Restored A jack

[Barry Brisco]

I've finished restoring my A jack. The first photo shows the condition of the jack when I got it: really not that bad, some very minor surface rust on the shaft, worn paint, odd red overspray in places. Lower photos are after restoration. After bead blasting I used a satin black rattle can on the piece that inserts into the jack receiver, left the two mechanism pieces as bare metal (based on unrestored jacks I have seen), used Testors model paint #1172 "Sea Blue" on the foot, and put the shaft on a lathe and cleaned it using first 220 grit and then 440 grit sandpaper to get the rust off. Got most of it, but not all. Coated all the unpainted parts lightly with oil.

Unrestored

Restored, with handle. Camera flash makes blue color of foot piece look lighter than it actually is.

[Michael Banchero]

BARRY, it looks pretty sexy.
michaelb

[Guest]

Jack looks great ,get some Gibbs Brand to put on it and it will stay that way.

[Barry Brisco]

Brock, thanks, I had never heard of Gibbs so I Googled it. One site advertises it as:

"Gibbs Brand is a mega penetrant, an ultra lubricant, a corrosion inhibitor, and a water repellant."

Gosh, does it clean my house and slice my vegetables as well?

To be fair, that is not the corporate website. Gibbsbran.net says:

"Gibbs is a revolutionary, patented product that works in all temperatures to clean and eliminate corrosion, to waterproof, and to lubricate mechanical hardware. "

Okay, I'll check it out.

Thanks,

Barry

[Guest]

Hope it works for you.
So far I like what I see from Gibbs, and the good thing is after you wipe it off you can (I hope) be able to paint (no silicone in it) over the object.

[John E Howe]

The base can also be painted with the 1959-1965 Volkswagen Sea Blue, code L360. It is a perfect match for the base of these jacks (Courtesy of Ken Daugherty)

[Jon Warshawsky]

Looks great. Barry is clearly a jack of all trades.

[Dirk Heinrich]

Barry, you did a really good job and I am glad you found a good bar for it as well.

Personally though, I liked it better before.

I like when parts or even more cars have a story - not only on paper. As with some restorations of cars, I feel like these stories get erased. Of course, sometimes it might be necessary, but often it creates something clean and common that can't hold my attention whereas the dirty and unique will always attract me

[Brad Ripley]

I'm no "Jack Expert" and Barry did a great job for a show jack.

(1) But personally, I like to see the blue paint on the bottom stand with very light coverage close to what you can see in the "before" photo. Heavy glossy coats of blue paint isn''t how I believe the base piece was originally finished. It may have been dippped rather than sprayed.

(2) The jack shaft probably should not be highly polished since safe operation of the jack depends on friction.

(3) The operating pieces in the center were forgings and I believe were left unplated. The lifting piece was painted semi-gloss black.

Gee, Barry, after saying that I hope we're still friends. Brad

[Barry Brisco]

Hi Brad,

No worries, I always value your comments! My photos don't show the jack very well. The "operating pieces" in my jack are neither plated nor painted, I left them as bare metal after bead blasting, I simply lightly oiled them to prevent rusting. The "bottom stand" piece was painted by hand with a small brush, not sprayed. The "lifting piece" is sprayed a semi-gloss black, as you suggest. And the center shaft is not highly polished, there is actually a fair amount of surface discoloration remaining after turning and sanding on my father's lathe.

I think you would like it better in person.

Best regards,

Barry

I'm no "Jack Expert" and Barry did a great job for a show jack.

(1) But personally, I like to see the blue paint on the bottom stand with very light coverage close to what you can see in the "before" photo. Heavy glossy coats of blue paint isn''t how I believe the base piece was originally finished. It may have been dippped rather than sprayed.

(2) The jack shaft probably should not be highly polished since safe operation of the jack depends on friction.

(3) The operating pieces in the center were forgings and I believe were left unplated. The lifting piece was painted semi-gloss black.

Gee, Barry, after saying that I hope we're still friends. Brad

[Doug Naef]

I know there is a very well dont article on jacks but I cannot figure out what year range or exactly what this is for? It has AB777 on the arm that swivels. The degree the arm is at (as opposed to being straight) means something.........but what? Any help would be appreciated. I didnt want to start a whole new topic to identify this. Thanks and hope someone knows or looks!

[Barry Brisco]

Doug, see http://www.356.ca/tools/Jack.htm

The jack you show looks like the Vigot-Bilstein jack that was used by Porsche from 1950 to 1955, according to that web page.

Best regards,

Barry

[Larry Wilson]

zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[Barry Brisco]

Larry, thanks for correcting me! And here's a photo of the complete Vigot-Bilstein jack that Porsche used in the early 50's, this photo is on Eric Cherneff's website http://www.356.ca/tools/jack/

It confirms what you describe: the Vigot-Bilstein jack that Porsche used does not have the "pivot-point".



Thanks,

[David Ramatowski]

Barry, you did a really good job and I am glad you found a good bar for it as well.

Personally though, I liked it better before.

I like when parts or even more cars have a story - not only on paper. As with some restorations of cars, I feel like these stories get erased. Of course, sometimes it might be necessary, but often it creates something clean and common that can't hold my attention whereas the dirty and unique will always attract me

I whole-heartedly agree! I like a little natural patina in a car. Anybody can restore (or over restore) anything, but it is only original once. I try to leave as much originality as I can in any project I am working on.