Classic Alfa Forums

Started rebuilding a water pump, not expecting one so old were you !

So this is the post I said I would do last week for any silly comments or attempts at humour in this worrying time.

Its not coming apart in any rush the bolts are &/16 Whit and the greae has long since left so keep worrying them and penetrating oil etc .

Love the tap on the side. Tererbly old English
Over to you.......

Ha ha !, you got me there. I thought, surely he doesn't think it was fixable on a Sud
You have to keep the spirits high during this bad time.
Some witty clips floating about at the moment.

Ah ha atleast one person admitted to getting caught. Thanks.

No lousy jokes , puns or wise cracks though. I s isolation getting to you all.

Well...I have shown you what an odd task I am up to anyone else out there working on odd stuff.

p.s all I have managed to do is get the Tap off so far. Need a 7/16 whit ring spanner and a bigger blow torch.

I expected to see an old vintage car water pump, so you fooled me too!

Great project, love stuff like this.

I might have a whit spanner if you need one, got a bunch somewhere in the shed..

Bolts all rusted solid. Only thing moving for a week was the little tap on the side.

Sheared several bolts despite great care. Plus lots of heat and penetrating oil used up and patience.

No information on it on the web. Took some pictures to show you all and lost the camera. Argh !

How can something so simple be so frustrating.

Pump now has the lid loose, but it will rise no further than this which is very annoying.
This brass bolt is simply very very tight and not sure where to get a new one if I ruin it. Also this task is meant to pass the time not turn into a trip to casualty or great annoyance.
I think the cup at the top held grease or similar at one time and stopped the steel rod from rusting and swelling.

You can fill it with penetrating oil and it stays there in the sun for hours.

Can't you just fill the kettle from the kitchen tap?

alfadave wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 15, 2020 8:43 pm

Can't you just fill the kettle from the kitchen tap?

Your missing the point, its FREE water at the bottom of that well. Its also right next to the new veg plot we are digging.

Hope it eventually comes free, love to see it working again , don't give up

Off to give it another go now, thanks for that .

Any thoughts of freeing the shaft in the brass nut ?

Anyone found a very good freeing agent aside from heat ?

Brute force and ignorance !! - good luck with it James !
Cheers, John.

I use a product called In-Force, it's a foam spray that slowly turns to liquid - not sure how environmently friendly it is but has worked for me so far.

Brass expands more quickly that steel and cast iron.

It was used in bi metal strips in old thermostats/ Voltage stabilisers and regulators.

So, maybe heat, and then In Force.

Then stand well away! Could be a new Pope. Good job its outside.

Wonder if Parafin or Heating oil would be a good lubricant for it, won't evaporate like WD40 type lubes.

KevJTD wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 17, 2020 10:30 pm

Wonder if Parafin or Heating oil would be a good lubricant for it, won't evaporate like WD40 type lubes.

Yes I also wondered about brake fluid as well as getting it over some Charcaol to really warm it up.

Came across this which as he acts in a sensible manner is quite interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st8dkGzJWtg

Interesting results, brake fluid I would fully imagine being a good lubricant as it has great viscosity, surprised it was thin enough to penetrate though.
I know if doing brake pipes wearing latex gloves is pointless as everything gets too slippery, so could be something in it..

KevJTD wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 18, 2020 9:25 pm

Interesting results, brake fluid I would fully imagine being a good lubricant as it has great viscosity, surprised it was thin enough to penetrate though.
I know if doing brake pipes wearing latex gloves is pointless as everything gets too slippery, so could be something in it..

Yes, out of all the results the brake fluid was most interesting and the poor performance of WD40 has reaffirmed what

I though as its too much of a general light oil.

Finaly got the pump off by accidentally snapping the shaft at the top as it turned out to be a tropical hardwood ?
Then got one shaft out detached it and pulled out the next

that's a big flag pole

Finally got the whole thing out and now trying more heat. Typically the valve/plunger at the end that spends its time

under water is in good condition. I just hope the clack valve at the bottom is fine as I can only see going down the well

as the way to resolve that and I do not fancy it.

Brass nut still not moved

That's a serious bit of apparatus, loving it

How deep does that go James. Twenty to twenty five feet ?

Oh no, 40 ft to water and not sure how deep it is altogether, but I doubt if it is much more.

The shock was the first time I looked in there was when all the flooding occurred around here and the well looked 10ft deep.

Then looked the next time and the water was way down and such a shock I felt I was falling in !

One of those times when your mind has an image it expects and then you just cannot quite process it.

Oh, and anyone got any Well grease for the seals on the plunger. Don't want to buy any as will hopefully never use

the rest of the tin !

Rain stopped and had all the right ingredients. English hardwood charcoal as it burns so much hotter, then pine cones which the Romans used for smelting on top and it got so hot when I poured oil around the brass nut it just ran down the threads as if sucked in. That then unscrewed and all kinds of rubbish and rust came out.

Had my son helping as he is a burns nurse so stopped me being stupid as he has seen every variant of stupid and as he says `only been on the ward for 2 yrs !' Did manage a small finger burn, but hid it well. ha

Then the bar moved and if I can buy some bolts i can start rebuilding. So pleased not to have broken anything and glad i kept calm and just worked at it.

Great stuff, good old fashioned, tried and tested methods. A great result.
Good use of an old washing machine drum as well.

Looks like an episode of time team .

Kegsti66 wrote: ↑

Mon May 04, 2020 10:30 pm

Great stuff, good old fashioned, tried and tested methods. A great result.
Good use of an old washing machine drum as well.

Yes I was impressed that the washing machine drum did not melt. I have seen whats left when large charcoal kilns melt

(when the air supply gets out of control) and they are some serious steel, so it did very well. It does not look hot,

but it was impressive.

Yes it feels a time team, historic, agricultural engineering, and yet something i have never looked at before so another trade.

Filled the pipe going down into the well and it took 4 gallons of water to the top and then held it so it means the clack valve in the bottom is working well. Hurrah.

It also means you may well have to pump a lot before you get any water out of the spout

What did the Romans ever do for us. You'll be mending the roads next

Sud 145 wrote: ↑

Tue May 05, 2020 7:18 pm

What did the Romans ever do for us. You'll be mending the roads next

oih ! Your still driving on their roads down there....Watling street is it ? They just looked after it better .