The Best Tyre Pumps... in the World?

[Number 7]

caelite said:

I paid £20 on a Michelin branded double barrel footpump, yes it may not work as well in 70 years but is a fantastic piece of kit when compared to a lot of the bargain basement single barrel ones.

I had one of those. Broke after a couple of years. Fixed it and it broke again.Binned it.

[Bill]

+1 on the Michelin junk.

I'm far too interested in this thread to be healthy.

[CharlesdeGaulle]

Bill said:

I'm far too interested in this thread to be healthy.

Me too. It can't be natural to like this stuff. I'm seriously thinking of buying one for God's sake.

[GappySmeg]

RicksAlfas said:

So, in need of a new foot pump and inspired by this thread, I am now in receipt of an ex Air Ministry Kismet Master.








I've done nothing more than unpack it and wipe it over with an oily rag.
I need to do some reading up, but it's a mighty beast that's for sure!

Did you win that on Ebay? If so, guess who the other bidder was...

[RYH64E]

I've got a compressor in the garage for pumping up tyres but have just realised that what I really 'need' is a Kismet Duplex Master... I didn't even know that such things existed before reading this thread. My wife likes shoes, I like old tools, machines and gadgets, brass bits are a definite plus.

[RicksAlfas]

CharlesdeGaulle said:

Bill said:

I'm far too interested in this thread to be healthy.

Me too. It can't be natural to like this stuff. I'm seriously thinking of buying one for God's sake.

I think it's the brass fine threads which do it.

[RicksAlfas]

GappySmeg said:

Did you win that on Ebay? If so, guess who the other bidder was...

It was a buy it now on Ebay, so probably not the same one.
Apologies if it was!

[CharlesdeGaulle]

RicksAlfas said:

CharlesdeGaulle said:

Bill said:

I'm far too interested in this thread to be healthy.

Me too. It can't be natural to like this stuff. I'm seriously thinking of buying one for God's sake.

I think it's the brass fine threads which do it.

Stop it, FFS! It's a sort of tool soft porn.

(Joins the other threadists browsing tools on the bay of dreams).

[RicksAlfas]

I've had a very pleasant afternoon polishing my enormous pump.


It all came apart quite easily. As Rhyolith mentioned, a vice is useful. The leather washers were not in great condition but I left them soaking in vegetable oil whilst I got on with degreasing all the metal work. I found this under the footplate:


The only disappointment was that I discovered the outlet for the air was a crap plastic part, which left some of it's thread behind. I cleaned it out ok, but I need a metal replacement before I can use the pump. It needs a new air line too, but that was clear from day one.


I even found a suitable dispenser for the veg oil too.


The leather washers seemed to recover very well, so I'm hoping I don't need to replace them. I'm undecided whether to paint the frame or not. I found a few traces of Air Force blue, but whether I can get any modern metal paint in a suitable shade remains to be seen. First job though is to try and find a union for the air line.

[HannsG]

caelite said:

I paid £20 on a Michelin branded double barrel footpump, yes it may not work as well in 70 years but is a fantastic piece of kit when compared to a lot of the bargain basement single barrel ones.

I had one of these. Fell apart in 3 months. Terrible

All the rubber fixings came off it one month into ownership

[csquire3]

David87 said:

I've broken pretty much all of the common foot pumps that are available. This one, however, is a cut above and is very well made. I have yet to destroy it.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00TG7Q9VM/ref...

Agree, this is a great bit of kit.

[Perik Omo]

Reading this thread has prompted me to dig out an old foot pump that my grandad gave me when I got my first car in 1966. It hasn't worked for years and had been gathering dust at the back of a shelf in the garage.

It's a grey Aerite and I've just stripped it down and have found that the leather "diaphragm" has completely disintegrated, that's why it didn't work.

Don't know why I hadn't just chucked it out years ago, sentmental value I suppose.

I'm now on the hunt for a new diaphragm and hose that looks a bit tatty.

Edited by Perik Omo on Sunday 13th November 11:51

[gazz81]

Far from practical and certainly not portable, but I'll stick with my 1940's Ben patent compressor!

[RicksAlfas]

Sounds good! Instructions here on how to make your own washers:
http://vintagepumps.co.uk/washers.html

And on this page some blurb about Aerite:
http://vintagepumps.co.uk/makes%20%26%20models/ind...

[swisstoni]

Any more vintage gear I have absolutely no need for but may have to think about?

I already have a 1951 Grey Fergy that hasn't turned a wheel this year and last year sold off the Banana Loader attachment I was going to restore and fit (of course I was).
Would have looked like this ...

[Rhyolith]

RicksAlfas said:

The only disappointment was that I discovered the outlet for the air was a crap plastic part, which left some of it's thread behind. I cleaned it out ok, but I need a metal replacement before I can use the pump. It needs a new air line too, but that was clear from day one.

You will be very lucky to find a replacement metal hose tail (think thats what they are called...). They are some old weird thread that does not exist anymore as far as I know, so the only way to get a new one is to:
1. Custom make one on a Lathe
2. Get a nylon/plastic one and force it in (which cuts the thread into it).
3. Try and find one second hand (good luck!).

Functionally, I don;t think there is anything wrong with the nylon ones.

RicksAlfas said:

I even found a suitable dispenser for the veg oil too.

It defiantly makes it a lot easier Heres mine:
"Enots" Red Oil Can by Rhyolith, on Flickr

RicksAlfas said:

The leather washers seemed to recover very well, so I'm hoping I don't need to replace them. I'm undecided whether to paint the frame or not. I found a few traces of Air Force blue, but whether I can get any modern metal paint in a suitable shade remains to be seen. First job though is to try and find a union for the air line. :thumb:

So long as the leather is not too brittle, should be fine. I find that they work best if they are quite soft. Its not hard to make new ones anyway.

I use fuel hose for airline, its cheap and seems to work quite well. The braided hose looks the most in keeping I think.

[SBQuattro]

Number 7 said:

caelite said:

I paid £20 on a Michelin branded double barrel footpump, yes it may not work as well in 70 years but is a fantastic piece of kit when compared to a lot of the bargain basement single barrel ones.

I had one of those. Broke after a couple of years. Fixed it and it broke again.Binned it.

Also had the Michelin. Looked the business, but didn't last 5 minutes !!

[LanceRS]

SBQuattro said:

Number 7 said:

caelite said:

I paid £20 on a Michelin branded double barrel footpump, yes it may not work as well in 70 years but is a fantastic piece of kit when compared to a lot of the bargain basement single barrel ones.

I had one of those. Broke after a couple of years. Fixed it and it broke again.Binned it.

Also had the Michelin. Looked the business, but didn't last 5 minutes !!

I would add my comments but my wife doesn't like me swearing in the house.

[oilspill]

The cheap 12V compressors don't last long as the moving components inside are dirt cheap cast-magnisium, they get too hot then suffer with fatigue. Also the main part is held by soft pressed-in bushes in plastic housing, not proper bearings so suffer with play early on.

The piston assembly and seal was still fine on my broken unit giving good compression. Improving the cooling (it does contain small fan) and fitting a bearing (or loctite around the bush) would extend the life if you can get in there early, but not worth most people's time.

[RicksAlfas]

1/8" BSP brass hose tail from my local compressed air specialist:



1 yard of braided fuel hose from the motor factors:



Apologies for the modern plastic connector, but it's all I've got at the moment. Used it for pumping up my winter tyres last night.
It's silky smooth and very quick. Really pleased with it.