Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums Showcase and Stories, Petroliana ROTM - AO Smith 483 (Sunco)

This ROTM is a restoration done by Dave Kois (vintage-motorworks). He restored a couple of AO Smith 483 pumps in sunoco for a customer. These pumps were restored real nice as you saw Dave show some final pictures earlier in the month. I’ll post all the pictures and let Dave talk about all the highlights of the restorations. Here we go!!!



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~Jason
www.galtsmiles.com/Jason's%20Antiques.html

well like jason said I restored a couple 483's and wayne 511 custom blend for one of my customers. It was the first time I had ever done either of these pumps and I have to say the 483's are by far the easiest pump to restore that I have ever done.

I started off by fitting the doors and window frames which seemed to be out of alignment on both pumps (not sure if this is a common problem or not) and found tht the only way to make the doors fit properly was to drill the holes at the bottom out a little bigger so they would slide down the pins on the base freely otherwise they would sit about an inch too high and the window frames would be sitting higher than the top. One of the window frames was cracked so I notched it and welded it back together and ground it smooth before sending them to the chromer.
The one thing I would stress if you are planning on doing one of these pumps for your self is to make sure the stainless pieces are straight (especially the top) although they can be straightened out if you have a lot of patience because when they are polished every ding will show. The panels that I strted with were fairly straight and I just tapped out the small dings with a rubber mallet. One of the tops was caved in but luckily it straightened out ok with an hour or so of tapping it out slowly with a rubber mallet and a small ball pien hammer.

I sent all the pannels and small pieces out to be polished and chromed and the door panels, frame and base to be blasted and powder coated. When I got them back I tapped all the holes in the base ( very important) and started the reassembly. I cleaned the veeders with castrol super clean (great stuff) and cleaned and touched up the face plates. They go back together in no time at all and both pumps only took a few hours total to finish at this point. I never thought much of thes pumps, but after seeing them finished I think they are a neat little pump that would be a perfect project for a beginner

dave

Outstanding Dave...they look awesome. Jason and all...sorry i didnt finish the Bowser exacto Sentry last month..I had to pay uncle Sam and ran out of dough..maybe i can post pics in a later ROTM, thanks fo royur understanding. Again...awesome job Dave.

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Hubba: GAS GEEK , OIL FREAK and humble moderator

Dave,
How much does it cost to have a couple of panels and a top chromed and polished?

Hubba,
No problem. I understand.

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~Jason
www.galtsmiles.com/Jason's%20Antiques.html

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=1332&item=7152739787&rd=1

A pump like Dave restored is on ebay. They bring in quite more than you would think.

[This message has been edited by pollyman (edited 05-06-2005).]