Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion New Member, Restoring National A38 Pump

Hello!

I've just joined and am hoping to gain insight. I am not well versed in this area, as my decades long passion has been collecting and restoring wind-up phonographs, but I am definitely a tinkerer. I am now attempting to restore a gas pump that has been in my family for nearly 50 years, since I was a kid. It is a National A38, and is in need of help. The original homeowner (and builder) installed this pump with a (at the time) working underground tank when the house was built in 1953. My family has been here since 1975. At one point, the pump lit up, and the bulb seems intact, but I embarrassingly can't figure out where the switch is!

The original hose is cracked and has detached from the nozzle, and the once red color was repainted 70+ years ago to apparently match the rest of the garage. I'm surmising (?) from the stamping on the painted-over plate that this pump was manufactured in December 1947. I know I might be way off.

I'm not really sure where to start here, and any thoughts/ insight/information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much for reading,
Chazz

...that's a great pump! I'm not sure I would restore it, honestly...looks like the original instruction sheet on the inside back door?...you just do NOT find stuff like that...

...my advice would be to do as little to this pump as possible...you might carefully remove the ID plate (third photo) by carefully tapping out the rivets from the inside...under that may well be the original paint color (it has been, on the two I've owned)...it almost looks like the red was hand-painted too, but maybe that's just the photos...

...but given it's how it's looked all of your life, why not just get a new hose, clean the pump thoroughly, and bypass the old electrical?...use LED, and you wouldn't have to change the bulbs for a decade, at least...

...guessing you plan to keep the W.M. Penn Regular glass - is it intact?...I don't think I've seen that glass on one of these...a small company wouldn't have used many of these to begin with, so they'll be pretty rare...

Thanks for the info!

I was wondering how to get access to the other side of the pump to open that side. I tried moving the pump but couldn't do it on my own. Were these pumps ever bolted down, or are they just that heavy?

Welcome, one on my wish list.

welcome aboard .. ...

Awesome pump!! New hose and your done I wouldn’t touch that pump worth more to most pump guys in that condition than restored by far.

...the pump would be connected to the tank; sometimes they were bolted down...of course, the electrical connection will have to be disconnected...

...but, yes, they are heavy...some folks ‘gut’ their pumps, removing the pump and motor...I would strongly advise against that, for your pump...again, because it’s in such unmolested condition...

Welcome to Old Gas. We are glad you found us. I agree with you, it is a nice straight pump that will look fantastic all bright and shiny. Half the fun of the restoration is the research. Good luck on your project.

I, too am restoring a National A38. Does anyone have pictures of the inside to show position of every thing?

I would not restore that either. Clean it, wire it, enjoy it.