board or a sign?
Nice score. That's another new one on me. I've not seen that board before.
Ever since I scored my first cabinet Alemite has caught my attention. They made some cleaver items to use in the garages back a few years ago.

 

[don long]

I got the cart started today. I dismantled the cart and spread out all the parts
It started like this this morning



And in short order the cart was spread over my work table





I started the restoration by taking the sign ring and sand blasting it. Then with my angle grinder and a 60 grit disc I ground out ALL the rust pits. Then smoothed out the grinder marks with an 80 grit disc then a piece of 150 sand paper on my 3" pistol grip sander.
Now it is ready to go to the chrome shop



Next I grabbed the base plate. It went through the sand blaster and it came out pretty good but had a lot of rust pits and some small dings that needed attention so with a little body work and some bondo it is almost ready for primer.



With that being done less a couple small spots I moved on to the body of the cart.
With a lot of work it came out of the sand blaster looking pretty good. It has a few dings that will be addressed when I work on the cart again in a couple of days.
So tonight I've put the parts of the cart back in the original torn down positions and here is the cart.

 

[don long]

I've been slowly working on the cart. All the dents and dings have been removed and the pieces were primed. next they were block sanded and reprimed. That was as far as I had gotten until today.
Today I fine sanded the top of the cart as well as the base of it.
Then it went into the spray booth and got a coat of metallic silver sprayed on them.

It almost looks like the primer but much shinier and it will pop in the sun light!!

 

[The Cobbler]

True Craftsman. I always enjoy your projects!

 

[thehorse13]

Every time I see one of your restorations, I am left with only one thought. I need a spray booth. lol

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

Every time I see one of your restorations, I am left with only one thought. I need a spray booth. lol

Well, whatever you're doing is working!

 

[don long]

True Craftsman. I always enjoy your projects!

Thank you Cobbler
I enjoy sharing them here.

Every time I see one of your restorations, I am left with only one thought. I need a spray booth. lol

Horse
I was very happy to find this one. It does speed up my paint work.

Well, whatever you're doing is working!

Thanks Galaxie

 

[don long]

I spent the afternoon cleaning one of the grease guns that will be hanging on he cart. It was a mess and full of grease on the inside and outside too.



I took it completely apart and degreased it.



After looking at the parts for a bit I made the decision to give it a full polish job.
Here is where I stopped tonight. The pieces are only 1/2 done I stopped at 400 grit sanding.
I was surprised to find some brass fittings under that grime.

 

[Farmer J.]

I think that's gonna look good all polished up.. What a horrible job to begin with, cleaning all the old grease off. The word 'degreased' taken to a whole new level !

 

[don long]

You are right Farmer J
That gun was a mess but it looks much better tonight. I've finished all the polishing on the gun and here is the polished parts next to the good gun that I have.
.

The bottom handle will have a painted outline




The barrel of the gun will be polished instead of painted and the ends will have polished highlights on the raised areas

I also have the body of the handy cart painted waiting for the paint to cure before going any further with it.

 

[JimDon]

Holy S———! That’s looking good already. JimDon

 

[don long]

Holy S———! That’s looking good already. JimDon

Thanks Jim
I found some steel and cut the sign out today + I got the frame that goes around the sign polished

 

[The Cobbler]

looking good, as always!

 

[don long]

I have All the pieces to make my Alemite sign for the cart. I gave a picture of the sign to my friend and he has duplicated the lettering for me. So I'm ready to start making the sign. I've gotten one grease gun 90% polished and painted so I'm getting close on this project.

The original sign (A Picture)



My art work



And here is the first of several grease guns that will hang on my cart

Before


After

 

[alemite]

Coming together so nicely Don!

 

[shortykorte]

Don, what did you use to clean the grease off besides wiping with a lot of towels?

another masterpiece.

 

[don long]

Coming together so nicely Don!

Thanks Damon
All the hard stuff is figured out and done. Now it's just polishing and a little paintin and puttin together. Won't be long now if I can find a bit of shop time!

Don, what did you use to clean the grease off besides wiping with a lot of towels?

another masterpiece.

Thanks Shorty
I used Lacquer thinner and a small wire brush and it worked pretty well

 

[don long]

Ready to go back into the paint booth again.
And the sign board will get the first coat of primer today too

 

[don long]

Today I was able to get the sign plate drilled for hanging and gave it a coat of etching primer and will let it sit for a couple of days to cure because of the cold weather (Rain) it will take a bit more time than normal.

 

[don long]

I painted the sign blank with a high metallic silver for the letters.



Then went in and started putting the cart together for the last time.


I also unwrapped the painted parts of the one grease gun and put it together for the final time too

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

Those grease guns are so cool. Can't wait to see it put together!

 

[don long]

Those grease guns are so cool. Can't wait to see it put together!

Here is as close as it will get for a few days.
I'm very happy with the looks of those guns. The one on the left is my next project.



I need to get those hanging brackets cast and name plates made for them.
The sign will be hanging by this weekend.

 

[don long]

I was able to spend a bit of time out in the shop today and got the sign decals put on but I'm not to happy with them so I'll go back and redo it tomorrow.
I did get the hanger bars polished up and mounted permanently and they look good so not all was a loss today

 

[don long]

I started working on 3 more guns for the cart



I got them apart and the pieces polished

View attachment 1586449

I will mask off the polished parts of the pieces and paint them maroon like the color of cart.

 

[don long]

Working on the handicart today got it closer to the finish line. The sign is now finished and hung on the cart.
The letter color is a bright metallic silver and the base color is a bright dark grey metallic.
I have all the gunhangers here and ready to be painted so that is the next step for this cart. The grease guns are in the process of being polished so the end of this project is near.