Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums Showcase and Stories, Petroliana R.O.T.M. - July/August - National A-38

Well gang, Chris and I have been promising this for a long time. But I finally got everything together (and got the blessing from Jason & Neal). So I will start this off today and add to it off and on for the next couple of weeks or so.

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As you may have read here on Oldgas, Chris and I had been re-doing his rusted out A-38. Chris started with a very rough A-38 and then spent some time tracking down a better set of doors for it (years actually). We had to use the original side panels, but the used doors Chris got were better than what came on the pump. Here is a shot of the pump before we started.

I won’t bore you with shots of the deconstruction of the pump. Suffice it to say that Chris took care of that part of the process. Once he had the pump apart, Chris re-did the wiring and the frame assembly. He installed all new wiring and sockets into a sandblasted frame that had been shot in silver ‘hammertone’. While he was working on that, the body panels were at the sandblasting shop to be cleaned up. Then he brought the frame assembly and all the body panels and globe body to my shop.



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Okay, there is a bit of a teaser to whet your appetite. More to follow.

Later . . .

Jim



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www.T-waysGraphics.com

[This message has been edited by T-way (edited 07-26-2005).]

Edited to remove pump images at Chris Holt's request.

[This message has been edited by Lastgas15 (edited 08-05-2005).]

Okay, here is today's installment.

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Since Chris had purchased a new globe body and had made new upper sight glass panels for the pump, I set those aside and concentrated on getting the doors and side panels a smooth as possible.

The two doors were not terrible. We just welded up the holes and straightened out the bad spots and shot them with PPG DPLF-40 primer/sealer. The side panels were another matter. They had been run into by vehicles and rotted out by rust and were in horrible shape. I spent numerous hours pounding away on the major dents. The metal on these panels is thick and the dents were in the tough section where all the character bends are. I ended up doing the majority of the metal work with my 2.5# ball peen hammer and my body dollies. Eventually, the metal yielded to the hammer and approached the original contours. At that time, we shot these with the DPLF-40 primer/sealer also.

Once the primer/sealer had cured, Chris and I started with the fiberglass work. (I should mention that the bottoms of both panels were gone and the edges had some large holes in them due to rust out.) We spent a couple of nights slathering on the resin and laying in the mat from the inside of the panels. We made new bottoms for the panels entirely out of fiberglass. Once the glass had cured, we trimmed and contoured the fiberglass to match the original design for the bottoms of the side panels, drilled all necessary holes, and started on the ‘spot putty’.

This phase took the longest to accomplish as we wanted the side panels to look as good as possible when we were done. All-in-all, I think there is about a quart and an half of prime on these four panels alone – not to mention all the spot putty. You know the drill: put it on, sand it off, prime - put it on, sand it off, prime. Repeat as necessary.

Finally the panels were where I thought they should be – so I shot the final coat of DPLF-40 and started the finishing process.

I like to wet sand my primer with 400 wet-or-dry paper to smooth it out and to identify any remaining low spots or pin holes. This is the same a using a guide coat without all the hassle. When I was happy with the finish (after still more applications of spot putty) I started on the color.

First up was the ‘Polly’ Olive Green. I laid out all the panels on my paint table and shot the backsides of the edges. At the same time I shot the front of the access door, the entire globe body and both upper sight glass panels.



The next day I turned the four major panels over and shot the Olive green on the front sides of them.

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Enough for now. More to come.

Jim


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www.T-waysGraphics.com

Edited to remove pump images at Chris Holt's request.

[This message has been edited by Lastgas15 (edited 08-05-2005).]

Wednesday's installment . . .

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Then Chris and I color-sanded (with 600 wet-or-dry this time) the access door, the globe body, the sight glass panels and the areas on the side panels where we planned on adding the black. I masked off the side panels and the globe body for the second color and shot the black.



Now everything was color-sanded with the 600 in preparation for the PPG Speed Clear.

Once the clear was shot and cured, Chris and I color-sanded everything again using 1000 grit this time. When that was complete, I grabbed the pneumatic buffer and my compounds and started slinging compound around the shop.

Here’s a shot of Chris working on a door



- and one side panel after the rub-n-buff.



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It's starting to come together. More tomorrow.

Jim


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www.T-waysGraphics.com

Edited to remove pump images at Chris Holt's request.

[This message has been edited by Lastgas15 (edited 08-05-2005).]

Now it was time for Chris to shoot the interior of the panels. Since the frame was done in hammertone, he shot the interior surfaces of the panels in the same silver. He masked off the edges to control the overspray and let everything cure for a few days.

Then it was just the process of assembly.

Chris started out by attaching the trimmed out side panels and finishing up the electrical (Chris had to add the on/off switch). He used lots of green masking tape and the shop rags to protect the paint during assembly.

Then he preassembled the sight glass panels, attached them and tackled the doors. Chris says the doors can be kind tricky with the release mechanism. You have to fiddle with it to get it just right. You don’t want to have to put major effort into springing the doors open.

Finally, Chris completed the pump by adding the rest of the signs, the hose/nozzle assembly and finally the add glasses (custom done for this pump) and the stainless steel top. Once the globe body was attached, the pump was complete.

Here are four shots of Chris’ finished A-38. You might notice that one side is done in ‘Regular’ Polly and the other is ‘Marine’ Polly. All the decals and the ad glass are one-off’s just for this pump. Chris is using one lens from PogoGas and one from T-way’s. The Regular side features a white faceplate and the Marine side has a black faceplate. The Stainless Steel top is original, but the rest of the stainless is reproduction. Notice how the paint detail on the globe body matches the sides of the pump.

You’d never know how nasty this was when we started by looking at it now. Check out the un-restored A-38 sitting next to it in the following shots. This one is in better shape then the one we just finished.

Now here is a front shot showing the ‘Polly Regular’ ad glass and globe. This lens is one of my ‘Fantasy Polly’ lenses. Note the new Stainless Steel door Spear and the white VR face.



And now another shot showing the other side with the ‘Polly Marine’ ad glass and the Ethyl globe. This lens is one of Pogo’s. Note the Stainless Steel trim on this side also along with the black VR face. This shot also shows some of Chris’ other ‘Marine’ items.

Later . . .

Jim



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www.T-waysGraphics.com

Edited to remove pump images at Chris Holt's request.

[This message has been edited by Lastgas15 (edited 08-05-2005).]

IT LOOKS SUPER GREAT JOB GUYS . THANKS FOR POSTING. CHEESE

Thanks

[This message has been edited by +Chris Holt (edited 08-01-2005).]

[This message has been edited by +Chris Holt (edited 08-01-2005).]

[This message has been edited by +Chris Holt (edited 08-01-2005).]

[This message has been edited by +Chris Holt (edited 08-05-2005).]

AWESOME JOB, T-way and Chris! Nice pics. Love the colors and graphics and I love those A-38's. Well worth the wait to Getrdone. GR8 idea doing the 2 sides a little different.
Your old out board motor gives it a gr8 touch also.
Thanks for showing us how everthing went. Have been anxious to see it.
Rod

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absolutely beautiful... and with the marine theme... can't miss !!!!... awesome...

Thanks Chris and T-way for the great pic's
of the A-38.I've gotten the Polly tombstone
decals from T-way and will be ordering
the add glass from him soon.He was also
helpfull in giving me the green paint code.
I will be doing my American 700 deluxe in
Polly and can't wait to get er done. Chris
as you know I've been waiting to see pic's
of your pump.Well worth the wait. You guy's
did a great job.


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JERRY

See Ya

[This message has been edited by +Chris Holt (edited 08-05-2005).]

[This message has been edited by +Chris Holt (edited 08-05-2005).]

Chris & Tway..came out better than good...its outstanding. Man oh Man..painting is alot of work. Sure worth it in the end though. Looks fantastic. Kudos to both of you.

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Hubba: GAS GEEK , OIL FREAK and humble moderator

GREAT JOB YOU GUYS, LOOKS AWESOME!! I LOVE THE MARINE THEME!
THAT REALLY SETS IT APARTS FROM THE USUAL TYPE RESTO. SUPERFLUOUS IN EVERY MANNER.

psssst.....you guys should post pics of it over in "Pump of the Month" as it desperately needs a pick me up!

THANKS FOR SHARING!

DOC @ TAG.WEST

Great job you two. A great post with the pictures too.

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ROD [Mich.]

Thanks everyone for the feedback.


Later . . .

Jim

[This message has been edited by Lastgas15 (edited 08-05-2005).]

Yeah Chris!!! Your pump is awesome. Have a good one. ~Jason

[This message has been edited by Lastgas15 (edited 08-05-2005).]

Very nice looking and a very well done pump. Keep up the Good work.

Thanks
Gas Pump Gasper

[This message has been edited by Lastgas15 (edited 08-05-2005).]

A - MEN!

I prefer unmolested pumps but I can appreciate 100% the work that T-Way & Chris put into this project. Way to go guys!!!!!!!!

[This message has been edited by Lastgas15 (edited 08-05-2005).]

Hey Tom..whatchit with throwing around the term: "Clown" ...LOL I think our buddy Chris has some clown experience if I am not mistaken. Still looking for old circus posters for you my friend.

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Hubba: GAS GEEK , OIL FREAK and humble moderator

See Ya

[This message has been edited by +Chris Holt (edited 08-05-2005).]

[This message has been edited by +Chris Holt (edited 08-05-2005).]

Thank you Chris and T-way for investing the time and effort into showing others how you restored Chris' pump. It turned out great!

I apologize for the negative comments made by one individual. I deleted that persons posts and edited or deleted several posts by others responding to the negative comments.

Lots of work goes into our Showcase features, and I appreciate everyone that participates in a posative way.

If you have any concerns about inappropriate comments being posted on Shop Talk please email me or one of the other moderators directly.
You can email me at Lastgas15@aol.com
Bob Drake
Lastgas15, Oldgas.com administration.

How about a couple of night time pictures with the globe and ad glass lit up?

Chris has requested that pictures of his pump be removed.

It's unfortunate, to say the least that one persons' negative comments have been so destructive.

This was supposed to be a fun and educational topic.
I'm going to lock this thread.