Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums Showcase and Stories, Petroliana Found my first pump

It took some time but I finally uncovered, purchased and brought home my first pump last weekend. I'll be the first to admit that it is no beauty queen and compared to the condition of the pumps most people seem to find, this one is going to need oodles of work. But it's a challenge I don't mind and rather look forward to. I do know that it was purchased by a truck driver many years ago out of New York state and brought here locally to be used to pump diesel out of an above ground bulk tank. Getting it out of the woods along some rotting Brockway trucks and keeping from rolling it down a rather steep bank took 3 of us. After getting it home, a quick poking around unveiled that it was originally branded as a Cities Service Super 5-D grade. I'm in no hurry to get it done and after some research, I already found an old advertisement that has the same model pump pictured. I was pleased to see the paint scheme was Cities Service and may have been used so I'm planning to use it as a model.

A few more pics. Man there is some work to be done!

Good find. Hope you did not pay much for it.

Sweet, congrats on your first pump!

You caught the fever, before long you will have a whole family of pumps.

I REMEMBER MY FIRST PUMP AND KNOW THE FEELING OF HAULING IT HOME FROM MASS. LOOKS LIKE YOU MIGHT BE NEEDING A NEW HAT! TAKE PICS AS YOU GO WHEN AND IF YOU RESTORE IT!

CONGRATS!

It definitely has character. I like that ad too.
Mike

Thanks guys. I will be occasionally updating. I'm already having fun. Started gutting and dismantling yesterday afternoon. I'm encouraged, actually. I think most damage can be repaired without too much hassle and the big treat was after 4 hours of a heavy WD-40 coating, I reached in to the Veedor Root, and everything started turning. What a RUSH!! DOC, your right about the top. I'd prefer to replace it so if anyone knows where one can be found, ( either Smithway L-1 or Neptune L1) drop me a PM. Otherwise I'm stuck with an exhaustive repair job.

No guts, No Glory.
Trouble is it's your guts for the Glory ! LOL

It's been some time since I've followed up and thought an update was in order. When I can find time, I pick away slowly and it seems like I'm going no where until I assembled these pics. As I got into it I realized that this was not an ideal starter pump because mother nature was not kind to this unit. I have learned a few things and am pleased with what I've managed to this point. Enojoy.

Here's a quick refresher first:

Once disassembled, the true magnatude was revealed to me. 3 of the 4 frame legs completely rotted through so I figured that was a good place to start. My first ever attempt at fabrication was under way.

Leaning as it was found allowed water to collect, sit and really do some damage. The shelf pieces are key to the frame stability and the skins all directly are held in place from them so next was the shelf. All new seemed to be the best coarse of action and this was the result.

Naturally, sitting on bare ground in the woods, the base which is heave stamped steel, took some abuse as well. Welding holes shut, building metal into thin spots and recreating edges were a challenge. Grinding is not one my favorite past times but I got through it and after nearly 25 man hours, it's ready for paint.

At this point tedious file work recreating the bottom edges and then prep for my first ever bondo experience! That was fun!! I'm getting MUCH better though. Several coats of sanding primer and then final 400 grit and she's lookin' good.

That's progress to this point. I've started the other 2 shelves and the top next as well. I opted for a replacement for the top. That looked like too much work.

Dave:

You're making great progress. You have accompolished a ton of work already.

Once you get that frame painted and back together, it'll all be 'down hill' from there.

Keep us posted - we love pictures.

Later . . .

Jim

DAVE ..............."BRAVO" AFTER SCROLLING THROUGH THIS THREAD,I'M READY TO THROW THE TOWEL IN "HERE AT THE OFFICE" AND GO GET IN THE GARAGE & GET AFTER IT! GREAT JOB & CANT WAIT TO SEE THE REST WHEN FINISHED!

AWESOME WORK DAVE! MAKES ME WANT TO GET BACK INTO RESTORING TWO PUMPS THAT HAVE BEEN ON THE BACK BURNER FOR 3 YEARS. LOVE THE PICS AND DESCRIPTIONS.

KEEP UP THE FANTASTIC WORK! CAN'T WAIT TO SEE MORE. THAT BASE IS NICE!

Dave looks great so far. It is a labor of love

Keep going Dave. It shows what can be accomplished with time, effort and a good attitude.
When you’re finished you can take pride in a job well done.

Thanks for the words of encouragement everyone. When all is said and done, it will truely be mine and I will intimately know every square inch of it! If anybody knows of, or comes across a Neptune or Smithway L1 that is being parted out, please let me know. I'm in need of some parts from the door areas, especially related to the glass. Parts are a "bugger" to find for this unit.

Excellent work, Dave.

You've picked up a lot of practical experience that will make it easier as you finish this pump. And when you start on your next project, it will be that much easier.

Thanks Bob, I'm hoping my next unit won't be such a basket case!

Wow, now that is rebuilding a pump. I give you a lot of credit for a job well done. Most here including myself would have thrown this pump in the parts pile

I'll never complain about condition again! WOW... Great job.

Holy cow, thats a lot of work. Cant wait to see it done, looking good.
John

Yes, I would have used it for a parts pump, way to save another one Dave.

I guess when I first started this, all I'd really ever seen from pics people posted of their restorations was mostly before and after shots with very little in between. I had seen some guys fabricating some parts for visibles and I just figured all this work was normal. I'm still glad in the end I went ahead. Everyone should challenge themselves once in a while. Merry Christmas everyone!!

Dave
I got to admit I have just blown past this post in the past. After scrolling through and seeing what you have done I am really impressed. It's very cool seeing the time and effort you have put into your pump. By the way I get off on finish grinding and sanding. Thanks for the pictures and details.
Rick

Dave,
How you comming on your pump? I'm about 1/2 way through my restoration of the same pump. You are doing great work restoring that one. Mine wasn't as rough thank god. Can I see some more pics of your progress?

Thanks...

Unfortunately, working 2 jobs for the last few months has drastically slowed progress to a crawl. I'm taking a week long vacation at the end of May and I intend on getting back into the swing of things. Would truely enjoy seeing any pics. of yours in action. I did get time to sand blast the doors when I was blasting a month or so ago. After blasting the one door, it's become apparent that nature really did a number on it. So, finding another one has become my preferred choice of restoration. Actual reconstruction of the original is a job that could get VERY labor intensive. I will get photos up once I get some progress worth showing. Thanks for inquiring and rekindling my spirit!

Here are some pics of how mine is right now:

Couple more pics:
Just put the 1st color on the top shelf to see how it looked.
I'd love to be able to find some new window trim...

Very nice. Nice straight pretty doors! I you could do me a favor. No hurry and when you have time, can you get me some good detail pics of those closeoff pieces in your last photo. Mine are in real bad shape and I could use something to go by with some dimensions. I believe I can fab. these out of aluminum or at least something close that will act in the same manner.

I'll see what can I do tomorrow after all the easter festivities. Most of mine are good except the bottom ones. The channel that goes inside the window rubber is shot. I'll never find another set. There is a guy by me who does tin work I was thinking of seeing what he would charge to make a set for me.

If all goes well I'll have paint on it in another week to ten days. It's gonna be a Richfield pump. Not sure why but thats what I chose.

NoCheby,
Think any of these will work for replacements?
Send a PM w/ addy

Dick,
Says your not accepting PM's your inbox may be full?

Nochevys

Lets see a picture of that New York State Refuge sign on your bench

John

John,
You have some good eyes to pick that out with the little that was visible in the pic. Here ya go:

Nochevys

I'm Lovin it!!

Dick, if Nochevy's leave's anything unsold, give a PM on what's left, I'd be interested.

Nochevys, keep us updated with your progress. I enjoy seeing them as you are ahead of me in progress and it's interesting to see what I should be aiming for. I'm going for a Lion gasoline outfit myseld. Initially is was going to be a Cities Service look since that's what it really was back in the day but getting everything just the way I wanted it was going to get costly so I got out the guide to pump restorations and started thumbing pages till I found something that seemed to fit the pumps lines like I wanted. If you want, keep posting up here and we'll keep them confused. LOL! By the way, the picture of your frame uprights on the base. The front right post has what appears to be a different bracket at the bottom. I was wondering what the reason is.

Is this the bracket you are refering to?
It is for the hose return also pictured but was trashed when I got the pump. Not sure how I'm going to fix this yet. Will be a after i'm done project. I have all the pullys for the return just not sure how it all went together because I didn't take it apart.

I recognize the pulley and spring.....at least what was left of mine! Apparently that bracket was completely rotted of my unit because I do not remember it. The farther I get into this the more a realize how bad this thing was and I imagine another year or 2 would have seen this thing gone from memory. Keep us posted, though. The Richfield blue looks good on the base.