I was humbled to receive one of the coolest Christmas presents of all time from Tony and the crew here at Factory Five. It is a 1950s Gilbarco Model 96C ad glass model service station pump. It was originally a Texaco pump, and Tony has Mike from Extreme Powdercoating change it to the Smith-O-Lene for obvious reasons.
Mike at Extreme Powdercoating does a ton of this kind of work. He restores original air pumps, gas pumps, parking meters, traffic lights, and all manner of garage artwork/memorabilia. Mike had the pump and spent about a month working on it. The meter is all original, but, Mike discarded the lower pump due to sludge/gas smell. The colors were selected to match the Smith-O-Lene globe/sign. The original top was badly corroded, and Mike found a period-correct original top from a 1950s pump from a collector in Missouri. Some miscellaneous parts from other collectors in Ohio and other friends.
New gas pump looks great next to the Type 65 Coupe.
Mike painted the pump body to match the colors in the Smith-O-Lene ad globe.
Details and workmanship are perfect.
The internal meter behind the face was powdercoated and restored.
Huge thanks to Mike and to everyone at Factory Five for the best Christmas present ever!
If you’re interested in having a truly custom project like this done, you can contact Mike at Extreme Powdercoating at 508-340-6593.
Dave Smith
President