SMC Discussion Areas

Just finished these two items up for a customer...
The Pump is a pretty Rare Bowser 565 series, with the seperate ad glass, Usually it's in the same pane as the Computer Face...  Vendo 81b got the full treatment from top to bottom, inside and out. You can see the restoration steps on my website at www.popmachineshop.com and click on restoration process then on the customer name.
Thanks for letting me share!

John that looks great!!  real nice!!

Very nice work John! :happydrinkers:

What did you do to the tubs in the pictures?  Your web site says they are either plated or powder coated and I was just wondering what you did on those particular ones.

Thanks

Brian

I've been following that Job and I know the customer can't wait to get hold of them...

Dave

WOW  - they look great.  Thanks for sharing....

Looks great John! Awesome job!  :happydrinkers:


Brian

Thanks for the comments,
To answer Brian's question, this particular 81 has the zinc plated Tub in it.. it was the last one I had done, as I am now switching to powder coating the tubs as the zinc plating process was MUCH More expensive and more work to get the "process" of zincing it to work properly.  My powder coater has some new stuff that will give it the same look as Zinc coating and going to have that done to the next one I'm working on as the results are similar but at a much better price.

you did a fantastic job on both machines, but i noticed you used a different face on the gas pump?

John, both look really nice!  That's a great looking gas pump...saw one a while ago on Craigslist in much worse shape.  Guess I should have grabbed it, since they turn out to be really sharp looking!  Thanks for sharing!

 John,  both the Gas Pump and the 81b  look great well done :smile:

that is the only face plate Gas pump heaven carried for the Bowser pumps. yes, the pump actually has site glass behind it , and where hoping that soon they or someone will make a face plate for this series pump... most of the bowser pumps had the site glass in a different location and not in the face. the originals where too far gone, and I didn't want to attempt to cut out perfect little circles in these new faces.

i thought those bowser pumps were hard to find parts for. would like to see the some pics of the inside of pump. like i said awesome job on both

Photos of the restoration process can be seen on my website at www.popmachineshop.com
click on restoration process and click on whitworth.

Hey John, is this Bowser pump in the same vintage/rarity as the one you restored here?  Owner is asking $600 for this one.  I love the chrome on it, and it has the add glass window as well!

Greg

pump looks in great shape 600.00 is a fair price for it

It's close to the one I had restored, same era/family, not sure of the number, this one has 3 stainless trim pieces stacked together, mine had 2, and mine had seperate ad glass up on the top with a frame around it and the window glass. $600 might be a little steep? I paid less for mine. Only thing I didn't like about this pump was how the panels fit, they go on very hard, and are not easy to take on an off as they are not hinged, rather hooked on the top and bottom and fastened with a tension bar along the top.
Also the Face plates are not reproduced yet with the site glass cut out, so you'd have to manually cut those out.

very nice job john, keep up the nice work

Stupid question, but what was the purpose of the site glass? Just to ensure fuel was flowing? I want an old pump bad.

I've been told it was more flash for the  customer,  get the spinner going, and it gave the driver a sense of security, that gas was really pumping.
i'can't confirm this story though.
And yeah, a pump lit up  loks sweet in the game room or garage, or next to a pop machine  8)

Yes, the site glass was there to show the Gas actually going through the pump.. keep in mind that the earlier gas pumps where called Visibles, they had a large Glass cylinder on top that you' manually pump the gas into , You could see it, then realease the handle to see the gas come out and into your car. so when these computer pumps came out in the late 40's-50's, i"m sure there was some skepticism about hey... Where's the gas, so the earlier pumps had this Site glass on them with little spinners inside to assure the customer that , yes your getting your gas..  That is just my theory...
Once the glass is cleaned up, I usully paint or polish the spinners so they are nice and visible.. i've heard of some guys , rigging up little fans inside them or motors to make them spin, there are also some adaptations you can do to a pump to actually have the computer "compute" move and ding on the gallon... that is what I'm working on next,,, key is to have a good complete and clean computer that spins freely.

         I remember as a kid living on the farm, gasoline tax only applied to vehicles
using public roadways. A purple dye was added to non taxable gasoline which was
only to be used by farm equipment like tractors and combines.
         Some farmers were randomly pulled over and the cop would siphon a small
amount of gas from his truck to make sure he was not burning purple gas. Could
this have any relation to the site glass on early pumps?