Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion pump nozzle polishing mistake?

good day members. today was my first attempt at polishing a pump nozzle. i am working on a Gilbarco 966 model. I started to remove rough areas with paper until i noticed i was exposing brass underneath the silver colored metal. Probably too aggressive on my part. Did I ruin the nozzle tube? Not sure if nozzles had a silver colored body with a brass tube. Any input appreciated, thanks, Denis

You removed the bright nickel plating, exposing the brass underneath. You can leave it as is or pay to have the entire nozzle nickel plated again, but that option could cost more than you care to spend.
Joe

Years ago, we always polished our nozzles. It was time consuming and costly. I started noticing that the polished nozzle did nothing in the overall sale of a pump. If anything, it was a cause of concern by buyers worrying about having to polish it later, by hand. I adopted the use of glass bead blasting and clear coating. It puts the nozzle back to the patina that it was when new. If I blast off the nickel, in some areas, it helps with the look of age and use. Try it. You might like the look? If not, you can always blast it again and go back to the polish route. Regards, Paul www.severngaspumps.com

If the nozzle is brass, I personally like the polished look. If it were going on a patina pump that wouldn't look right though. The polished nozzles only look good on fully restored pumps IMO.

BrianH

Thanks Joe,Gasman and Brian, info much appreciated!