"Star Brand" Replica Retro Fuel Pump Build.

[Grizz1963]

If you guys are interested, I will continue to post up.. Let me know.


I have wanted to build a retro style fuel pump for my drive outside the garage for some time, as I cannot justify paying the prices charged for "patina'd" pumps.

I started a few threads on various forums as I was hoping to get a plain white globe to fit on top, but it has become obvious that they do not come cheaply, so I am onto plan "B" now, which will not include a glob on top.
http://www.retrorides.proboards.com/...ss-light-shade

£950.00 for this is fine if you have loads of disposable cash and little distinction of value.

Seen last weekend at the NSRA Swapmeet.



This one was already sold at £950.00






Bought this at the NSRA Swapmeet for £5.00 a Bargain, and once distressed and stripped of modern plastics, it should look the part.



Paid about £42.00 including postage for this one on Evilbay, waaaay too much, but what they go for sometimes.

Still need to decide which one to use, or if I want to make a double sided pump with two nozzles.



Nicola's brother works in Suriname most of the time, managing a fleet of dredgers and tugs that work on the rivers.
When he heard I wanted to find some hose for the nozzles, he offered me a whole new, unused fire hose reel.
The next morning Nicola who did not know they were coming, called me in a panic, he had dropped off two, one of which has since found a new home.
I will be using some of the red hose, which will dictate at least in part my colour schemes.



Bought a complete vintage petrol pump face sticker off Evilbay, about £6.00
It will be made to fit inside some perspex, hopefully taken from an old caravan window.




About 6 months ago Nicola had a clearout at the funeral home she works at, but this broken locker did not make it into the skip.
So about 5 weeks ago I went down to fetch it in the Chevy, loving to make the truck work.




Last year Mickey had to remove a display unit from a Tony & Guy hairdressing boutique and dump it, but before he did, I removed the white steel sides which had a nice curve on them and were of seriously thick steel as they were structural. At the time I had no specific purpose for the pieces, but knew it was only time......

Today I started to prep the steel and the locker.



Using a 1mm cutting disc, I removed the 90' lip on all of the sections from the hair salon.

Then I cut them to size as I want my repro pump to be 5 foot tall. The plan is to use these sections to make the front face of the pump rounded with a raised section for the clock face etc.



Lastly, I butt welded the plates together, leaving the front face unwelded, a minimal skim of filler will sort the joins in the end.

Next up, I need to make up a complete front frame, fill in the open space and cut the cabinet down by about 6 inches, not much I know, but it will be right then.
I also need to weld in a bit of strengthening to the cut down door.
Once made up, I need to find a small vertical compressor to fit inside so that I have a compressor on the drive.

Done for today..... two 5 foot sides and a 3 foot length that needs to be cut in half to make a top and bottom section.



I am also going to look for bits of old car or refrigerator/cooker trim to use on the front and sides of the pump to embellish it a bit, giving it a bit of an Art Deco feel.

I will leave you with this, a metal star we bought after Christmas 2012 in the sales.... I knew it would come in useful some time.
Now it will form part of my non existent "Star Brand" fuel logo.

Any ideas and advice welcome.

[Grizz1963]

Went down to the garage for a bit last night to do some other jobs, then started looking at this and stopped......

I need to figure out how to cut these curved sections correctly, so that I can butt weld them together without having to fill in anywhere.

Cold wind stopped me before I could do a final marking out and cut, as I am still not sure I have got it right.

Maybe a job for mate Martin to supervise, so that I have someone to blame if it goes tits-up.

I guess there is not real magic way of cutting, I just need to measure, draw a line and pray.




Hope to get back onto this the weekend, if the weather holds out.

In the mean time I am looking for a small window winder shaped handle, before I make one, to go on one side, like they used to on some pumps, to start them.

[NONHOG]

Love the idea! Yes keep posting updates!

[KShortell]

Cool project!

Like you, I'm not made of endless funds. Even more, I don't have endless room. I always liked those old ECO Tireflator stations that the old service stations had. They go for $700-$900 unrestored!

So, for $35 at the local sign shop using a photo I cut the background out of and a piece of scrap steel I had lying around for a hook, I got the same feel and utility.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by KShortell

Cool project!

Like you, I'm not made of endless funds. Even more, I don't have endless room. I always liked those old ECO Tireflator stations that the old service stations had. They go for $700-$900 unrestored!

So, for $35 at the local sign shop using a photo I cut the background out of and a piece of scrap steel I had lying around for a hook, I got the same feel and utility.

That is really clever.

I love it.

[Grizz1963]

Been a long week with head office meetings etc.
Busy Busy Busy.

Makes you feel a bit boxed in.



Tonight I got in, cut the grass and then went to the garage to start on this replica pump again.

Got about an hour in.

Re-measured the new front corners, cut all, and ground the edges with a flap-disk so that I can weld in the morning.

I once had the large grinder out at 07.30 working some heavy steel without knowing it was so early...... Nicola was not impressed.

Toe-teckters were at the ready when cutting the corners in preparation for the welding.



One side cut and ready.



Originally planned to do the bottom square, but as I had some curved material left over after making the top section, I decided to make a section for the bottom as well.




I have now prepped all the sides and as I am usually up at stupid-o-clock, it means I can weld early morning, and then cut down the top of the box when the world has woken up.

Still need to find some pits to make it all come together.

[Grizz1963]

Up at Stupid - O - Clock after hitting bed after midnight.

Fortunately I had cut and done most of the grinding last night.

Welded the lot together to create the an external frame.



Then had to fill the hole in the centre..... step up old steel shelf stored in a corner for the last year.









Inbetween I walked up to the house next door but one to lift a door handle off a door in a skip.

Will make a small winder section up, and should then have a dummy switch for the side.



After making up the front side, I measured about 4 times and cut the cabinet down a bit, to get to 5 foot.
Also relocated the one hinge that I had cut off, which had me grinning like I had won a decent scratch card.



This cabinet is typically quite flimsy, so I added some strengthening on the bottom too.




After Martin popped around to show off with his new bonnet/hood from California, I called it a day.

I just fixed the front panel to the carcass with a load of rivets, will use some silicone to make it all waterproof.





That's it for today.

[Grizz1963]

Got an hour in with the build.

Where I cut the cabinet shorter I needed to cover up the gash before I ended up with a gash.



Cut the top off the top of the door I had removed.



Welded it together, and also closed the holes on the top of the frame and rear of the front face.

You will see the front face standing 10mm higher than than the rear. This will allow me to add a section of 18mm ply to the top to give a solid base to add whatever ends up there in the end.



Wood cut but not mounted on top.





I got a text from JoeM this week to offer me a small winding handle to use as the "power switch" on the side of the cabinet. Still thinking about it, bt it is much nicer than the door handle I was going to make fit.



Rummaging for some bits of wood I found this death trap in the back of the garage.

Should probably get rid of it, I have no medical insurance.



Hope to get back to it for a few hours on Sunday as the rest of the week and weekend is booked up, including a small road trip to Battersea at 06.00 on Saturday, involving a 1969 Chevy Chevelle rear bumper, due to be part of another project later on.

[flashed]

Nice project ,cant wait to see more .

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by flashed

Nice project ,cant wait to see more .

Thank you.

Went down to the garage tonight, but in the end gave up as phone and texts from USA, Canada and South Africa kept interfering.

So all I got to do was just set up the dial to establish position, as well as hanging a vacuum cleaner hose and my one nozzle from the side of the cabinet.

Made me smile......



Really want to get on with stuff, but I guess life does get in the way sometimes.

[Grizz1963]

On Retro-Rides there are some very talented people, one is Bruce "Mystery Machine" and he commented recently about the designs I had floating about, and that he had something in mind, so I asked him to show me what he thought, after a couple of texts and PM's he submitted these designs below for me to play with.

Thank you for making up these designs Bruce. I suspect they will be running about in my head for the next few weeks/days to get closer to an idea for which colour combo and graphics to go for on the pump, based on these designs.

I have always loved the Sinclair Oil Corporation logo's and colours, so they are on my short list.

I also love the "New Brand" colours in the blue and red, with the Blue circle surrounding the logo.

I think that it would look great with a Blue dominant pump housing, and then some white and red details, and some lines, graphics running diagonally from bottom left, across to about 40% of the height, to cut below the 3 dimensional metal star that will probably end up on the front of the pump, spaced below the dial face.
Alternately, a dominant Green, like Sinclair but with different width stripes running horizontally below the star.

I will have to see how it pans out, as the pump evolves.

Fresh, Crisp "New Brand" is my current favourite.



Sinclair colours, my number two right now.



Number three choice currently



And not the worst, but currently least favourite as I cannot yet add it into a mental picture of the completed pump.




Of course, colours like the GULF Oil are instantly recognizable as well, and I love them, but it is a toss up between the classic, retro feel for a 1940-50's replica pump in Sinclair type colours or a crisp new design for a brand that does not exist.

I guess time and some of you guys will tell.


The other bit of action from the last few days includes a PM from Bryan up north that he had seen an offer for some 1930's lamp glass.

He replied and got this glass, decent sized, and also adding in a different dimension if I end up using it, a vertically mounted, forward facing Pump Globe.
I would have vinyl stickers or transfers made up to add to the front of it.



See his hand for size perspective.



And lastly, I stopped in at a scrap metal merchants on the way to work, looking for something to still try create the right size of zero-ing or power handle to fit to the side, the way I remember them as a kid on pumps.

Found an old Victorian Bath tap/Shower control and stripped some bits off it.

I think the white porcelain "bead" and it's nut could just make the handle, once I create a crank, I am also trying to think of how I can use the shower head rest, and the other bit of brass that was the handle to a fire place companion set stand.



This weekend is filled with stuff, but no time set aside for the pump build, so not sure when the next update will be.

In the mean time I am looking forward to your opinions, and advice as to what colours and designs to go with.

[rambler]

wow... you got skills,,, and very creative.. cant wait to see more..

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by rambler

wow... you got skills,,, and very creative.. cant wait to see more..

LOL, Thanks.

I thing it is more about trying out stuff and trying to make things work. Everyone can do what I do, just that some are not bothered.

[Grizz1963]

Weekend's here !!

Thought I would post up this pic of one of the pumps that I saw on sale recently to demonstrate where some of my thinking comes from.

Firstly, the little crank arm/lever on the side.
This was used to zero the pump if I know correctly, and I seem to think it also turned the pump on for the next customer.

That is why I am trying to put one together.

Secondly, something not mentioned on here yet, is the small glass dome in the middle front, when I was a kid, the Mobil pumps in our town had those on the side, and they had a "screw" like a propeller turning and you could see the petrol in it when you were pumping petrol. I want to try get hold of a MkI Landrover or Mini Park/side light lens which looks similar to it, and fit that to the side of the pump or on the front.

Lastly, the ally trim on this pump is a bit rough, but I like the idea of a bit of polished ally detail.




On the way home today I stopped at out local pub, The Fenn Bell, and asked Terry the landlord, who breaks caravans that contractors leave behind in his caravan park (Previously bought a Zig Unit for the Grizz-Pod from him) before burning the rest, if he had any aluminium trim, which he sells as scrap metal. So he took me around the back of the pub for a rummage and we came up with this, unfortunately in bad shape, as it gets stripped for scrap not restoration. The little louvers will possibly go to the bottom of the cabinet when I find a vertical compressor. Hopefully the strips polished up will yield one length to use as embellishment on the front of the cabinet.



I tried the red fire hose reel tonight as well, not sure about it vs the black vacuum cleaner pipe but it could work with red in a colour combo.



I made the top plank onto which the globe will be fitted, fit better tonight, then started making the nozzle retainer plate. I looked for a thick piece of ally to machine into shape but found nothing...... so step up plywood.



Also recessed it a bit, still need to make up the bottom hook/rest onto which the nozzle sits.

Then gave it some coats of white paint as a base.



Followed by two coats of silver paint, to create the illusion of having an ally plate there.



That was it, up early to go fetch a 1969 Chevelle rear bumper for another project.
Then off to Nicola's dads place with some garden tools and a chainsaw.

[VA72C10]

cool!

[Russell Ashley]

Nice job you are doing, and very resourceful to make your own instead of paying the high price that those old pumps bring. Reading your thread brought back a lot of memories as I pumped a lot of gas through blue and white Pure Oil pumps in the fifties.

FYI: The little crank only reset the dials to zero. There is a lever directly beside the nozzle that you turn to start the pump. It can only be turned when the nozzle is out of the cradle, and must be turned off before you can return the nozzle to the cradle. This was so you couldn't hang the hose back up without turning off the pump.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by Russell Ashley

Nice job you are doing, and very resourceful to make your own instead of paying the high price that those old pumps bring. Reading your thread brought back a lot of memories as I pumped a lot of gas through blue and white Pure Oil pumps in the fifties.

FYI: The little crank only reset the dials to zero. There is a lever directly beside the nozzle that you turn to start the pump. It can only be turned when the nozzle is out of the cradle, and must be turned off before you can return the nozzle to the cradle. This was so you couldn't hang the hose back up without turning off the pump.

Thanks for the comments and info.

I am a 1963 model so my memories are only vivid to me and not related to reality.

I enjoy trying to make stuff rather than just step out and buy it.

[Grizz1963]

"If nobody wants it, I will take it to the tip in two weeks time"

Well, of course I sent a PM, to say that if nobody wanted it, I would have it, rather than see it on the tip.

So after two weeks I got the PM to say "Nobody mate, It's your's"

Of course this meant being up at 05.30 to leave home by 06.15 for a very Mini-roadtrip...... 39 miles that should take 90 minutes each way.

Arranged to pop over early on Saturday morning, woke at 04.00 and left as planned.

Ultimately, I got very lucky in both directions, there and coming home as it only took an hour each way.

When I got there, this was parked outside.



Went indoors, and by 07.30 Dr David had made me a great cuppa coffee, and we sat chatting about just about everything......we will hopefully have a BBQ some time and also meet up at Wheels day.

So of course, some of you will know what I went to fetch.... set under the good doctors feet.



A rough-ish rear bumper from a 1969 Chevelle SS 396ci





It is even larger than I had thought, but should be perfect for the project I have in mind.

Answers on a post card please.


Went to movies with Nicola tonight, and after movies at 20.30 got a text from Martin, he had organised some Argon/CO2 mix gas for us.
£55.00 deposit once off on the bottle, and £36.00 per fill. No contracts. Perfect.

This means I am a step closer to actually welding with the Argon shield I want to use on the truck.



SOOOON I will be starting the strip down on the truck and cutting rust etc.

But the plan is to do Wheels Day (where Top Gear is filed for our American brothers) first before I take the truck off the road.

[flashed]

That 69 Chevelle is nice ,looking forward to the rest of your build on the pump as well as whatever you do next . I have an old pump that was restored years ago and my wife bought for me at an estate sale ,she got a decent deal on it too.

[Grizz1963]

Sometimes 10 inches is enough......

Found this complete opaque glass lamp at IKEA last week.

Photo does not quite show proportions right, but I am happy with it, and once I get some signwriting sorted out for it, it should complete that part of the build.



Perched on top of a wood wax tin.



Hope to get back to this over the weekend.

[Grizz1963]

Restarted work on this today, as the last couple of weeks were a bit busy.

Yesterday I sealed all the insides of the welds with silicone.

Followed this morning by a skim of filler over all the welds.

After which I started block sanding the filler till Mickey popped around looking for some old Whitworth threaded nuts..... and he commented "why don't you use an orbital sander to speed up the job?" Which I then did.



Nicola brought me some coffee down to the garage and took this pic.



Once the sanding was done, I mocked up again, using a printed STAR word, but still not sure what I need to add to make this front end look right.



After I cleaned up everything, I gave the front panel it's first coat of paint as well.

[flashed]

That is going to look sharp ,staying tuned in.

[Grizz1963]

Originally Posted by flashed

That is going to look sharp ,staying tuned in.

Thank you for the comment. I hope it comes close to what I see in my head.


Did two bootfairs today which netted me a load of good stuff at silly prices. Including two 1200mm Sash Clamps for £5.00

Then came home and got the truck out the garage, as well as the Teardrop which Nicola cleaned inside and in the rear kitchen area.

After prepping and cleaning both, I started on paint for the cabinet, and have to say I am pleased with the result.



I also painted the star the same red as what went on the cabinet.



I also had Charlie the farmer stop by while he was spraying the rear field to pick up some miniature Toby jugs that he collect, which I found at the one bootfair, he then asked for all my used chainsaw blades, as he has just bought a sharpening machine, and offered to sharpen my used chains...... perfect trade.



He also looked at the pump as if I was a messiah, and said he would be rummaging in the farms old parts store to see if the brass pump nozzle he thinks is there, is still there, which may then find its way down here. RESULT !!!

[Grizz1963]

Today was not just about the pump.

Loads of other tasks completed as well.

Easter weekend we have the truck and teardrop on display at the Chatham Docks at the Steam and Traction show.

So today I cleaned the outside, and Nicola cleaned the inside as well as the galley kitchen.

Every time we do something with this trailer, the madness of the build makes us both grin madly.



I cleaned the truck, tyres and tonneau cover as well.



Even the side pipes got a fresh coat of matt black, so now we are ready to Rock n Roll.

[flashed]

Love the truck and trailer and the pump is looking awesome ,keep the updates coming .