I bought this May West a couple months ago and have been searching for answers and came up empty.
I asked a couple veterans on here with no luck either, they suggested posting it.
In the pic you will see the conduit goes through the jar lid and the base not around them like usual.
The lid has the cylinder ring and gallon marker brackets inside, and a flat piece of steel screws on the top then the cone.
They look factory with the conduit holes in them.
The other pix are of the lid and base, any ideas of why it is like this?
The gentleman I bought it from is in his 70's, he said it was on his Mom's farm as a working pump when she bought it in November of 1930.
He removed it from the farm in the late 1980's with plans to restore it. It has been setting in his garage ever since.
Thanks
Lee

Different type of conduit too. Looks like threaded pipe, that would have been put in place first, with the jar lid slipped down over it and union couplers used on top before the cone?
Probably something done for a specific reason that we will never know about!

I am leaning towards aftermarket or owner modified. Dave

So is the 70s gentleman saying mom bought a new pump in 1930 or a out of service refurbished pump. Many farm pumps was just that refurbished pump. Working pump means nothing on a farm as correct measuring wouldn't be a deal breaker.

That pump was a five gallon originally. The bonnett on top takes the five gallon bonnett to complete it. The conduit would be in the same place as the five gallon but would have used extesions. I have had two of these pumps in the past.I was told that these first modifications were done in the field to keep the Fry pumps in use and not buy a competing brand that was a ten gallon.

That photo is the back of the pump. To confirm Wocopep(Dave S.), check the number of "fingers" in the pump. They would not have added any, just set/moved the overflow tube all the way up and locked it in. I have found several 17s where this was done and a Wayne cylinder and top were used. Thanks, Dave

PS They probably left the Fry 17 ID tag on the front. lol 17s are ALL 5 gallon.

Mom bought the farm in 1930 and this pump was being used to pump gas. It also came with the glass cylinder that you see in the pic.
I don't think the holes are aftermarket you can tell they were factory. I will take a pic of the lid bottom when I get home.
Thanks for all the input.
Wocopep, are you saying the five gallon bonnets are two piece tops?
That would explain a lot, they could have converted to a 10 gal for some reason and ended up doing it this way. I have never seen a five gallon in person.
Can you e mail pix if you have any, all help is appreciated.

I am wondering why Fry would use pipe for a conduit when they could have fabricated conduit more cheaply and easier ? Drilling holes in cast iron and the stamped top are no problem, but somone may not have had access to the proper equipment to bend iron pipe without "flattening" it.
Why go through all the trouble of going through those pieces anyway? The whole thing is a mystery. Dave

I've seen one other pump like this. It was on an old farm outside Pottsboro, TX. Owner, who was very old, said his dad installed the pump before he was born. Couldn't manage to buy it.

I agree Dave.
David sent me a PM he said this was the just like the one he had with a two piece top with and the piping through the top and base.
Wish I could get some pix, but I'm happy with the info I got.
Thanks for all the input everyone.

The only reason for it that way as far as I can see may have been to keep it from being removed.Just a hunch. Dave