Bowser petrol pump

[Colliedog]

I thought I might post something a bit different, a couple of pictures of my latest restoration. A 1920’s bowser petrol pump. We had a working one on the farm when I was a nipper that has long gone. I found this one on eBay and thought it would look good outside my garage.
I have only restored the tin work which I had shot blasted and powder primed in marine grade primer to get in all the nooks and crannies. I then painted it by hand to give an authentic finish before a local sign writer painted the old BP logo on the door. I left the working internals as they were lovely and original.

 

[Exfarmer]

Never realised where the name Bowser came from. We had three similar pumps on the farm when I was a boy , Petrol, Parrafin and diesel ( red of course) Never forget turning the handle to fill up the combine took forever!

 

[yellowbelly]

I thought I might post something a bit different, a couple of pictures of my latest restoration. A 1920’s bowser petrol pump. We had a working one on the farm when I was a nipper that has long gone. I found this one on eBay and thought it would look good outside my garage.
I have only restored the tin work which I had shot blasted and powder primed in marine grade primer to get in all the nooks and crannies. I then painted it by hand to give an authentic finish before a local sign writer painted the old BP logo on the door. I left the working internals as they were lovely and original.

We had one that was exactly the same as that. The petrol tank was buried directly below it.

I remember it had to be decommissioned when some new fangled fuel storage regulations came in. A clipboard carrying inspector turned up and had a duck fit 'cos it had suddenly become a 'major fire hazard', despite having been there for years and years without being a problem.

 

[Colliedog]

Never realised where the name Bowser came from. We had three similar pumps on the farm when I was a boy , Petrol, Parrafin and diesel ( red of course) Never forget turning the handle to fill up the combine took forever!

I used to feel very important turning the handle to put petrol in Dads Land Rover. Only ever 3 turns, I guess he thought it used less that way!

 

[Colliedog]

We had one that was exactly the same as that. The petrol tank was buried directly below it.

I remember it had to be decommissioned when some new fangled fuel storage regulations came in. A clipboard carrying inspector turned up and had a duck fit 'cos it had suddenly become a 'major fire hazard', despite having been there for years and years without being a problem.

Dad actually ended up going to court over his in the end as he didn’t get the safety certificate for the license application done in time. The fire brigade were clamping down on farm petrol pumps and decided to make a spectacle of him. The judge thought it was all a bit ridiculous but he ended up with a small fine, a criminal record and in the tabloid newspapers

 

[Exfarmer]

We had one that was exactly the same as that. The petrol tank was buried directly below it.

I remember it had to be decommissioned when some new fangled fuel storage regulations came in. A clipboard carrying inspector turned up and had a duck fit 'cos it had suddenly become a 'major fire hazard', despite having been there for years and years without being a problem.

The new regulations were actually a good thing. many of these old tanks had been leaking for years as they were steel, buried often in the 1920's. We had ours tested which revealed we were losing fuel into the ground. I did miss it my car used far more than I ever admitted too

 

[Exfarmer]

The problem of leaking fuel tanks in the ground was not just confined to farmers . An AWA deep bore water supply started to show evidence of contamination and a local farmer was threatened with prosecution as they believed it came from his tanks. Luckily for him further testing revealed the fuel was in fact AVGAS and it was presumed it came from a tank buried after the Americans left the local Airfield in 1945 . They were determined to leave nothing of value and most equipment etc was bulldozed into a pit