Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion To gut or not to gut gas pumps? That is the quest

...I would suggest that many people who look at a restored pump, might make the assumption that the internals are still inside...as they might when viewing a restored Coke machine...

My experience:
Remove the lower panel & show a novice a gas pump with it's lower internals all removed.......you can hear crickets chirping.

Show that same novice a gas pump with it's lower internals intact,and they're speaking about the marvel of it all.

Folks the heart of this Hobby (debate and the love of the American Gas Station) is still alive and beating! And from the passion I've read, this heart is very strong...

This debate has been going on since the Hobby started... My Dad, told me about such debates going on in the late 1940s and early 50s... I myself witnessed these debates in the later 1950s up to now...

It has always been up to the individual... As, too whether or not they removed the guts... I've owned and sold more than a few pumps with the guts intact... I've owned and sold many more pumps with the guts removed...

Hopefully, this debate will go on for many, many years in the future... And I also hope, that when the debate is raised. It will generate this same passion that we see now!....

thats interesting Bob... because the same collectors in the 50s and 60s probably used this era as the point of reference when talking about the 'new' collectors not wanting a pump that has been gutted.

however, here it is 2014. and for the most part, I don't think anyone is going to turn down a pump they want because it is gutted. I'm sure it will be the same way in 2040, and gutted pumps will still continue to thrive in the hobby just as well as non-gutted.

Todd,
Having been in manufacturing for 33 years now I always marvel at how things built back then were made to last. Those internals are a great example of a byegone era. For what its worth, if it were mine I would not gut it. Call me odd but I would always look at it and beam with pride about the quality craftsmanship that made this country great. What a great reminder of how things should be done.

Man that's an awesome twin ...great condition...there are not many pumps period where I am from so I'm usually left buying basket cases and working on them to make them nice...it's 50/50 as to guts no guts...but never affects me buying one...probably the pumps I buy most would consider junk...lol.

Unless the pump is very unique or rare, pumps are so much easier to handle without the guts.