Here are a couple pictures of the ERIE 71 that my class and I are restoring. We got pretty close this year, but I don't want to launch into straightening out the skins with only a month of school left. Track and Field and FFA take up a lot of the kid's time right now.

We ended up putting an original globe up on top, but we are still looking for the correct milk glass top for this pump. I'd really appreciate a heads up on a top for this pump if anyone comes across one.

I also am attaching pictures of the top the way it came to us and how it looks now. The green looks really dark, but is a dead stick match to the green on the Sinclair HC decals we are using.

Finally, I want to thank everyone that has helped us out on this project. The oldgas community is truly a great bunch of people. People have been really amazing as far as help, donations, advice, etc. so again, thanks to all of you.
Chris

Pump is looking good, thanks for the update on it.

That looks awesome

wow, great job, i only wish i had a teacher in school that had a pump project!how cool is that! thanks for the update!

looks real good.hope them kids are getting an A+

SWEET!!!!!
Those faces and wheels look GREAT together.
Can't wait to see it finished!!!

NICE!

Looking good

excellent work. Are tyhey enjoying it?

Looking good! Are we going to have to wait till next year to see the finish pump?

The kids have really enjoyed working on this pump. The one girl that I have in class is probably the hardest worker of the bunch. One of the boys made the comment today about how he wished gas pumps still looked like that. He (this is a 16 year old kid) said he wished our society was more concerned with making things that look cool instead of making them convenient. He said it would be way more enjoyable to get gas from a pump like ours than drive up, slide your card in, and rush off before the 6 people behind you get too mad. I was pretty impressed with his thinking!

Although they absolutely love working on the pump, they hate the square nuts, and it drives them crazy to call the "number thing" a computer!

I'd love to finish the pump myself over the summer, but I think the kids would really be mad if I did. Only two of them are seniors, so I think if the others show up next year and see a completed pump I'll have a mutiny on my hands.

Several people from the community have stopped by the shop to check out the progress and they are all pretty happy with it. A couple of the old guys have some good stories about when they actually used to get gas out of it -- more like what they did after they got the gas!

It has been a really fun project. I'd sure like to keep doing this type of thing in the future -- besides our ERIE 71, the kids really like the looks of the Tokheim 36B. I really think this is a good way to give these kids some skills while at the same time giving them an appreciation of the past.

Chris

We are a throw away society, use till it breaks & replace with new. Think of the thousands of workers & land fill companies that would be out of a job if things today were made to last.
The recession has been a blessing to auto repair guys as owners have decided to have older vehicles repaired rather than buy new.

Bravo Chris! Nothing like history and mech. repair 101 all in one lesson. I still remember my experiences in High School Auto Shop. My Auto Shop teacher was the only one who had faith in me when all others gave up! If you and your students ever need anything for a future project please let me know!

Have you demonstrated HOW the computer makes the claculations?
I bet they can't do that math in their head, heck...I can't
29 9/10 X 7 = ?
I would bet they would have to use a digital computer...AKA(calculator)
The Veeder Root is just a mechanical computer.

OK -- it's second semester and my advanced shop class has finished up all the required stuff we have to do so it's back to work on the ERIE 71!

A couple updates: Over the summer I was able to find a very nice original porcelain face for the non-totalizer side of this pump. I'd really like to replace the reproduction face on the totalizer side now with an original if possible. I'm including a picture of the reproduction one we have for reference.

Anyone out there have a nice face that they might consider parting with?

If We can come up with another original face, I'd certainly be interested in trading or selling the two reproductions that we have. They are in perfect condition.

Once again, we are still trying to find an original glass top for this pump. If anyone out there has any kind of information on where we might find one, PLEASE let me know!

Thanks again for all the help, encouragement, and advise -- this pump wouldn't be close to where it is today without it!

Chris

I was wondering about that pump recently.
Have you got the panels done yet????
post some pics of what you have done in the last yr.
Thanks
Joe

That's going to be 1 nice pump......

I know this isn't the pump, but Joe asked what my class has been doing lately. We are just getting back to the pump so not much has been done since the last time I submitted pictures of it.

We did however finish the 1959 cadillac couch we were working on. All original parts, no reproductions, custom leather upholstery, and all the lights work. On top of that an original 1959 Wyoming licence plate!

THAT IS AWESOME!!!
Mike

THAT IS SWEEEEEEET!

real nice!!!

Congratulations to your class!They have done an outstanding job.They should be very proud of there work.

I would have loved to be in a class like that when I was in
High School.

great work on the couch pal, did you keep for yourself or is it stay in the class ?

I love 1959 cadillacs, so I have been on the lookout for junked ones to make couches out of for about 10 years. I supplied all the materials, paid for the parts, re-chroming, etc. and then let my class do the work on it. We painted it as a class in a guys garage down the street from the school and then I had all the kids over to my house for a BBQ to move it in and assemble it in my basement.

The good news is -- I have another one to start on as soon as our ERIE 71 pump is done. I'd like to sell the next one so I can buy some more tools for the school shop and hopefully cover the cost of the materials, parts, and re-chroming.

If anyone is interested in maybe purchasing a couch like this for yourself, please contact me. My class can paint it and upholster it in whatever color scheme you would like. It is bare metal at this point.

Thanks again for all the responses -- The kids love getting positive comments on their work. I'll bet they check this board 50 times a day!

Chris

First off I want to thank everyone that has donated to this project and I wanted to give you an update on how we're coming. We got all the skins blasted, body worked, and primed with PPG K36. We are now in the process of wet sanding them.

The two main doors took a lot of work. We had to shrink and slap file some pretty bad dents out of them. I think the pump must have been run into while it was still in use -- there was a pretty bad crease all the way across the bottom of one door.

The boy you see wet sanding is going to be a senior and he's been working on this pump since he was a freshman. He's a pretty good hand. We are about out of time for this school year, but finishing the pump is the first project on the dockett for next year.

Chris

Chris, my hat's off to you! You are showing them history WHILE they are understanding the mechanics behind it! What a motivator to keep these kids moving in the right direction. If they only knew that this "fun" project is actually more learning than anything else. You have an opportunity to use this as a motivator for future classes - man, you really have something good there and there should be more teachers like you! You could have a mini museum right there in your class!!! Very cool!

BTW, I had to LOL when I read about these kids having a tough time calling the computer a computer... it COMPUTES the price for you - they've just got thier brains wrapped around the word, but it's still pretty funny.

Hello Everyone!

It has been nearly two years since we've had the Erie 71 together, but we finally got it at last!

I think all the body work is done so we wanted to put it together before we start priming to make sure everything we've beat on and filled actually fit.

Eveything went back together easily and all the panels are razor straight.

The kids want to stay in class all day and keep going on it now that they can see some real progress! I'm hoping to have everything in primer by the end of the week.

Thanks again to everyone that has provided knowledge and support. We're getting close now!!!!

Chris

Looks great, You and the kids should be proud. Richard

We are almost there! The Erie 71 my class and I have been working on is now all fit together and most of the wet sanding is done! It took an unbelievable amount of time to straighten out the panels and doors and to get everything to fit right. We actually had to recruit the help of an expert to get it totally right.

We have had a terrible bunch of snowstorms here for the last 2 weeks, but the weather is supposed to be nice enough this week that we can warm up the paint booth and should be able to get some color on it by the weekend.

This pump has pretty much fought us the whole way, but it is starting to look like all the work was worth it. It was terribly "rickety", so my students took the plasma cutter and made two reinforcement plates to resemble the cast piece that the computer bolts to. We thought about just using strap or angle iron, but the guys didn't like the look of it so they made the pieces out of 1/4" plate (see picture).

Now for the bad news -- we are still missing 2 pieces that I just found out about on Friday. There are supposed to be 2 "pans" that hold the glass between the computer and the porcelain faces. I don't know what they look like and I didn't know they existed until Jim at T-Way's told me about them. IF ANYONE HAS A PAIR OF THESE PANS FOR SALE, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. Also, maybe Jim can post a picture of them so we can all see what they look like.

I can't believe that we are this close to finishing that thing, and still needing parts. If anyone can help out, I'd really appreciate it. Pictures of the completed pump are coming SOON!

Chris

That is some beautiful work. The interior is gorgeous. Truly nice work.

Does anyone have a picture of the "pans" (mentioned in my previous post from today) that we are looking for? If there aren't any available would it be possible for us to remanufacture them? Thanks!

Chris

Thanks for the picture Jim!

So, now the million dollar question -- Anyone have a pair that they'd like to part with????

Thanks,
Chris

Here is a teaser for you guys! We'll start assembling this baby next week.

I didn't think we were ever going to get color on it, but finally after several years, here it is!

I'm sure a lot of you thought the same thing!

We are still looking for the face pans that you can see from a few posts ago. If anyone has some they'd like to part with, please let me know.

Chris

looks great Chris... the kids & yourself should be proud in what you have achieved.

Painted panels look great!

Great job! Cant wait to see assembled pump,
I wish my sons school offered a class like this.

We found a face pan -- we only need one more!

If anybody out there that has one that they are interested in letting go of, please let me know.

That is the very last piece we need to complete this pump.

The parts are all painted, cleared, and buffed, so assembly starts on Monday!

Thanks again, and please let me know if you know of/have a pan.
Chris