I had been putting off removing this cylinder for over a year now. One of my excuses was that with the pipes still attached to the lower bowl I didn’t have a way to stand it up. I solved that by building a makeshift stand for it to be at a comfortable working height. My second excuse was this was the first cylinder I have ever removed and really didn’t want to break it! My previous visible pumps both came with broken glass cylinders already removed...I did my research before proceeding. I started with soaking the upper and lower cork gaskets with liquid wrench. There didn’t appear to be any sort of litharge glycerine cement which needed to be removed and I’m glad for that. From what I read it is a pain to scrape it out. The dome was secured by three screws rusted solid into the upper jar lid. I wrapped the cylinder with a moving blanket and carefully used a side grinder to take the heads of the screws off. The dome came off to expose the cylinder jar lid which was secured by a single centre nut. I soaked the threads in liquid wrench and gave the centre nut enough of a turn to break it free and left it at that for the day. For the next five days I gave the nut a half turn until it was loose. From what I read some guys said removing the pressure on the glass too quickly it can crack. Slow and steady sounded like the way to go. Once the centre nut was removed the jar lid still felt tight on the cylinder. The liquid wrench has soaked all the way through to the inside of the cylinder. I decided to use a rubber mallet and with minuscule taps around the outer edge of the jar lid it wiggles free. With a little push the cylinder then came free from the lower bowl. I gave the cylinder a rinse down with lukewarm soapy water and a bit of CLR to remove the staining. The cylinder is free of any cracks or chips in the glass. There is a few spots of paint I have yet to remove but I’m glad that the process went well and I’ll be able to keep the original glass with this pump when I restore it.
I can fill in the blanks on the glass manufacturer. The trademark is Water-Clear made by the Hyatt Glass Co., Poteau, OK. Hyatt set up in Poteau in the 1920s to make 5-gallon glass jars. They realized that they could also manufacture 5 and 10-gallon glass for visible gas pumps. They were out of business by 1932. I grew up 30 miles from Poteau and have relatives that live there. I have asked the relatives to keep their eyes open for cylinders, but no luck so far. I have Water Clear glass on my 10-gallon Wayne 519.
