Visible Pump Restoration

[turbowoodworker]

I've been at work restoring a Gilbert and Barker visible gas pump. I thought it was time to post a few pictures of the progress and see if there is any interest here on GJ. It has been a fun, if not sometimes frustrating project.

With the help of some over at Oldgas.com, I have been able to get it all apart and identify it as a G&B 177 (I think).

The pump was on my in laws' farm and had been used until maybe sometime in the 80's, no one is quite sure. These were often bought by farmers once they were obsolete with mechanical and electric pumps. One of the family members put on a plastic Sinclair globe, but as you will see, it is a Standard Oil pump. I want to restore it to its glory days but I will be using Standard Oil colors, not just the original color. I think it was all red. Most of the old pumps were supplied in one color and repainted by the distributor.

The pump is mostly there including the 5/16"thick glass tank. The hose and nozzle is gone, the lower panel around the pump handle was replaced with some galvanized farm waste. Most, but as I am learning not all, of the innards are there.

This has been a fun project combining a number of skills. Some I am not so good at (welding), others I have never done before (body work), and mechanical. But being in the shop and learning new stuff with a final product in sight has been satisfying too.

I am slow at tasking, slower at posting so be patient with updates.

Thanks for viewing and enjoy. Here it is as it sat for years/decades. It was not hooked to an underground tank at this point so was not functional:

 

[turbowoodworker]

Here are a few pictures of the placards and some of the deep rust.
The first identifies it as the property of Standard Oil of New Jersey. The second is a licensing or regulatory placard from the State of NC. The other is a roached out Lead sign. Not sure when the lead sign would have been added; probably not when it was first in service (late '20's?).

 

[turbowoodworker]

Once disassembled, I returned the plastic Dino globe to the family as it had some sentimental value to them and absolutely no restoration value. Rodents had enjoyed a nice rain free shelter there for some time.

 

[turbowoodworker]

A few parts pictures. Severe rust. Most of the hardware was beyond saving. It was interesting how nuts and bolts from the 20's or 30's look so different. They are beefier, heavier and just shaped different. Not a lot of square fasteners, mostly hex.

 

[turbowoodworker]

More hardware pics. Some aluminum an bronze or brass stuff.

 

[turbowoodworker]

The electrical was there too. The electrics was only for lighting. The porcelein fixtures are all in fair shape. I'm considering reusing them

 

[turbowoodworker]

The glass cylinder is dirty but otherwise in perfect shape without BB holes. That stuff is thick and heavy. With all the craftsmanship retiring and dying off, I question if a US made replacement would be available. I know there are acrylics out there for restoration. I'm just trying to keep my kids from whacking it.

 

[turbowoodworker]

So here are the innards. Rodents felt the need to populate this undisturbed space for a long while. You may notice that some parts are missing from the mechanism. I think there would have been a selector lever and a gallon measure inside the shell. Not really sure what it would have looked like.


More on the mechanics of the pump tomorrow...

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Subscribed!

 

[turbowoodworker]

Honored to have you along for the ride, Lugz. I wasn’t sure if this would go best under “general garage discussion” or “vintage tools”. Not a tool but surely vintage.

More pics of the pump later today.

 

[thehorse13]

Absolutely beautiful. I'm a regular on oldgas myself and love projects like this one. My vintage tool addiction crosses over into vintage petro items.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I wasn’t sure if this would go best under “general garage discussion” or “vintage tools”. Not a tool but surely vintage.

I don't think it really matters, but you would probably get more interest (and probably more information and advice, wanted or not ) on the General Garage Discussion or Garage Gallery boards. I think it's fine down here and others who have an interest in old pumps who aren't necessarily regulars down here may find it anyway.

A few other old pumps have popped up on GJ before, chiefly in 1930's garage resto threads, usually as ornaments, not as original equipment. I can't recall a thread on a pump resto in particular, and certainly not one as old as yours. Here are some links:

Vintage filling station photos
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=277257&highlight=vintage+gas+pump

1935 Gas Station Resurrection
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=337182&highlight=gas+pump&page=51

Indoor Texaco gas station
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=157290&highlight=gas+pump

Getting started...
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=47100&highlight=pump&page=3

 

[kabinenroller]

That looks like a great project. I have restored a few pumps and still have two waiting, they are mostly ‘50’s pumps.
If you ever need signage or a globe try this place:
http://www.t-waysgraphics.com/index.html

They make beautiful stuff and are easy to work with, they did some custom logos for my pumps that were perfect.

 

[turbowoodworker]

Kabin, thanks for stopping by and for the link. I will investigate that. I have been using GasPumpHeaven.com with good success but I have only been buying a little at a time (placards, signage and the lower sheet steel door) as that stuff gets expensive. I think I still have to buy another $500ish to complete the job (hose, nozzle and globe).

Lugz, thanks for the links. I have seen those and they have been quite helpful

I look forward to posting more info, much of it my mistakes, so others can laugh and heckle at will.

 

[turbowoodworker]

Question for anyone who wants to chime in. I have always thought of placing this outside my detached shop on a concrete pad (yet to be poured). That would display it nicely for all to see. But with that comes a few problems: weather exposure, vandalism, theft, and accidental injury like UPS truck or my truck bumping it.

Lately, as it starts to look fairly impressive (my biased view), I've thought of leaving it in my shop where it would be a little safer and have no weather exposure. But it takes up valuable footprint a little bigger than a drillpress. It is close to nine feet tall, maybe more with the globe.

What say you?

 

[turbowoodworker]

Horse, thanks for stopping by. Add your wisdom if you see me doing something stupid.

 

[turbowoodworker]

And now for a little of the pump. It is cast iron pot with a cool mechanism inside. I searched and searched but it wasn't until a member on oldgas posted pics that I realized what the inside would look like. That is IF I was ever able to get it apart. I will get to that. It was frozen tight and I tried everything short of heat (giant cast iron heat sink).

 

[turbowoodworker]

I saw that there had been a repair, either ****** welded or brazed. That made me very cautious not to go gorilla on it and lose the pot to my testosterone and frustration. That weld later proved to be very soft so it is likely a braze with silver/ lead/?.

The top is held on with a heavy ring and bolts. There was also a paper gasket beneath the ring.

 

[turbowoodworker]

First is another picture of the top. You can see the separation which defines the top from the pot body.

Next pic is the gland nut where the "packing" goes. There are decals/placards/warnings on some internet pump pics telling one to "keep the stuffing tight". This is where gas might leak around the pump handle shaft. The stuffing reminded me of old time kapok or string tamped into cast iron pipes before the plumber poured molten lead. I was corrected by the OldGas guys that it is usually graphite. Whatever it was, it was in there and rock solid. Came out one little ****** at a time. Oh and yes I broke a few bolts in this project.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

What say you?

If your detached shop was a restored service station the conservator in me would vote OUTSIDE. After putting all the time and effort into its restoration, I think INSIDE gets my vote. Someone did that in one of those GJ resto garage links, with an old air station, too. If you want more people to see it, put in a big window, instead!

 

[turbowoodworker]

So life got in the way of my gas pump project. From roughly May until November, my available time was shortened by baseball practices, games, and by trips to the Shenandoah Valley and Disney World. But this worked to my advantage as I was frustrated and tempted to bring out the BFH. Instead the pump pot was filled with ATF, old oil and even some acetone. Homeland Security might have it as evidence of a new sort of pressure cooker bomb had I not been ultimately succesful.
More later

 

[turbowoodworker]

The top came off, but not because of the ATF, oil and acetone.

This is where I ask all the gas pump afficianados and vintage tool purists to turn away, go have a beer and reserve all judgments.

I drilled the back side in a couple of places and used a punch/drift pin to pressure the back side of the pump top. It was really tight and corroded into the "race" that I had to smack it for hours, all the time worrying about breaking the cast iron.

Remember I had no real schematic or prior knowledge; but I did have a hammer! But the pot itself is integral to the structure of the upright pump. The skins and the entire top are supported by 1 1/4" pipe emanating from the pot. So break the pot, the pump can't stand up.

 

[turbowoodworker]

Forgot the pictures.

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

Question for anyone who wants to chime in. I have always thought of placing this outside my detached shop on a concrete pad (yet to be poured). That would display it nicely for all to see. But with that comes a few problems: weather exposure, vandalism, theft, and accidental injury like UPS truck or my truck bumping it.

Lately, as it starts to look fairly impressive (my biased view), I've thought of leaving it in my shop where it would be a little safer and have no weather exposure. But it takes up valuable footprint a little bigger than a drillpress. It is close to nine feet tall, maybe more with the globe.

What say you?

That's a nice G&B project pump you have there turbo. I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out. Very nice that you have good glass. I have a fairly early Gilbert and Barker T-81 curb pump in my collection but would like to add one like yours eventually but they are not easy to find. There is quite a bit of similarity under the skin between our pumps. Mine just calculated volume by set travel stops on the hand cranked rack. I think they are far better off after restoration inside than out unless you have a covered area. Mine's perched on a narrow shelf by some other petrolina where it doesn't take up much space. Ed.

 

[coljar]

Considering two visables use to set in front of my building next door, which is 50ft. from where I'm sitting right now, I'm very interested in your restoration. I wish they would have survived into my lifetime. Subscribing to this thread.

 

[don long]

I too have several visible pumps waiting on me to find time for them.
I'm very interested to watch and learn with you.

As for inside or out you will see it every day if it is outside and with the automotive paints available the weather is not much of an issue.

But I only have one pump outside and it's not restored.

 

[turbowoodworker]

Honored to have all you guys following along. Thanks for watching.

Crusher, that is a beautiful little previsible specimen. Love all that nice brass.

 

[turbowoodworker]

A little about the inside of the pump. After it was apart and cleaned up, I wire wheeled the inside and smoothed out some of the pitting. The tolerances were so close that I needed to file some of that tolerance off the vanes just to get it to go back together.

The pump consists of the pot, a lid, a gland nut with packing around the shaft and two vanes or impellers. Those impellers have two spring loaded valves (which were surprisingly smooth operating despite all the corrosion). All of the innards are bronze. One of the impellers is stationary and the second moves about 30 degrees in each direction as the handle is "pumped". This creates essentially three chambers sucking gas from the underground tank to and through each chamber to the pipe leading out and up to the glass cylinder. Here the gas is dispensed by gravity.

My pump is missing the gallon selectors mentioned by Crusher in his post. The farmer who modified it probably saw them as complicated or problematic or unnecessary or just broken and did away with them.

Once reassembled, I pumped the handle and with my ear over the outflow pipe, you get a gentle burst of pumped air with each stroke.

I thought of taking a video of the pump mechanism functioning with the lid off and promptly forgot before reassembly. It is a pain to get apart but if there is enough interest, I might be persuaded.

Now the previously frozen pump handle moves nicely. I always thought that the pump would never be functional, but anyone walking up to a finished pump is going to want to touch it and crank that handle. A frozen pump just would not do. Since the pump will never pump gas again, and since I never wanted to see the inside again, I coated the pot, lid and vanes with bearing grease and closed her up for good...unless you really want to see it work.

 

[turbowoodworker]

Time for some body work. I have never done any body work before, unless you count the baja bug I built back in college and tried to paint myself. Call me the king of orange peel.

The skins are fairly thick sheet metal and fairly rigid. My first step was to disassemble and get the parts to the sand blaster. That was surprisingly expensive, or maybe they just saw me coming. $200 for all the parts. But well worth it as it really revealed my tasks ahead.

The metal consists of two long skins, a front door, the lower door (missing and replaced by galvanized thin trash) and the bonnet. The bonnet is the round piece on top seen in a previous picture covered in lichens. This thing lived under an oak tree for decades.

Once blasted, I set to filling and smoothing the skins. I left the bonnet pits in place as a reminder of the pump's history as scars and wounds would.

These pictures illustrate the amount of pitting I was faced with. The worst damage was found under some of the placards. Not sure if the gasoline was the corrosive entity or if trapped moisture beneath the placard was the culprit.

 

[turbowoodworker]

Blocking, and more blocking.

 

[turbowoodworker]

Had to excise a little cancer along the bottom. This allowed my to practice my TIG welding skills ("skills" not an exacting term). But as I mentioned from the outset, a project like this incorporates lots of techniques and I welcome the chances to practice and use the tools and the self taught knowledge to get to an end product.

Not perfect. Just fun!

 

[turbowoodworker]

Then another distraction...off to the Roval!

 

[tym]

Great project! I'll be following for sure...

 

[1982fxr]

Put it in the living room.

Was at Russo and steel car auction last week. A guy had some restored stuff he did in Parrot. Really cool. Couple Lincoln bench/toolbox dealyos.

 

[turbowoodworker]

Wife likes it but probably not enough to put it front and center in living room.

Russo and Steele is my favorite auction. Lots more “attainable”cars there.

 

[turbowoodworker]

Finally getting to the reassembly process. Putting all the fittings back in the top cap that fits beneath the bonnet.

 

[turbowoodworker]

Starting the paint process. Utilized Rustoleum products, alkyd primer and enamels.

 

[turbowoodworker]

This is a Standard Oil of NJ pump so I decided to go with the red, white and blue colors. The original pump I think was all red (or all rust!) but I am following the Powerine scheme. My daughter is a big fan of polar bears so her vote counted over the usual Standard Oil signage.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Love the context/rationale for all your decision-making! I am the same way on projects. A fine balance of historical accuracy and personal prerogative driven by making yourself or family happy. You can't ever go wrong with that kind of approach!

 

[turbowoodworker]

I ordered the apparent "bible" on gas pump history and restoration so that I can be as accurate as possible, but as you suggested, you have to live with it. So it should be accurate and appealing to the family.

I do have one question. The pump as found on the farm, had a "contains lead" placard that was way eaten up by rust. I ordered a replacement. But now I am questioning that it is likely the "lead" sign would have been added way after the pump went into service (probably 1928-35). I doubt there was a need to label fuel with a "lead placard" until way later. So IF that is the case, should I put the "lead" sign on or not? What do you think?