Tokheim 36ADC Finally Finished - Sat Jan 16 2016 07:22 PM
After owning this pump for nearly 10 years, I finally finished the restoration on it. I purchased it in Dec. of ’06. I found it on ebay and it came from the Spokane, Wa. Area. It was a total “rust bucket”, so it addition to every piece coming apart, many of them were beyond repair, and had to be replaced.
Those of you that have restored a rare pump know that if one is truly rare, parts are hard to come by. Vendors make parts to sell, in order to make a profit. If there aren’t too many calls for the parts, then no one makes them, and that was my problem. I needed lots of parts, but very few were to be found. Re-creating the needed parts, or finding someone with the skills to do so, can be time consuming.
Plus, there are always those other projects that seem to jump in, and beg for priority.
The Signal theme was chosen from the fantasy globe that Mike Slama created. I felt the lower panels of the pump gave me plenty of room to work with, and so the “winged auto” found it’s self a runway of sorts. Those images are hand painted on the lower panels by a talented guy here in So. Oregon. The first attempt was by a bloke who charged me more for decals, and couldn’t get the colors right, than the artist who painted them.
At one time I had thoughts of documenting the process with photos. I’m afraid it would take as long to view them all, as it did for the restoration itself. If there is any interest, I might put together an abbreviated version. In the mean time, I’m just thrilled this project is completed.
Those of you that have restored a rare pump know that if one is truly rare, parts are hard to come by. Vendors make parts to sell, in order to make a profit. If there aren’t too many calls for the parts, then no one makes them, and that was my problem. I needed lots of parts, but very few were to be found. Re-creating the needed parts, or finding someone with the skills to do so, can be time consuming.
Plus, there are always those other projects that seem to jump in, and beg for priority.
The Signal theme was chosen from the fantasy globe that Mike Slama created. I felt the lower panels of the pump gave me plenty of room to work with, and so the “winged auto” found it’s self a runway of sorts. Those images are hand painted on the lower panels by a talented guy here in So. Oregon. The first attempt was by a bloke who charged me more for decals, and couldn’t get the colors right, than the artist who painted them.
At one time I had thoughts of documenting the process with photos. I’m afraid it would take as long to view them all, as it did for the restoration itself. If there is any interest, I might put together an abbreviated version. In the mean time, I’m just thrilled this project is completed.