Posted 14 years ago
MushIsland-T
(2 items)
I obtained this visible gas pump on 3-23-11. I am new at this picking thing but I believe it may be a FRY model 117. The front says Visible Liquid Measure Co. - Rochester, PA. From what I have read on the internet these 10 gallon units where manufactured around 1925. I do know that it has been in a cow pasture since 1957 but am not sure of its history prior to that. I am pretty certain that the blue glass is original. My plan is to restore it but honestly I am not sure how to safely remove the glass without damaging it. Maybe I will get some good tips from the pros out there.
It is a Fry. Nice pick!
Nice pick, looks like you have a lot of rusted bolts to work through, a daunting task but should be well worth the time and effort. Your local hardware store should be able to hook you up with a rust solvent, then work the nuts back and forth slowly a couple of turns at a time keeping the bolts wet with the solvent.
Good luck and show us a pict. when it's done.
If those long rods seem like they are going to twist off, just stop and get a nut spliter, you can always re-chase the rods and get new nuts, you don't want to break those original rods.
Thanks for the tips. I will be sure to document the restoration process and post pics of the final results. I believe the original color was red and that is the color I plan to re-paint it with.
dont break the mint blue glass its more expensive than the clear glass
I made some progress today and verified that it is a FRY Model 117 Pump number 132533. The brass tags had been painted over so I could not read much until I used a small brush and some paint stripper on them. There are at least 11 different dates on the middle tag. The earliest is 1-3-16 and the latest is 9-25-23. I assume that my gas pump was made somewhere around 1923. There are two brass tags and and the third tag on the botom appears to be made out of tin, It says "Important Notice Keep Stuffing Boxes Tight. Oil All Moving Parts.
Nice looking pump
MushIsland-T: very, very nice find. Please be sure and post photos when the restoration is done. What cow field was this? :-)
Thanks. It was in my friend's cow pasture here in North Alabama and I was proud to get it. I will be sure to post the restoration pictures as I go. I am going to keep it as original as possible since it still has the original blue glass although it is starting to crack a little bit at the base. I have been told to use crazy glue in the crack seam to keep it from spreading. That is the route I will go unless I hear of a better suggestion.