Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion WHEN YOU WERE A NEWBIE

i was always into old cars.decided i wanted to put an old pump out by the garage.well,there is a lady in richmond il,"mildred the pump lady" and 1 day i stoped in and looked at what she had.her husband ,who had passed away,had been selling pumps for years before i ever even saw the place.all kind of pumps around and other old cool stuff.well on day i went and bought my first pump from her.it was a rapid dayton 1510.a few weeks later while on a trip to ky with my son,i found 2 fry 17 that i bought for 75.00.then i found oldgas,and since that time i havent turned back.since then i have had a few great finds,and it has become my main hobby.only have 1 car left,but now i would rather go lookin for pumps than wrench on a car.have met the greatest people in this hobby than anything i have ever been into before.

HIi oldfuelish,

Good post. Sounds a lot like me except that I have a few trucks left but no tractors. What I found out is that I don't bleed as much collecting gas and oil! I'm probably just inept, or maybe those bigger bolts were just rusty?

Perhaps some people considering entering our hobby are reading these posts. Can't help but to promote the hobby if they know how we got here and what we are doing now.

Any comments from newbies or anyone considering our hobby?

OK--Since DB called me a newbie, I might be qualified!
About 3 1/2 years ago, I entered retirement full time and moved off the farm and into a nice lake house with the most WONDERFUL shop building setting beside the house. Since I had always been into old muscle cars, I decided that I needed a few decorations for my new shop, that would compliment my couple of cars!
I was discussing it with a high school buddy and he told me that he had some old pumps at his place that he had gathered and he was sick of them and would sell very reasonable. I made the 5 mile trip and bought a Wayne 60, Wayne 70, and 3 MS 80 shells!
I was on ebay about the same time and ran across an ad from Oslo Steve on a couple of gas pumps and I managed to get him on the phone and because he was so close, I took the drive over to see what he was talking about!
I was floored by his display and promptly loaded up my Wayne 60 and took it to him to restore for me! By the time he finished it, I was hooked and set out to do my own restorations! With some encouragement and advice from Steve, I was able to restore a great old 36B that I found at a farm sale and I haven't stopped since!
I have refined my direction and upped my quality standards on things that I intend to keep but I'm constantly amazed by the new things I find out about this great old industry! If only I had paid more attention when I was 16 and working at those old stations and hanging around at all of them because my friends worked at different ones!
This web site continues to educate me every day and I'm thankful I was directed here because it has helped me to keep from making some mistakes that would have been costly, had I not known!
You're right DB--Newbie-Newbie-Newbie---But not for long! Thanks to all of you that have befriended me on this site and helped me with different things! You're the greatest!