Vintage Folding Air Pump - Restored

As previously mentioned in my last blog post I had some restoration projects I was finishing up I think you're going to like. This is one of them. A vintage  "Swivel Action Folding Air Pump" manufactured by Micromatic Products of Los Angeles, California.

I haven't been able to pin point a date of production yet, but what I have found out is according to the Federal Registry, Micromatic Products was still in business in 1945 and produced an air pump for automobile tires. Is this that pump? I don't know.

Though there's very little online about Micromatic Products, let alone this particular air pump, I did see another that doesn't fold. If you know a date of production of this air pump or anything about it or the company, chime in in the comment section.

Of course this was yet another discarded item covered in surface rust and corrosion. The main cylinder and pump rod are steel while the base and handle are cast aluminium. The fold down foot is a metal of some sort as well. Originally, the main tube  was painted black. Below you'll see some images of it as I received it.

Inside the pump cylinder walls had zero corrosion or rust which I take it is due to a couple of reasons. One it too was painted black and secondly these type pumps are  lubricated with oil.

On the end of the pump rod there's a thick felt washer above the cup. The cup could be leather, it could be rubber, I'm not sure though I'm leaning towards it's a leather cup. But again, I don't know for sure either way.

Just to mention it, the fill hose is solid rubber and this one was shot. It had cracks all over it. Though it didn't leak initially, it was going to break soon enough and did during reassembly and needs replacing.

Disassembly was fairly easy of the working parts however though I'm pretty sure the bottom comes off the main tube, given that the bottom is aluminum and the tube steel, I think corrosion between the two fused the two parts together. Try as I might, I couldn't break them free of each other and had to do the restoration with them in place.

Another area that proved difficult to separate was the removal of the handle pin. It too was corroded but I kept oiling it and working it and finally after two weeks I noticed the pin was rotating free again. So a simple tap of a 1/8" pin punch made easy separation of the handle from the rod.

Just getting those two parts apart made a world of difference when it came to restoring the handle and finishing the rod.

It should be noted that when I do a restoration, whenever possible and if I can, I also try to improve an item. Be it the finish, or structural strength, etc. As well, I'm not necessarily going to restore something back to its original color. Some may argue this takes away from the value of a vintage or antique item, blah, blah, blah. I really don't agree with that train of thought, especially for something like this.

I restore things back into like new or better than new condition. I want them to work again. I want them to last decades further. And sure, there's plenty of those who if you search the web you'll see have restored vintage or antique air pumps and every freaking one of them is painted black or whatever color the original was... Usually black. Which is great for them. I want to end up with something unique. Something different. So.. !!

On this particular project, no, I didn't paint it black. I had left over Candy Red paint from another project, I like the color, and thought... I wonder how it would look a real dark Candy Red... like Black Cherry Red! To me that would leave a nostalgic feel of the black while giving it a modern look at the same time. And that's what I set out to do.

I'm using Dupli Color Metalcast Candy Red for this over their Silver Metallic base coat. It took nine coats of the Candy Red to achieve this deep rich color. That's over three coats of self etch primer, three coats of white primer and three coats of Silver Metallic base. Topped off with four coats of Clear Coat. For a total of 22 coats of paint on the main cylinder of the pump.

Unlike previous projects where I painted them outside, this time I painted it in a controlled environment. The paint laid out beautifully. Freaking beautiful!!! What you see below is the results without having to  wet sand and polish it out.

Here's another shot of the paint taken during pulling tape and inspection.

A quick note about the hanger it's on in case you're asking yourself, What the heck is that? That indeed is a cane. The adjustable type with 4 little legs making it self standing. I modified it to hold a HF Flex shaft carving motor tool. (which I also modified...). Anyway, it's great for holding the flex shaft and in this case, the air pump while I looked it over and pulled tape.

Before any painting is when I filed casting marks out, sanded and put a high polish to all metal.

The handle being separate from the rod now allowed to to do the same to it. And I removed a lot of casting marks including the casting seam marks before sanding and high polishing it as well.

When it came to painting the inner portion of the handle, I made up a personal mix of One Shot gloss white enamel and used the same technique to apply the top coat as I did to the letters of the Boley Vise if you read that post.

I really like this technique for this type work. So much so I ordered in a 100 more of those pipettes, which should be here any day now. Good thing too as I used my last in painting this handle. In short you use the pipette to paint with kinda like a brush but different. You just have to try it yourself to get the feel for it. Your not just filling up the area with paint, you paint with it. Like a micro chaulking gun.. you can get very clean edges and depending on your mix, a very even paint layer.

Paint on the handle came out sweet!! It laid out perfectly using this method at just the right thickness. Super high gloss that leveled out beautifully. I'm very pleased with all the paint on this pump.

I allowed a week for everything to cure up before reassembly. Which of course during reassembly in putting the hose clip back on I split the hose... Murphy's law.

Personally, I'm real happy with how this turned out. And yes, despite the hose break, or works as it should. I may replace the inner parts, cup and felt washer when I replace the hose just for the geez whiz.

I'll let you take a gander at some before and after pics side by side...

And a bunch of individual pics of it after the restoration.

I really think that some pinstriping would add to the look and nostalgia of this pump. Nothing flamboyant, just a small simple design towards the top front of the pump cylinder and something in the handle.

I would've added pinstriping but I don't have that skill set yet and will have to practice to the point of being comfortable before attempting to do it myself.

Another addition is some sort of case for it. I'm thinking a nice suede leather case in a wooden box, possibly a dual purpose box that can sit in the trunk or hang on a wall. I'm not sure at this point of the exact design of the box. But I do like the suede leather pouch idea. That'll at least protect it while I  decide on the other and hopefully gain some pinstriping skills and gear.

I hope you guys and gals enjoyed this post. I certainly enjoyed sharing it with everyone.

I'm still learning, and hopefully improving my skills.

Till next time,

Stay creative, stay Happy!

Cheers...