A Holy Grail tool

[bonneyman]

Someone started a thread over at GJ asking folks what their "Holy Grail" tool was. That one tool that you've always wanted and were always on the lookout for. I mentioned I always wanted one of those antique gasoline blow torches. Not to use - just to restore and polish up the brass parts for a display.A forum member said, "I've got one I'll send you free. Really. Just PM me".

I paid him the shipping, and received it last week. A 1921 patent Clayton & Lambert. Putting it in the queue of restore projects I have, looking forward to just making it shine. A total relaxation project, no rush to finish to put it to work, take my time and enjoy every moment. Just to put on a front shelf and gawk at it!

Here it is in it's as arrived shape. Stay tuned!

[bonneyman]

Has two decals on it. One fine, another damaged. I don't know how I'm going to save them, so I took some pictures and will try to find someone who can maybe make me some clear vinyl decals as replacements.

[slip knot]

Thats pretty cool. Do you have a big old soldering iron to go with it?

[stokester]

No-lead huh?  Should not be hard to find today.

Nice piece that will look great on a display.

My Holy Grail is something very specific to ball-joint VWs, the "Time Pirate" from GP Tools.  The difficult part is not installing a new joint but removing the old one.  I've manage to do this but having a tool made for the task would be great.  I found that local front-end shops will not touch them.

Picture is from a DuckDuckGo internet search.

[hickory n Steel]

I have 2.

1 is the little Snapon KRA 149 " electronics " tool box

2 is the Blackhawk nuggies 1/4dr set, but in reality I would love to find the perfect candidate to create my own version as well as acquiring the Blackhawk if I can
Even that has proven very hard to do, because of the wrenches.
So far William's seems like the best candidate since I already have the right ratchet and they made some appropriate wrenches.
The only appropriate ratchets I know of are the Willians m50, thorsen 77m, Wright 2400, and Wright 2426.
I can't any appropriate wrenches from WRIGHT or Thorsen, so that leaves William's

[jabberwoki]

That's in amazing shape

There's good peeps out there for sure

[bonneyman]

Unfortunately, I don't have the appropriate soldering iron. Another thing to watch out for!

I'm gonna try a Utube method for cleaning up the brass. Apply a paste made of equal parts of flour, vinegar, and salt. Wrap it in Saran wrap and let sit for 24 hours. Then wipe off. Should get most of the surface crud.

[hickory n Steel]

I love brass and patina so I would personally leave the brass as is, but that's just me and brass does certainly look good when it's shiny.
I bet it will come out looking great.

[goodfellow]

Cool torch George. Many of the old timers in the garage I worked in back in the early 70's used gasoline torches to heat a BIG soldering iron to solder radiators, fuel tanks, and vacuum tanks.

[john k]

Nice old tool.  Tetra ethyl lead was introduced in gasoline about mid 30s,  so the label came after that.  My dad used his to solder nearly everything,  have contemplated polishing it.

[bonneyman]

I love brass and patina so I would personally leave the brass as is, but that's just me and brass does certainly look good when it's shiny.
I bet it will come out looking great.

I really want it to come out great. The guy gave it to me free, and - to save me some on shipping - hand carried it with him on vacation to Sedona, AZ and mailed it from there! I mean geez, he brought it with him on vacation from MA to AZ to help me out! So I really want it to shine so I can post it over there and make him proud he gifted it to me.

[bonneyman]

That's in amazing shape

There's good peeps out there for sure

Dude, I'm still bowled over when I think of that FACOM box you gifted me. That thing must have cost a mint to ship! 
I will never forget that!

[fatfillup]

George, surprised you couldn't find a blow torch, I see them often at sales and rarely to they bring much.  I have a few, never even tried to sell one.

As to the brass, make her shine, that will be cool.

I personally don't have the balls to light one, lighting gas except in an engine scares me

[wantedabiggergarage]

Did these only use gas?  My father told me they used "white gas", aka Kerosene, but I don't know how old he was the last time he saw his grandfather (a plumber) use one.

[goodfellow]

Did these only use gas?  My father told me they used "white gas", aka Kerosene, but I don't know how old he was the last time he saw his grandfather (a plumber) use one.

Many of these torches were fired with Naphtha -- also known as white gas. It's pure gasoline and most folks know it simply as Coleman fuel.

[bonneyman]

Phil, I wasn't looking that hard. Had several other more important items to procure, so could have passed over some and just not seen them. But I can't recall ever seeing one in the wild. About 2 months ago I came across one at a thrift sale, but it was all black - like it had caught on fire.     Priced at $10, but I didn't think it would clean up well.

And I'm with you - I wouldn't risk lighting mine. I've heard too many stories about bad things happening. But then again tradesmen used these things all over for decades, so, IDK.

One guy on utube uses Coleman camp fuel in his torch. Did a demo, and it seemed to work well. Read that white gas is the same thing as camp fuel, though I've also read the Coleman stuff is naphtha. Gasoline before they added lead was also called white gas. So I really don't know what to think. 

[slip knot]

I fired mine up once. Really not too bad. If I was doing some big solder jobs I wouldn't hesitate to use it. Not any worse than starting and old Coleman stove.

[bonneyman]

I do know camp fuel makes a great (though expensive) clean-up solvent. As does Zippo lighter fluid. Maybe they're the same thing?

[hickory n Steel]

I do know camp fuel makes a great (though expensive) clean-up solvent. As does Zippo lighter fluid. Maybe they're the same thing?

Crown is generally less expensive than Coleman and ronsonol cheaper than zippo ( now owned by them zippo ), but definitely it's not cheap either way.

[bonneyman]

Finally been able to get out to the shop and do some resto work on the torch. Coming along nicely - only one broken screw!
Underneath all the soot and discoloration I found C&L symbols on several parts. Nice to see a piece where the manufacturer made the parts themselves rather than just assemble parts they outsourced.

Here's how it is so far.

[hickory n Steel]

It's coming along great, I'm sure it'll be a real looker when you're done.

[bonneyman]

Thanks, Hickory!

I'm not done trying to shine up the canister more. Have a couple ideas left to try. I'd like to get it nice and polished just to pop. We'll see.

[goodfellow]

That's some quality work right there George. Excellent --

[bonneyman]

Thanks, Ray.

I wasn't too sure about how to disassemble the head assembly to clean it off, but got it broke down enough where the dremel tool and small wire wheels could do a decent job. Should look good on display.

[Uncle Buck]

Beautiful work George,  I look forward to seeing it finished!

[bonneyman]

OK, here she is in all of her glory! Finally finished painting and reassembly, think it looks good as a display.

[hickory n Steel]

That's sure to draw attention now.