1940s Spark Plug Cleaner [Restoration]
This spark plug cleaner restoration took much longer that I thought it would.
This tool is a 1944-45 Auto-lite or Autolite Spark Plug Cleaning Service machine. I bought this locally in Saskatoon, SK, Canada and thought it would be fun to restore. The tool is essentially a localized sandblaster for the tips of spark plugs.
I went with several coats of filler primer in hopes of covering all the pitting and denting, but I feel like bondo may have been a better choice. I was not able to get the pressure gauge open to have a look and see if anything was damaged or broken. In the end, the machine worked great, but the gauge did not show that enough pressure for optimal functioning was there. I do not know if this was a gauge issue or a leak somewhere else.
I have not been able to find any documentation or manuals for this tool so operating it was just based on how I think it should work.
I can see myself actually using this when I come across more gas-powered tools.
If you ever come across the different sizes of spark plug holders for this, please email me at handtoolrescue@gmail.com
All graphics were provided by FORMA Graphics. You can contact them at formagraphicart@gmail.com. He has a passion for old tools and will help you make the decal/sticker that you need.
I'd like to thank Evapo-Rust for sponsoring this video.
Music: www.bensound.com/royalty-free-...
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It's over 9000!!! I mean, that red coat of lead paint was harder to remove than I thought. Beautiful work, man. 👍
I had to come find this comment in give it a thumbs up.
I first thought he was going to restore a paint can.
that's funny.. i thought it was an oil can.. duh.. :)
I saw paint can in the thumbnail and still clicked it so I could see a paint can restoration :)
Yes, same for me , a 5 gallons of oil , like !
Anthony Maurice lo
Same
Stuff from the 40's looked so amazingly good. I love the colors they used and the designs were so original.
Watching that original hand painted design come off hurt so much. But, that said... it looks amazing as a finished product and is now lead free! Simply a shame that so many older tools suffer from hazardous coatings as the workmanship in the painting is almost an art form in and of itself. Beautiful finished piece and definitely love it.
Gas was so dirty and tolerances were all over the place in the auto industry for so long. Some cars even had a set of retainers on the firewall to store an entire extra set of clean spark plugs because you were 100% going to need to swap them out along the side of the road eventually. I imagine every parts store had one of those things right on the counter. Kind of like how for decades every hardware store had a tube-tester right inside the door. Someday the things we consider so commonplace they often escape notice (ATMs come to mind) will be collected and preserved as quaint reminders of how different things used to be.
My local electronics store still has the tube tester right inside the door. I've even used it recently!
I hate to make assumptions, but it might be time to upgrade your television/radio/computer...
I’m guessing a really cool sounding amp needed the tube.
I've been working on a Zenith round-screen TV from 1951-ish. It will probably continue to be decorative, haha.
I wish.
you restored a machine that restores, double win,
You could use this more than me!
Hand Tool Rescue aren't those things illegal now because of how much lead is produced by them
Fuel isn't leaded anymore so the machine is safe.
Boom!!!! I hadn't thought of that. You guys think alike.
yo dawg...
Your metal working skills are unmatched
These restored machines should end up in a museum for long forgotten machinery. You have AGAIN done a fabulous job.
brilliant restoration.
Thanks, random guy. Also, if you are interested in turning some pasta roller/cutters for an antique pasta maker, let me know! I think it could be a fun collaboration. handtoolrescue@gmail.com
The two most favorite KZheadr in one place. great. Thanks a lot for your content give me peace. Greeting from Indonesia sir.
Wait a minute. Talking hands, silent hands, ultrasonic cleaning bath, restoration and fabrication... Anybody ever seen these two in the same room?
I bet an ultrasonic scraper could do wonders for your restorations. If only you could find someone to put one together for you...
lol.. random guy to this old tony.. love it :D
This is one of those little things that I would never have thought of the rest of my life but you reminded me. I used one of those in the late 50's and early 60's in a PURE filling station. I recall having to shake it a little to get the glass beads moving. Good job sir!
We had a small electric hand held one in the 70's that you had to rotate around while it was on.
Thank you!
Great job! The auto shop in my high school had one of these that we used in the 60's and 70's. The patent probably goes back to the 1940 something. They are great with dirty 2 cycle plugs, but we were taught to always re-gap after cleaning them.
Thank you for an excellent restoration. I haven't seen one of these since I was a 15 year old schoolboy, with a week-end job in our local village garage. Ours was a 'Champion' make with just detail differences. Thanks for the memory !
29 MINS, "okay, I can watch half now and finish the rest later this afternoon"...Wrong! Can't stop watching half way!
OK! finished!!! So cool! I want one!
The key is to make them the perfect length to watch on the toilet.
AMEN!
I can get through 3 of them sometimes.............YIKES
Hand Tool Rescue, Actually, I'm on the toilet right now! 😂 So as an expert I can say that the length is perfect)
Best channel I've found in a while. A guy fixing stuff. No drama, no music, no uneeded comenentary. Just magic mechanical motion. Fantastic! Keep up the great work!
Welcome! Exactly the type of stuff I like to watch.
@@HandToolRescue If you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself! :-P
What always amazes me about all these tools/machines we use as a species, like this spark plug cleaner, is that every one of them, down to each little piece, had to be designed and produced. Then to expand on that notion, the tools/machines that were needed to produce these pieces also had to be designed/built, and so on and so on. At some point, you get back to just two rocks smashing against each other.
It took me 90 minutes to watch this because of my horribly slow internet. .....Worth it! I didn't even know that spark plug restoration was a thing. I guess we're just accustomed to using and tossing things these days rather than maintaining them for longer life.
Not a sob story but, I have small cell lung cancer and all I can do at this point is watch KZhead and I think I've watched all of your rescues. Please keep-up the great humor. It hurts to laugh but way worth it. You crack me up, big time. NO, I'm not dying just real sick and I need all the "yuks" I can get. thank you so much...Bobby.
Best of luck in your fight mate.
Just read your comment. Hoping you’re continuing to fight the good fight
Keep on fighting and don't give up i lost my aunt a few years back to kidney cancer
Hang in there, compadre. Just lost a kidney and a lymph node to the Big C, so I can sympathize.
Hey, just checking on you. Hope all is well.
Just a suggestion. To find (and fill) small dents, you apply a coat of white-ish primer, then a coat of black (darker) primer. Wait for them to dry, and then give them a light sanding with a soft block. You'll see all the dents as color patches.
I worked at a gas station in 1967 and we had that sparkplug cleaner, worked great! I didn't know that it was so complicated. Carl
It must be nice to have a sponsor who's products work as advertised. Very rare indeed. Very nice work on the paint and stickers. Thanks for another fun & interesting video!
Thank you for watching!
A great tool from the time where plugs where cleaned and gapped not just tossed in the bin.
Rich77UK from a time when you had to clean and gap them regularly.
"Some sort of weird plus shaped screw" HAHA it took me a second to remember the Philips head didn't come about till after WWII.
;)
So back then plus head screws were the equivalent of the 500+ types of uncommon screws on the machines in the home appliance market
But Robertson came out so much earlier, Go Canada!
GREAT video - and GREAT job!! I really thought I was the only one who'd put this kind of effort into "Dat old JUNQUE!!" as the wife calls it. Good on ya! Another useful tool SAVED from the scrap pile - and WORKING again!!
These days people would rather throw the plug away and buy another one than to improve the ones they have. Different times we live in i must say. Great restoration man and i wish i had a third of the ability you have to do things like this. I would have forgotten how those parts went back together lol.
I will take that back i should have known that amazon sells spark plug cleaners like this just smaller
Good call on the lead testing, I’ve never thought about that restoring old tools in the past. Get yourself a set of hollow punches. In my experience they are the best thing for gasket making.
Like how your sponsor is something that you have used for years unlike a lot of channels these days
Next week, I restore a mattress.
Hand Tool Rescue at least those are easy to find...
i would genuinely be interested in watching a mattress restoration... what am i doing with my free time
i would really love to see that lmao
Maybe if you restore an antique coin operated hotel vibrating bed frame...are those old enough to be antique? 😊
I have no idea why this is so satisfying to me, maybe cause I like cleaning up old stuff too.
Its amazing how the old stuff comes apart, no problem, built to last, unlike the plastic modern stuff
My dad had one of these in his autoshop when was growing up.. We fixed it many times. Love your work, you seem to care about the items more than the original owners did.
this machine looks like R2D2 from STARWARS , good job mate 👍😀🤩
Thank you!
R2D2!
I'm always amazed when you get these things back together. 😖 It's so pretty now!🙂
wow car enthusiasts with 30's era cars will be seeking you out now
Superb! 15:53 "Oh yeah, spark plug cleaner" 😁😄😂
I laughed at that sentence. xD
I'm usually really critical of some of the restoration choices on this channel, but this is really nice. It's good to see that more attention to detail, and maintaining the original look has really improved! Good job.
Thanks! That's part of the fun, trying to get better.
I wish electronic restorations were this cool and straight forward. I'm trying to restore some vintage CRT tv's. Good old vcr tv combos....
A shot in the dark but I think Red Bull totally got there brand/paint scheme from this sparkplug servicer haha. Well done, exciting to see this object come back to life.
I literally LOLed when you took the tape off.
Man, you do beautiful work. Your sense of humour is great as well. :)
that cross spark plug design is so elegant
My uncle had an Esso garage in New Jersey from the 1950s through the 1970s. Of course, my father got all his work done by my uncle. I vividly remember the sparkplug cleaner. It was a Champion unit. I can't remember my father ever having new plugs installed. He always seemed to just have them cleaned. I saw somewhere on the internet where some companies would clean and test old plugs and sell them as a cheaper alternative for replacement.
Great restoration!!! Ignore anyone who uses the word patina, they want to preserve a moment in time, you want to preserve a item as it was when new. Besides, every time I see an old truck with a clear-coated rusty 'paint job', I want to have it repainted. I don't think anyone expects Ford, Chevrolet, or BMW to sell a new vehicle with a 'patina paint job'. Therefore, it is automatically an invalid option for all restorations. At best, a patina would get you an artistic representation of an item, not a restored item.
John Day _"it's only Rusty once,"_ something can generally always be restored or at least to a degree and you'd be amazed at the collector who wants something with wear history intact.
John Day, I guess you've seen some of Icon's "Derelict" Restomods. I know what you're saying. I guess it's an acquired taste. I could see it if it was the right car and the patina had the right look. Not too much rust, though. It's a weird sort of sleeper rod, not to mention a great way to spend a ton of cash so you don't blow it on stuff like hookers, drugs, or funding your retirement.
The folks at Auto-Lite would be proud. Mike
Enough to hand him a check?
One never knows, does one?
They'd have him assassinated in a public shitter for promoting to clean a plug instead of throwing them out and buying new ones.
the folks at Autolite have been dead for 45 years... 😱😱
Then any are left among the living they will be beaming from their retirement homes, or coffin as the case may be. Mike
So much time, effort and money to restore these items, but the results speak for themselves. Pieces of history coming back to life. Thanks for sharing.
Back in the 60's and 70's I used one of these on the farm on a regular basis, you just did not go out and buy new plugs.. Wish I still had it today. Watching this brought back a ton of memories. Thank you.
I love how you looked at that gasket, then decided to buy the hole punch. I was wondering what black magic you were gonna use to make that gasket.
How do you remember where all the parts go back ,,,, you make it look easy lol
tfknauss he watches his own vijeo
It just comes naturally. I have taken apart and put together properly more complex things. The tricky part is knowing what to fix and how.
most of the reasons for taking these types of videos was exactly that--even before youtube--now we get to see it too
country, you take notes, pictures are particularly helpful, and if you do enough of the same or similiar jobs it sticks in memory, but some people have a spatial memory,
zwz • zdenek lol this guy
My Granddad's home garage was fully equipped, with a different model of pneumatic spark plug cleaner. We all got in the habit of cleaning our plugs at every oil change & getting 100,000+ miles out of a set of plugs was easy.
Wow, Very nice and meticulous restoration ! Thanks for sharing. Greetings from Quebec city !🇨🇦
I remember the station down the road had one like this one and it was always ready. They would put the plug in and press the lever. Just FYI. Used a similar device back in the 70's, but it was WAY more simple. It looked more like an old Ford brake master cylinder. It just plugged into the supply pipe at the wall for a ridged mount and and was always "on". You put the plug into the hole and pressed a button on the side. The bag hung down and it always blew out dust but everyone was breathing through a cigarette filter so it didn't matter. lol Maybe that's where the lead my father claims collected in my ass came from. :-)
Zee-L Usay I used the same type. Wish I still had it. It would look cool in my shop.
I used one back then to clean 2 cycle motor cycle sparkplugs that ran 20 to 1 gas to oil would get all fouled .Later on when it went to 50 to 1 plugs would last for years
I saw one when I was a kid at the service station and I wondered why you would need to "wash" your spark plugs. I didn't have any clue back then how an engine worked. I wish I could go back in time and see things like that again so I could appreciate it.
"...It looked more like an old Ford brake master cylinder...". That's a Vixen. They were widely sold in the old days. I still use one to clean the spark plugs on my old 1965 Ford Galaxie.
Your videos are of an incredible quality, congratulations. of a brazilian fan !!!
You finally convinced me to buy a big bucket of Evaporust. I don't regret it.
NIce video. Obviously u had great knowledge on tools, with each project u r one step closer from King of Restoration
Another thing about lead paint, the chips were also notoriously delicious! #themoreyouknow
GregLobb lead salts were used as sweetener
... explains modern society
"from bumper to tail lite, you're always rite....with auto-lite!"
You are a wise man in all your works
It's nice to see you have over a million hits for a spark plug restoration project. I wouldn't worry about the gauge, it seems to do a good job even though the reading might be off.
What a beautiful restoration, worthy of a museum.
You should send the lead dust to codys lab for him to melt into ingots
I'll see if he's interested.
Cody has recovered platinum from spark plugs before, that dust is probably full of it.
Platinum plugs from the 30s? erhhhhhhm... not till the 60's bubbo. [edit] 80s [/edit]
I thought all spark plugs used platinum, guess I was wrong.
I thought for sure the box of lead dust was going to be packaged up and mailed somewhere funny.
watching your videos makes me kick myself why I never upload any of my woodworking Restorations this is real man's ASMR
His painting skills are top notch
Alright, you got me with this one. Subbed.
Welcome!
I want you to make your “Hand Tool Rescue” logo into half-dollar sized emblems so I can put onto some of my old vintage tools and boxes. Your emblem looks very close to the “Dura Metal Products” logo on a Drill Press I just purchased which emblem is missing. Just a thought but I’m a buyer if it ever happens!
This was the first restoration video that I ever watched. Brings back memories.
Ahh, My home town but living in northern BC mountains now. My grandad had one of these I was given. I know it is somewhere on a shelf in my shop needing a bit of this style of work you do. It still works due to it's simplicity. Handy for 2 stroke plugs notorious for fouling. I am sure if he would approve of me taking the time to do this. Good tips on the lead my friend.
You should send that dust to Cody's lab, he'll refine the lead for you!
I was thinking the same thing, but I wonder if it might contain platinum, palladium and iridium
Most likely. Spark plugs contain precious metals. Watch codyslab. I think he did a few videos on refining spark plugs and such.
Yes, I watched that video. I wonder if any of it would get washed or if being wear resistant it just stays on the spark plug no mater what.
I searched the comments to see if anyone suggested this first. Exactly what I was going to say!
I was thinking it would be cool to see if it would melt into a bar or something
Your the MASTER of RESTORATION BRO I love it's looks awesome ones again, I wish one day you give me a shout-out my brother later :)
Using the tapes reflection to line up the letters is so clever!
Nice to see you using the deep fat fryer in this video. Very creative.
Hubby didn't understand why I burst into laughter as the blue masking tape was removed. Peel Porn for the win!
...we always stick around for that peel porn. LOL
Holo there
Holo! 🖑
Yet another reason to watch in the bathroom. (sorry) Ok, NSFW, if you work in a machine shop.
about as funny as masturbation on a muddy blanket. har-dee-har-har.
5:40 Did anyone else hear a little voice in their head saying "Focus, you fack!" at this point? :-D
He IS an influence in people's minds. Kyle from Boosted Boiz is another. I hear other Uploaders and regular Folks saying "Focus you..." , "vidjayo" , "doodly-do", and something not correct or cheap looking or having questionable quality is "sketch" or "sketchy". It spreads- like people beginning a sentence with "so" or now, the new one is "look" (then a pause).
HUBBABUBBA DOOPYDOOP beginning a sentence "look" is an old Aussie habit...
My point exactly. In the U.S. that's right on the edge of rude, or threatening. Beginning a sentence with "Look" denounces "Pay attention to me. This is how it is going to be, like it or not." It imparts authority to the speaker. In certain situations it's fine- but not everywhere. Some younger Folks who don't have good communication skills now days over use it. Sort of like in the late 80's-90's Black People would say "Yo" constantly, to get attention before speaking.
aussiebloke609 I thought the same thing at 5:40. I was really hoping I wasn't the only one. LOL.
AvE is closer than you think
I don't know how he remembers how the restored parts are to be re-assembled. Amazing! I really enjoy watching his channel and look forward to each new segment.
Had one of those in my Auto Shop class in high school. Eric has some of the best results using spray cans I have ever seen (I worked in my dad's industrial enameling business for over 10 years; never used spray cans 🙂).
how TF does evapo-rust work if it is "water soluble, pH neutral, biodegradable" ?!
Sorcery.
It forms a chelate Complex with iron, but you could call it JFM, just F Magic.
yeah , bascially no-one seems to know, people say chalation, but then dont tell us what is in it!
alien technology, just like cheese wiz.
Sorcery, lol. Everyone knows it’s fairies.
At 22'5, I would say that the screw is a Frearson, which is quite uncommon. It certainly is not a PoziDriv, does not look like a Philips either. Frearson is my best guess, and this is compatible with the tool, as Frearson screws were in production in the late 1930. Can somebody confirm my view ?
I would agree. There are a couple of obscure French and Japanese screws a bit like it and PoziDriv wasn't patented until 1962 by GKN in the UK.
I've a Navy buddy who was stationed in the UK in 19 ought 9 and he told me these were called "Williams" apparently there was a royal mandate that all screw heads be named after royalty. Hence we have Williams, Phillips, Fergies, and -bless his soul died at birth- Sir Torx.
I was in the hardware business in the 60s, and there were Frearsons in a tool catalogue. I believe the company was Vanadium. They were kinda/sorta interchangeable with Phillips but more pointy.
That just looks like a normal philips to me. Just googled it and there appears to be a difference? Apparently Phillips have smooth inner edges while Frearsons have clean cut inner edges. Never knew the smooth edges in a Phillups where intentional, always thought it happened to them through time and use.
Having just watched a few videos, I've already learned to be very, very aware of asbestos and lead with old machines.🤞🏻
A lot of old machines from back before the 70's or so have asbestos insulation on wiring too, so watch out for that.
@@jamesshelton308 Thanks! I've mostly dealt with cars, but plenty of old buildings and their machines, too.
Why i am so addicted to this ?
I thought you'd get some younger viewers question why you would need this when a bit of sandpaper would usually do, being that they've never experienced Tetraethyllead as a gas additive, this stuff would sometimes completely cover the entire plug electrode.
That's the scary part. When my brother and I were kids, we liked to drink the rainwater that accumulated on the railings in front of our home. That was in the mid-50s before the hazards of lead paid were known. While I did well in school, who knows what cognitive impairments I may have suffered.
@@nukemanmd Funny thing, the hazards of lead WERE known, at least in some parts of the developed world. Lead paint was outlawed in Australia in 1906. The lead industry was pretty powerful. I think we banned lead in the US in 1978 or thereabouts.
I agree that the U.S. took longer than it should have to ban the use of lead paint. Apparently, it was still being used in Austrailia in the 90s.
@@nukemanmd, huh. Google failed me. Now that you mention it, 1906 sounds too early for a lead ban. I know that there were places that started getting lead out of paint before we did, and that the dangers of lead were understood by scientists long before the ban.
I don't blame Google for sometimes erroneous or misleading info. After all, it's not creating the content ...it is simply indexing what is being published on the web. I have to confess that I have quoted something that showed up on Google only to learn that there were other sources that contradicted the info. As a consequence, I try to check into multiple sources of information that show up on a Google search. Another issue with search results is that they point to generalized heading that, when explored more fully, aren't supported by the source from which the heading was derived. Despite its shortcomings, Google is a great search engine.
9000 coats of Paint stripper.... hahaha
And that's where he gave up. :-) .
Painters and elec-chickens are two groups that can go around muttering about having to 'go find their strippers' without getting particularly funny looks...
yeah...just buy a sandblaster already...
Very nice vintage garage unit!
That is so unbelievably cool. They really don't put effort into the styling of tools anymore.
I have a 70's plug cleaner. You ran it off your car battery.
I love you man!!!!!! ( 16:00 )!! L.O.L
Best restoration I’ve seen
Just a suggestion for similar future restorations. The logo (and even the name) could be done on water-slide material and it would have looked almost exactly like the original with no noticeable edge. That said, the end result looks wonderful!
just like the one on pawn stars but better
чёрт возьми, до самого конца я думал что это пылесос! О_о
Черт, я понятия не имел, что он на самом деле делал, пока он не положил в песок для взрывных работ. (использовал Google Translate, привет из США!)
Это было отчасти в названии.
I have no idea why but this gave me a great deal of satisfaction to watch. Subbed.
Welcome!
When the music started during the tape pull, I died. Bravo Sir.
encor une belle rénovation
you could just smelt that lead dust into some sweet sweet fishing line weights...:)
Wood.Work.LIFE. Lead weights are illegal most places
hey you Well i do a lot of fishing and always have used lead weights. By “most places” where do u actually mean?
Lebron 21 In the states.
god hates you and yet they tested nukes there🤣
@@heyyou5189 Its looks like its only banned on Federal land in the U.S. should be banned everywhere no exceptions.
Well done! Who doesn't love a great before and after video? Especially of some great mechanical machine from the analog age?
Top 5 video for me. A neat machine that I never knew exisited. Great colors. Great video.
Also, just became a Patreon member. 1st one.
Thank you very much!
Lol “I bought a hole punch”
Ask This Old Tony to make you some punches.
Or better yet, crowdsource one punch from the top youtube machinists. Like 1mm from Clickspring up to 100mm from Abom79. You'd get a set of punches, and they'd be generating content.
Not a bad idea, a huge multi-channel collab.
Hopefully I can collaborate with all these people.
I'd go with Stefan Gotteswinter to make the .5mm punch. ;-)
Or you can find good ones on ebay cheap -thats where i bought mine ,they are chinese but made of good steel. www.ebay.com/itm/Hollow-Punch-for-Leather-Plastic-Wood-Belt-Hole-Punch-DIY-Craft-1mm-25mm-NEW/161925974375?hash=item25b38a4967:m:m_niI_dt0wm7rpb4KvLDvyQ Smaller ones needed to be resharpend(drill press and angle grinder) but anything from 4mm above works like a charm.For that price its worthy of money . For large sizes buy www.ebay.com/itm/Paper-Leather-Compass-Circle-Cutter-Diameter-1-30cm-6-Spare-Blades-3-Leads/191873444625?epid=814810799&hash=item2cac8c6b11:g:oP4AAOSwr0ZXOTJ Or make your own compass with box cutter blades or hacksaw blade out of wood-its not hard plenty of tutorials on youtube.
I was completely clueless on how this device would actually work until you put it back together and tested it. Amazing! Fantastic job!
Checking in from the future! Good news, you upgrade from bucket to drum.
05:55: SPRINGEN SPROINGEN
Ist easy to schnappen der springenwerk
AvE references everywhere in this doobley doo
That's a pretty fancy wire brush. I wonder how much they conned gas stations into paying for those.
Paul Dowding Back in the day sparkplugs suffered more from deposits than spark erosion. You needed a grit blaster to refresh the plugs.
yeah well getting deposited lead off the spark plug required a little more elbow grease than a wire brush, like most automotive shop tools this made the job easier, and any mechanic that tells you they don't look for easier ways to do things is a liar
Thank you for showing us the restoe you do. It is absolutely amazing to see the finished tool done.
Back to the past. Sublime!