Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Rare NEPUNE 855 Models

Looking at Joe's (Petroholic) shoebox Neptune 855 that he sold at a great deal, I was wondering how many of these 855's were around. This is the only one I have seen with what always called the belt buckle latch on the tall pump.
This is in original condition, except I removed the cover over the globe holder, and installed the globe, signs (with magnets so no holes had to be drilled and new computer faces. All I did was clean it and wax it. Oh, I painted the base.

Not many tall ones with the buckle in my opinion...

I was looking at buying this one, its in great condition, but
it does not have the buckel that yours does

The base looks a little different also.
Did they use two different bases?

I will have to look and see if there are holes where the buckle would have mounted.

I don't think you'll find any hole LC, yours has a side door.
In over 25yrs I have only had 1 6' w/ belt buckle. Can't keep everything ya find.

Good looking pump..

I have another tall one but it does not have the belt buckle,all the shortys that I've had always had the buckle.Those Neptunes are nice looking pumps.
Joe

Does the buckle actually activate the door mechanism on the 6" pump? I would have bet that someone put the buckle on for "looks". May have been the last of the six foot model just before introducing the five foot models with the site glass in the buckle. Brady

One of my favorite pumps.

Tucker48, your Neptune in the Richfield wrapper is gorgeous!!

I second that. Your Richfield pump is super sharp. Really like the Indian at the start of this topic too.

The buckle was the latch that opened the door.

Something looks wrong to me, the very small hole in the buckle was for the very small sight glass on the L-1, so which came first, the chicken or the egg? Why would they have a buckle on a 1939 pump that has a hole in it for a sight glass on a 1947 pump?

And what about the four pumps I show that were made by Neptune between these two models? Why don't they have the buckle?

Jack Sim

There are more questions than answers on lots of pump mfgs.
The 6' I had had a round cover plate over the center hole [site glass on L1], but buckle was the latch for door & w/o the side access door. Top was recessed for globe & screws to hold globe under top cap, w/ a small drain line leading to bottom of pump.

Well Jack I agree something is wrong. You have a great book and we are damn lucky to have it as part of our hobby. Nothing out there comes even close to what you have assembled and accomplished. NOT EVEN CLOSE. However it is not perfect. Even with your thousands of hours of research and thousands of pages of information, you can't cover every variable in this hobby.

So here is the story.
As I got it:



This pump spent it's life inside a Municipal Highway Department Garage. It was literally in a closet. It pumped diesel it's whole life I am told. When they needed to fill a truck, they pulled it up to the door, opened the door, pulled out the nozzle, pumped the fuel and when done closed the door. So I guess that is why the condition stayed so good. Also they stopped using it back in the 80's when they had to pull the tank. I guess it was out of the way, so they just left it in the closet.

It must have been some sort of commercial style pump that was built for a specific purpose. But it was NOT one of a kind. Why do I say that?
1. The computer faces did not have holes for the price wheels. I put on new faces to expose those.
2. The sight glass manifold was in the normal location, but used the small glass like the short pump.
3. The sight glass was formed to fit the sight glass and was highly polished stainless.
4. Like Dick said it had a factory designed cover plate over the recessed globe hole.
5. It also had a cover plate specifically designed to cover the hole in the belt buckle that is used for the sight glass on the short pump.
6. I replaced the cover plate on the belt buckle and put on a backing plate to expose the "steps in the recess in the belt buckle because I thought it looked better exposed.
7. As LC 336 pointed out, these also have a different base. It is cast iron. So it had to be made for the pump.
8. Also as DB pointed out, there is no side door. The belt buckle has the lock like the short pump.
I have to say Dick you sure have an eye for the details! Great observation.
9. Yes the belt buckle actually latches and locks the door shut.
10. The ORIGINAL factory ID Plate is stamped "H 1SA". SA could mean "special application"?

It sounds like the one that DB had was the exact same pump. So they must have been sold all over the country. Not just around here.
So bottom line. It doesn't seem like a one of a kind pump that someone cobbled together. It's just a pump that was not high volume and therefore fell through the cracks on literature.

Like I said Jack, no offense. No one expects your book to be the last word.
I personally thank you for publishing it and for the countless time spent to assemble it.
It's pretty damn close to perfect. Nice job.
John

There are other things the "SA" can stand for, but this sight will change it to S*** A**!
ANOTHER Modified/Custom Pump!
Even the guy that got nailed to a cross wasn't liked/perfect to All! Just proves you CAN'T Please everyone ALL the time.

Old Racer, Thanks for all the info you offered on this pump, its nice to gain the knowledge from a veteran collector.

TUCKER48, Wow!!!!! Now that pump is spectacular.

John, you should check the serial number in the Blue Book. Your pump may have been made in 47 or later. It has the belt buckle, small sight glass and short base like the short pump.Some tall pumps were still available after 47. In Jack`s book he shows a tall pump being made into the 50s. I think it is the Tok 39.

Well if anyone comes across, has one, knows someone or has one of those "buckles" with the hole in it for the L-1 sight glass.......PLEASE......drop me a line.

Digging thru the yard today I did find the Globe Cover cap for either the 855 or an L-1 if anyone needs/wants it send an email.

Hmmmm I wonder what I did with the globe hole cover from that one. Must be in the barn someplace...... like everything else.

I just said that if looked like someone was wrong, not that I knew something was wrong. I was just looking for further comment.

By the way, I am approaching about 3000 pumps that I have identified and I have an idea about how to share this informaiton without having a printed book.

Old Racer: any chance I can get uyou permission to use the above picture in a revised edition of my Gas Pump ID book if I ever write one? Will acknowledge you name as a contributor.

Jack Sim

Jack you have my permission any time.
Let me know if you need a better file sent to you and what kind.
Thanks again for your efforts.
Let's be real, if there was no book,,,, well let's just say what the ????????

Here's mine, not the best picture as a bunch of ***** is in front of it right now, but did it in Red feather. Before and after...chuck



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Any other Neptune pics recently? I have a chance to buy and one am loving these pics of them!!

Here's one I picked up awhile back...... I think it's good enough that I won't completely restore it..... just clean it up and get a couple of decals and maybe a globe for it.