Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Survivor pumps, question?

I am afraid to have a pump outside,(restored or not) in fear of weather adding to its ageing and also, they make a great target for a..holes with bb gun or even bigger out in rural areas. As hard as it is to get some of these pumps, I don't want to chance that. My QUESTION to you is; If you leave them as is , how do you clean them up to get the old gas smell out. The wayne 60 we recently got was still used on a ranch up until only a few years ago, smelled and dripped. Don't think we can get it opened up to clean without using paint stripper everywhere. Then it wouldn't look like a survivor anymore..

I would take a razor blade a cut any overlapping paint to be able to remove the doors and face bezels. Once that is done you can start the cleaning process. If you are a collector that does not like the guts then removing them will get rid of a lot of the smell. I would then wash the pump inside and out with "Purple Cleaner". First try some on a small area. I have cleaned a lot of pumps with this but it did discolor a couple of them. If you use it without diluting it, do not leave it on too long. It can remove some paints.

Once the pump is gutted, I find that a good pressure washing will clean it up a LOT! I usually have the VR out and wash it up separately and I really get after the interior. It usually takes an hour to wash one really well and I think you would be happy with the results.
Probably not "living room" clean but they won't smell up the shop anymore!

Don't sell yourself short Kevin. The Wayne 60 that I bought from you years ago has always been in my den without even the faint odor of gas. LOL Dave

Thanks guys. Maybe I'll try a razor blade, see if I can reduce the paint grip a bit..