| Whitworth Bowser Gas Pump and Vendo 81b Restoration |
Updated: 3/24/09 The Bowser 565 Gas Pump Restoration began with a very nice, and I found out lately, pretty rare 565 series pump as opposed to the 585... as it has the ad glass option and the site glass as well.... so This one is truley special...
The pump was found in Central Wisconsin about 5 years ago as it was on a farm being used to fuel tractors, the owner said he purchased it for 10 bucks from a guy who took it out of service from a gas station in Black River Falls WI. From the looks of it , it was pumping Skelly Gasoline as seen by the original ad Glass. Since then the pump as has been torn down, dissasebled and the frame has been restored as well as most of the inside origianl parts. The body panels have been stripped down to bare metal and body work has begun. The stainless parts have been sent off to be polished and straightend. SO progress is in full swing and we expect the body to be painted very soon, and hopefully stainless to be back soon as well, and final assembly can begin.
Update: 3/26/09 The parts for the Gas pump came in yesterday, New Globe, Decals, Ad Glass, White cloth hose, id plate , face plates (not pictured) etc...
Update: 4/7/09 The body of the pump is still at the body shop.. it's taking a bit longer to get done than expected but talked with him today and he thinks I'll have it back by this weekend! Fingers Crossed. Where still waiting on the parts to come back from the Stainless dent removal and polish guys...
Update: 4/13/09 The body panels are not painted yet... the painter lost heat in his building last week and didn't get all the panels done... primed I guess ,but not painted.. says later this week....
Update: 4/16/09 Went back to body shop today to check on progress of pump paint, body work still being done, He has heat now, so paint should go on tomorrow, and he said he should finish painting on Saturday.. so then I can get them back early next week for assembly. Still waiting a few peices of the trim to come back from dent removal, but polished up the peices I had, and also polished up the brass pump handle... Lookking good.. can't wait to get it on the pump! Also test fitted the hose, but have to find an adapter as the hose outlet and hose coupling are different size.
Update: 4/20/09: Panels are painted!! They look great, I could only bring one home last night in the truck, picking up the others today to assemble tonight. I put one on, looks awesome.. see photos..
Update: 4/28/09: Got the other panel back and installed it, the doors where drying slowly and picked up on Wednesday, then had to bring to the PinStriper but he was backed up. I just got them to me on the 28th and they look great! I have almost everything back to the shop now for reassembly. ONLY pieces still not back are the Frames aroudn the window glass and the Ad Glass.. Should have these soon and get them installed. Last night installed some of the stainless trim and the decals on the main doors, Finished Electrical on the pump , fastened face plates and Id Tag. Gotta get more body clips to put the rest of the stainless on as the original where no good...but got half of them on... See photos... I think it looks great... Had another customer stop by the shop last night and he wanted to buy it, he thought it looked awesome! I do too... you should be very happy with this one!
UPDATE 5/4/09: working on installing final peices on pump... ran into small snag, the Ad glass that I bought for the this pump was about 1/4" bigger than what it was suppose to be and wouldn't fit into frame that i was working on over the weekend. took to glass cutter today to have them recut it smaller to fit, will pick up tomorrow. Also have all the materials for packaging and will be building that tomorrow night. I put back on original side panels with the original Frosted glass in them. No one makes Ad glass for that side of pump, so I just cleaned up what was in there originally and reused and it looks good. Also put the globe on top for a photo with one of the panels loosely on the pump for the photo. and finally go the frames and face glass on the panels...
UPDATE 5/6/09: got the ad glass panels back from the glass cutter and installed on pump... Man it looks cool... I installed light bulbs to light it up.. I am going to take pictures of them outside tomorrow if the rain stops.. been raining all day here and suppose to tomorrow which is holding up my crate building as I have to make my cuts outside... Still shooting to have it on the truck by Friday..
UPDATE: 5/11/09: Both Items are packaged and crated and where picked up by the shipping company on the 12th. they should arrive to you on the 16th. Enjoy and Thanks for our business.
|
|
CLICK ON PHOTOS FOR LARGER VIEW
|
Updated 3/24/09 : The Vendo 81b Coke Machine is a 1955 Model and the exact origins are not known, but it was found in the Mineapolis area which would lead me to believe it was use in that area it's whole life. At one time , as this happened alot, the bottler, or perhaps the Gas Station or Grocery Store owner where the machine was used, decided to rebrand the machine. This machine had a coat of white paint applied and then a Nesbitts Orange sign tacked to the front and they must have sold Nesbits as well as other beverages out of it. It's last years in service before I found it , was keeping beers cold for a guy in his Car Restoration shop. The machine was taken in and checked over. The machine was stripped down from all it's parts. The body was bead blasted and getting ready for body work and paint. the individual parts where sent off for chroming, plating or powdercoating, all depending on what needed to be done to them. Currently all parts are still out and the body has been worked on , all holes, dents worked out and filled, all panels straightened and getting prepped for paint. The body should be in the paint booth shortely and parts to be returned soon so re-assembly can begin.
Update 4/7/09 : The plating parts came back from plating a few days ago and now all the assembly has begun. All parts for the coin mech , bottle stack and misc parts have been Triple Zinc coated and are ready to be put back together. Also the main body has come back from the painter and I was able to get the main cabinet insulated and inner tub put in place. Main door is still out for hand lettering, and were waiting on the stainless trim to come back. it's starting to look like a Coke Machine again!
Update: 4/13/09: Painted door is back from paint, can't assemble it yet till stainless trim comes back as it has to go on first... test fitted on machine in photos below.. Just waiting on the Stainless to come back and then final rebuild can start.
Update: 4/16/09: Ok, Making big progress on the Coke machine, as photos show below, got compressor back from being checked out, cleaned up , repainted and all new fans and wiring where installed. Cooling unit was put back in machine and has been running since 4/14/09 for testing all settings. Works and cools like a champ! Got the bottle rack done and installed in machine as well as shelving. Assembled the main door and installed on machine so I could test refridgeration. So basically the machine is 95% done , just have final adjustments to make to some areas, and that should be done by this weekend.
Update: 4/28/09: Coke Machine is done, Ready to go!
|
|
