Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Restorer's Toolbox -- list of the best

OK, so I hope I'm not starting another been-there-done-that post, but I've found there's a few must-have items for us. Here's my contributions:

1. Impact driver: If you have/had a '80s Japanese motorcycle you'd know why they exist. Luckily they work great for getting those brass screws in cast aluminum.

2. PB Blaster: Rust a problem? Well, with this it's less of one. No guarantees here, but kicks the crap out of WD-40 and penetrants.

3. BFH: 'Nuff said.

4. Torch + Welder : Problem made - - Problem solved.

5. No. 7 Chrome Polish : Removes rust stains on porcelain. Did beautiful work on the Gilbarco faces I have. Looked like trash, now a beautiful shine.

6. Mother's Metal Polish : Metal shines again. Stainless looks like chrome. Sweet.

7. Any necessary Permatex Product. I swear if duct tape wasn't invented already then, Permatex would have made it.

Anything else I need?

Steri-Strips

Making stitches obsolete. Came in handy last month when I jabbed that Stanley knife deep in my arm. Be careful!

you need a bench grinder w/a wire wheel on one side, & a brass wire wheel on the other side. --- a bench grinder or? with a buffing wheel on 1 side & a polishing wheel on the other side. ---a belt sander. --- a rheemer --- a tap & die set. --- a container full of assorted sizes of brass bolts, screws, & nuts. --- 1 super sharp (NEW!) straight blade screwdriver.(i have one thats only used to take wayne 60s apart.) --- 1 TUBE OF SUPER GLUE!!! now whenever i get a cut i just super glue it shut & keep on workin.
tired of wrapping the cut up with a rag or paper towel & some masking tape then 20 minutes later red stuff is dripping all over my project again!!!!!!! those steri-strips sound interesting though! --- i get the regular super glue from some chicky i know at the mayo clinic. its made for cuts. but any old super glue works.

I worked in the maintenance shop at a hospital for awhile. One day a doctor (sugeon) came running into the shop wearing scrubs, yelling that he was in the middle of a surgery and he needed super glue, and fast! We gave him some and he took off on the run. We yelled and asked what he needed it for. He yelled back "to glue bone fragments together".

Hopefully he used the kind in the comercial with the construction worker hanging high in the air by his hardhat!!!!!!


Ryan

Ha hhahahha hhah.

After starting this post I just went back to work in the machine shop. I come back today with these replies with a super-glued middle finger. Dull deburring tools are not nice. It's like a dull knife problem. They become dangerous because you try to get them to cut, which results in contortion of cutting toward your hands/fingers. I'm pretty sure I hit bone. The guys laughed at my back-woods fix.

Until they saw how well it worked. If you didn't know the history, well, Super Glue basically came from developments in WWII as a remedy to "fix the wounded". The stuff came with rubber gloves and buckets of glue. Pour 'n heal!!

Liquid Stitches is a DuPont product. If you ask me, it's just super glue.

Tom, good tips. I guess I wasn't thinking as big as a grinder, but you're right. I think a sandblaster, or a friend with one, is a necessity in that case.

[This message has been edited by Chris Mulhall (edited 08-17-2003).]

yep, ive got a cool stand with 2 bench grinders on it. one side wire wheels that i use to death, & i just spin it around & a buffer/polisher on the other.
wire wheels are where its at man! i wire wheel everything! every steel/brass bolt or screw, small brackets, etc... then i spin my stand around & polish em up!!!
whenever i go to someones place with no wire wheel i cant figure out how they survive!!! even after i sandblast small parts i wheel em off smooth!

I use a high speed hand held grinder pretty often. Use it to gut the pumps, smooth stuff down. But you can also use a wire wheel on it too, it's good for what you cant pick up and use a bench grinder with.

I used some JB weld last week for the first time. I was skeptical at first, but it seemed to make a pretty strong repair. I was working on some broken pot metal pieces that were really thin. After a 24 hour dry time, I just sanded smooth and painted. Don't know how long it will last though.

SHardy,

I guarantee you it will last quite a while. I have friends that have flywheels held together with JB Weld and have been operable for three years. Not the smartest thing, but it's doing the trick for these welderless goofs!

Oh yeah, how could I forget the RANDOM ORBIT SANDER????? My Black + Decker (cheap Dewalt) velcro pad is my best friend when it comes to sheet panels. If there's more paint than rust, the sander is the way.

Chris, I use an electric sabre saw with a 6 inch metal cutting blade to "gut" the pump. This really works slick as it's pretty hard to get some of the pipe fittings loose even if you can get a pipe wrench on them. They're expensive but save lots of time and knuckles.
Rod
in Nebraska

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I'm with Chris. My "sawzall" with the diamond blade is my best friend when it comes to "gutting" pumps anymore. Like butter! I can gut a pump in less than 10 minutes. Cuts through rusty bolts, pipes, and even cast mounting plates if needed.

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Don "oltoydoc" Sherwood
Vintage Gas

Hey you guys with your sawzall's are taking all the fun out of gutting a pump! I spend a couple of hours apiece gutting a pump. Busted knuckles, rotten gas on the shop floor, oil dry everywhere and a pile of rusted nuts/bolts/pipe fittings/etc. sitting in a scrap box. Now that's fun!

Really, I enjoy the process. Each pump is another challange and I'm in no hurry. Besides, it lets me study the way the pump was constructed and plan my 'mode of attack' for the restoration.

Later . . .

Jim