Came across this in my dads shop was taken back when I realized what it was, had been there for 30-35 years I remember seeing it a time or 2 never paid much attention to it. I was looking for a old rear view mirror that was in one of the cubby holes and to my surprise found this old tire inflater works off of compression from a spark plug. No idea on what year it is
yeah those things are pretty neat... doesn't actually pump the cylinder charge (air/fuel mixture) into the tire, but uses the compression to operate a simple little "flutter" valve which pumps fresh air into the tire...pretty ingenious. I keep one of these and a tire plug kit on board since I don't have room for a spare.
from an age when we tried to make everything simple. That would work good in a pinch on the side of the road.
I have one in the trunk also along with a spare tube and a couple of tire irons. Same deal, no room for a spare either. Nice find,all in the orig box!
Never actually tried to fill a tire with it...I think I just keep it with me because it make me feel better - like maybe I'm not completely screwed if I get a flat! If it works the way I think, it uses the vacuum from the intake stroke to fill the hose with clean fresh air, then uses the compression stroke to force the fresh air into the tire so it should supply good pressure. A check valve keeps the air/fuel mix out (think Hindenburg). The old box mine is in shows a guy spray painting a car with it....ha, imagine running your old banger on 3 cylinders for 2hrs while you paint your car....
I guess back in the day you used what you had but painting with this ****er dam that getting her done LOL, gas was maybe 3-5 cents a gal so it would have been cheap why to do it probably used some barn white wash Thanks Deuce
They were a common item when I was a kid on the farm in the '40s. We didn't have electricity, no air compressor. An air compressor with a gas engine was pretty expensive relative to the need. Hand pumps were the standard, the SPARK PLUG PUMP was a step up. It took a while, up to a half hour to pump up a tire. The flutter valve opened when the piston was on intake stroke, pulling fresh air into the cylinder instead of fuel air mixture from the intake manifold.
Neat! Definately the setup before slime, fix a flat cans and cIgarette lighter pumps, not to mention how easy it was to pull a plug on old cars. Some new cars are a MONSTER TO GET AT THE PLUGS.
I had one of those "flutter valve" kits I kept in my first '56. It actually worked. This was long ago and I'm trying to remember how long it took the 235 at idle to pump up a tire.....Seems like it was about as long as one of those modern 12v pumps. I do remember that it made a racket when it was pumping. Or at least the one I had did. Wonder where it went??
I believe you have a pair of buzz boxes there. Used to generate the spark for plugs, before points/coil ignition was common. Here's one in action... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OXTw06l_u8
Yes these are buzz coils . A battery was used for power and the coils made the spark . Used in Model T's . Hit and miss ,throttle governed one lunged engines. Will throw a spark like a welder and make you wet yourself.
I became friends with an 85 yr old farmer about 15 years ago, bought a couple of early 40s John Deere B tractors from him, he had a '66 Chevy with a 6 cylinder engine up on blocks, had one of these permantly installed, was his air compressor. He started the car, aired up one of the tractor tires, didn't take long. He had lots of cool junk including an early '50s Chevy car with the interior completely filled with Maytag gas washing machine engines.
Fender Flaps they would look awesome on a old seld sorry they are dusty been in that box who know how many years still complete set
The above is used to pound chain links apart that were used on agriculture equipment like corn binders, elec vators and combines
The Jalopy Journal
