Oldgas.com Home
Posted By: travis_towle My Tokheim 39 Tall Boys - RESTORED - Thu Jun 05 2003 03:05 AM
Ok, here they are - the 2 boys I just got done! Now I am starting on 2 more I just bought... These new ones I will sell...


Travis E. Towle
Topeka, Kansas






Posted By: pumpman2 Re: My Tokheim 39 Tall Boys - RESTORED - Thu Jun 05 2003 03:08 AM
Great looking pumps TRAVIS.
-----JERRY

------------------
Posted By: Dwaine Buck Re: My Tokheim 39 Tall Boys - RESTORED - Thu Jun 05 2003 03:29 AM
You did a real nice job on them, are you going to sell them ????
Posted By: T-way Re: My Tokheim 39 Tall Boys - RESTORED - Thu Jun 05 2003 10:40 AM
Verry Kewl!

Keep those photos coming - they keep me enthusastic about working on my projects.

Later . . .

Jim
Posted By: +Chris Holt Re: My Tokheim 39 Tall Boys - RESTORED - Thu Jun 05 2003 10:54 AM
Travis, your pumps are Great, I like that combination, Skychief and Firechief , You do good work!!
Posted By: STLMach1 Re: My Tokheim 39 Tall Boys - RESTORED - Thu Jun 05 2003 01:25 PM
Travis,

Fantastic job on the pumps! As a newbie, I have to ask, how did you get the computer and internals so show room sweet? Was the computer disassembled and the individual components cleaned and painted? If so I can imagine that being a nightmare!

Thanks for sharing the pics and any hints as to how you pulled them off!

Great job,


------------------
Michael Botkin
2 Bennett 966's
Bowser 595 (Looking for parts)
71 Mach 1 Mustang
Posted By: travis_towle Re: My Tokheim 39 Tall Boys - RESTORED - Thu Jun 05 2003 05:08 PM
STLMach1,

The computer in the red pump....
I took it apart, not to hard to do. I had to make some special tools to get the reals out without hurting them and look everything over. I got it back together and working correctly again "after a few trys". After you figure it out it is very easy, but it takes some time to figure out exactly how it works. I just cleaned the numbers up and touched them up with paint here and there. Looks brand new.

The Spinners...
The spinners you see in the red pump are re-builds. I found red-green plastic rebuilds at Pergal for only 4 bucks. Had to drill out the top rivet and then use plastic epoxy to glue them back together. Now they look new and original.

The Metal...
I sandblasted all the parts using my own sandblaster that I bought at harbor freight. I have there little 220 air compresser and a table top blasting cabnet and then the 40 pound outside unit. Using FINE landscape sand from home depot I was able to use this just fine. 100 pounds of sand per panel. Then I hammered out the dents the best I could and bondo'd them over. Using Harbor Freights in-line air sander I hit them with 36 grit to smooth the bondo down. Then re-bondo again, and hit it with 80. Worked GREAT... For the small dings left over from bad rust, I filled that with glazeing putty and sanded down by hand with 100 grit, then went over the whole panel with 100 grit by hand - just to smooth everything over. For the crome I just used a buffing wheel, and polish stick on a grinder - look new...

That Primer and prep...
RUSTOLEUM, primed 3 times, wet sanding by hand with a block each time - first 220 grit - then re-prime and spec-it with color paint for ding showing and 400 grit - and scratches or dings that show up I filled with a little glazeing putty and wet sanded that down. Then re-prime only and 600 grit wet - By the time I finished the panels were new and flat, Outside only who cares about the inside... as long as it is clean and painted...

The Paint...
RUSTOLUEM, painting it with a spray can holder "helps a ton" it goes on just like a car, just keeping a wet lap you will get no lines. Let it set 48 hours between painting. Very easy and mess free... I tell people that I did the pump this way and they do not believe me, "spray paint?" they say does not look like real paint, they say these look like cars....

The Finish...
To finish the pumps off I used Mguaryers wax, first a cleaner, and then a polish, and then 2 coats of wax. For the signs I took them to a sign shop and had magnets put on the back of them. Since the pump gets put against a wall, I left the back computer faces off, and just put in clear glass from home depot, using hot glue and window screen rubber for the gaskets. This saved a little because I did not need signes on the back and just put clear plexeglass on the back of the globe. I took the original id plates and wired them inside the pump so you still have the original age of the pump with it.

What I learned, ANY of these pumps will take me only 20 working hours to re-build. It is very easy work, and very fast. The hardest thing, cleaning the computer. The easiest thing, hammering dents. The worst thing, working with the bondo. I have just bought 2 more tall boys for 200 each and will be re-building them for re-sale on ebay.

Travis E. Towle
Topeka, Kansas
Posted By: STLMach1 Re: My Tokheim 39 Tall Boys - RESTORED - Thu Jun 05 2003 05:30 PM
Awesome recap Travis!

Thanks so much for the detail regarding the process. The pumps look very, very nice. I will soon be tackling my first pump restoration so I'm always looking for tips and pointers. My first Bennett 966 is going to need some serious TLC on the computer so I'm a bit concerned about that.

Thanks agian!

------------------
Michael Botkin
2 Bennett 966's
Bowser 595 (Looking for parts)
71 Mach 1 Mustang
Posted By: aquaelvis Re: My Tokheim 39 Tall Boys - RESTORED - Thu Jun 05 2003 05:59 PM
The 3 computers I have cleaned were easy. I just filled a plastic trash can with cleaner. I used simple green first but that left as little residue. I used some other all purpose industrial degreaser. I put in about 3/4 of a gallon of cleaner and filled the rest with water. I hosed off the computer, and soaked it for a couple days. I moved it around, flipped it over, etc during the couple days. At the end I sprayed it with my pressure washer, scrubbed the numbers w/ a toothbrush and blew it dry with air. I sprayed it all down with some WD-40.
All of them came out perfect, good as new. I think the cleaning only took 1/2 hour of work.
All of the whells were stuck before soaking, after the soak they all turned. After the WD-40 and some lube they turn like new.
Try it...
Posted By: pumpman2 Re: My Tokheim 39 Tall Boys - RESTORED - Fri Jun 06 2003 02:33 AM
Thanks guys for the explanations on how you go about rebuilding your pumps.It sure helps us first timers alot.
------JERRY

------------------
Posted By: Brian Wilcox Re: My Tokheim 39 Tall Boys - RESTORED - Sat Jun 07 2003 09:59 PM
Travis Reading your method of doing your pump's has encouraged me to do mine. Sure would keep the cost down on restoration. Thank's to those who have already giving me info. DO you try to match original color's or just get as close as possible. Brian
Posted By: Dwaine Buck Re: My Tokheim 39 Tall Boys - RESTORED - Sat Jun 07 2003 10:10 PM
Hey Brian, close is good enough, who's going to know, it looks like the red Travis used is a little light , and I don't think Texaco had white doors but Mobil did , now if you were going to sell then you should git it pretty close, Texaco used four or five different reds , so only a Texaco guy would know what color of red was right for that year of pump, just have fun.
Posted By: travis_towle Re: My Tokheim 39 Tall Boys - RESTORED - Sat Jun 07 2003 11:21 PM
These are old Dimond DX pumps, as the add glass was that anyway...

I saw some pumps like these at a filling station back in 1996 on the kansas/colorado border that were painted these colors originally, so I wanted to do the same.

The Fire Chief pump is rustoluiem Sunrise Red and Gloss white, the base is gloss black, and the inside is aluminum matalic. I just used there clean metal primer. The red is a very nice candy machine color, "I use it on my 25 cent candy machines" and is a nice bright red that looks GREAT on the pumps. I have the same paint on my 1920 Fry.

The Sky Chief pump is rustoluiem Gloss black and aluminum matalic, the base is gloss black, and the inside is aluminum matalic. I just used there clean metal primer. ONE THING TO NOTE, spraying the aluminum matalic on the frame and small parts turns out GREAT, but the doors are a mess. I had alot of problems getting the matalic to gloss out right, and not spot on me, but holding the can far back and moving real fast I was able to "dust" the paint for the final coat and then a nice coat of wax on the doors made it turn out GREAT, I still can spot the flaws in the matalic doors, but others can not as long as I do not point it out.

My costs were about 250.00 each pump for the paint and parts. One thing I learned, rustoluim is expensive, other off brands cut the cost and work just as good.

Harbor freight tools are GREAT, they work and do the job right. It cost me about 750.00 for the tools but you can do it without power sanders and air tools, just work harder... Without the air tools it will take you about 25-30 hours to work on the pump, now that I have all the tools, I can rip a pump out in 15 hours... The visibals go alot quicker, 8-10 hours for my new hays...

As far as matchine the colors, I just get my globe and sticker - take it to home depot, and pick the colors that would set off the pump and globe... DO WHAT YOU LIKE, it is your pump and you will love it in the end...

Travis E. Towle
Topeka, Kansas
Posted By: travis_towle Re: My Tokheim 39 Tall Boys - RESTORED - Sun Jun 08 2003 01:05 AM
UPDATE, here is some new pictures of the pumps in DAYLIGHT... And a pic of what they looked like when I got them...


Travis E. Towle
Topeka, Kansas











[This message has been edited by travis_towle (edited 06-07-2003).]

[This message has been edited by travis_towle (edited 06-07-2003).]
© Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk