"The Pump"

I was fortunate enough to have a friend who had a connection to a abandoned brick yard. There were several acres of  'reject' brick stacked high and wide, left there when the yard closed down and we could have them. I had always wanted a nice brick and sand patio in the back yard… partly to cover up an area where God had forbidden grass to grow but mostly because my wife wanted one. So, we were excited to gain access to all the bricks we could haul home..

My trailer isn't built for heavy loads and about 400 bricks was it's limit. My wife (and best helper) and I had made several trips going in the afternoons after work and on Saturdays. I've always been one to "look around".  You can find some very interesting stuff just by 'looking around'. Driving through the old brickyard, I'd always look around at the 'stuff' that had been abandoned. The bricks that we were allowed to get were not "in" the brick yard but on the property adjoining it  and the access to them was through the yard. The yard and equipment were off limits to scavengers like me… although some had obviously been there before. One afternoon I noticed something I hadn't seen before. Maybe the sun was just right or I just looked in the right place but something blue was showing through a thick hedge row. I slowed up to look and saw a rectangular shape.. a little further investigation and climbing through the brush and briars and I saw it …. A faded decal that showed "CHEVRON" and over it a barely readable "PREMIUM". There sat a Gilbarco 906 pump attached to a 500 gallon gasoline storage tank… I'd passed it a dozen times and never saw it through the thick hedge row. I told my wife ( and best brick stacker) , "I've found my new project".

I'd wanted an old pump to restore for a long time to go with my '53 F-100 project truck and this one was 1950's vintage… it was complete and in reasonably good condition. After a few phone calls and some cajoling, I finally convinced the guardian of this area (another good friend, now) to part with it. It really wasn't hard… he having less than minimal interest and his exact comment was "What gas pump…I don't think there IS a gas pump out there (wink..wink).

The following Saturday my daughter and young strong son-in-law brought my new grandson for a weekend visit and I enlisted him into my project team. Armed with machetes and a brush hook, we hacked a path back through the brush to the pump. We used an alternate path... one that wasn't easily visible from the roadway.  No sense in advertising our appropriation.  After we cleared around it we determined what was necessary to move it. Knowing the attraction red wasp hold to this type structure, I told Jason to back away and I carefully turned the clip holding the front panel. Again assuring my escape path I gently raised the cover with a screw driver until it was off it's hooks and ready to fall. One final lift and I headed for the clear, letting the cover fall to the ground assured that I would be followed by a swarm. Thankfully none followed. There was an old abandoned nest as large as my head occupying half of the top corner and a new smaller nest with only a couple of wasp in residence. A quick shot of wasp spray rendered the pump safe from flying attackers and the only danger now was the crawly kind. Spiders are fond of these enclosures also and this yard had more than it's share of Black Widows. I gave the whole inside a spray for good measure.

I didn't mention before that the pump was bolted to a angle iron stand approximately three feet above the ground and on the same level with the tank.. It made it easy to unbolt and un-plumb... but extremely difficult to maneuver. When I say easy to unbolt and un-plumb you must consider 45 or so years of rust, crude and crap accumulated around the mounting bolts (none of which were the same size) and pipe fittings that were 1/8" larger than my pipe wrench. We finally got it loose enough with a brass drift and a hammer to get the wrench to hold onto the corners and come loose. (Note here… a union on 2" galvanized pipe is BIG).

I'd estimate that with the pump, motor, computer, frame, filters and such that this pump weighs in excess of 250 pounds and by no means a balanced load. We carefully tilted it over…me pushing and Jason holding under it until it reached it's balance point. I then quickly moved around to his side to lower it to the ground. It was a struggle to keep from getting crushed… there are no handles on a old gas pump. Once we had the top end on the ground, the base was perched 3 feet above it on its frame. Although it was easy to get a hold of, it's weight was sorely miscalculated by it's handlers and it moved to the ground rather quickly… thankfully there were no feet under it.

It's now on the ground and eighty to one hundred feet from the waiting trailer. Sixty feet of chopped off hedge stumps, briars, broken bricks and general debris.. complicated walking with no load.. much less with this dead giant. Now, I'm no sissy, but 54 years of mistreating my back and the general lack of exercise have left me in less than peak condition, luckily Jason is young and strong and willing. (he'll get over that with age) The next 20 minutes consisted of lift, grunt, drag, cuss,(trip) drop, cuss, sweat…rest. Repeated in random sequence until we were next to the trailer and wondering if we had the strength to lift it one more time. We were smart enough to remove the covers, so they wouldn't be damaged and the frame served as a handle of sorts. We had determined that the top was the lightest end, so we concentrated our efforts there to get one end up on the trailer. Insert more grunts, cusses and lifts here and we were half way home. We slid it up past the balance point and the heavy end tilted up… push… push…grunt and it was on the trailer.. not perfectly centered, but it wasn't going to blow or roll off either. After an uneventful ride home we unloaded this beauty onto the driveway where it affectionately unloaded about a half gallon of gasoline residue that had the consistency of syrup and a smell that kept my dog at the far end of the yard. This smell by the way was not reduced in the least by every type soap and cleaner I have in my possession.. although lacquer thinner did tend to mask it somewhat... and forget about getting it out of your skin… it wears off in it's own time. My wife was so pleased with the new addition to the landscape.

So there it sat for a couple of weeks beckoning me, while I surfed the net looking for collectors and restorers of gasoline memorabilia. I located several sites but most selling parts and offering little restoration advice. I finally located a gentleman in Missouri who has been a great help with advice, pictures and parts. You can't begin to estimate the value of experience when you're starting a project like this.

Another stroke of luck occurred last week.. I was talking to a commercial painter friend about this project and he mentioned that he was doing some glass bead blasting soon and he'd be glad to do the covers for me.This was Thursday and the work started on Monday. My problem was I was leaving that day for a trip to the mountains (the Ford F-100 Supernationals) and had no time to remove them. I told him I'd have the panels to him on Monday, I'd figure out how later. So, after my return late Sunday afternoon.. I started the removal task. Two of the covers just lifted off and the top panel was reasonably easy (after you drill out the frozen screws and such) The remaining 3 hours were spent removing various hoses, plates, cranks, nozzles and such (all of which had to be 'persuaded' to move) to get to the side panels. It's stripped down now to it's bare frame.. the cover panels have been sent to the friend who does bead blasting for a good cleaning and stripping… The motor, pump, regulator and associated fluid parts have been removed (along with 80 percent of it's weight). It's amazing how many places that gas syrup can hide in this unit. Whew !!! what a smell.

The computer will be remove next and set up on the bench for cleaning, oiling and adjusting. While that chore is started, I'll take the frame to the sand blast man for cleaning.. Hopefully all the pieces will return in useable condition and in the same month… with a little body work and some paint and decals it will again look like a new one.. Of course that includes the purchase of a globe, rubber parts, new hose and hardware… But hey, if you have to ask… you can't afford it. I took a few pictures of the original condition… sorry not in it's original habitat but in my driveway. And I'll try to document as I move along as slowly as all my other projects…

The plan continues... the cover panels are in need of a little hammer work and some fiberglass filler at the bottoms... then prime and spray on the final coat of color..  The frame is being sandblasted, when it returns I'll install the by then painted internals... do the wiring and put it in the living room... yea right !!  I plan to hook up a small electric motor that will turn the computer when the "ON" handle is flipped down and of course the lights will be operational...  The globe, decals and trim parts will be on order soon and that will add the finishing touches...  more to come...stay tooned !!!