Long overdue project - Vintage Floor Jack

I've been hauling this floor jack, purchased sometime in the early 80's from every house I lived in for probably 25 of those year - from about the time they told me it was time to quit storing at work. When I had my estate sale a couple winters ago I sold my other floor jacks, but kept this one. I need a jack now that the garage is done, and I really don't want to buy a Harbor Freight edition (if I can help it), so I finally researched online and found a kit to rebuild the hydraulics. It was pretty much sludge inside, but it cleaned up and rebuilt easily enough (after honing all the bores). I'm hoping it works under car weight - it does function all by itself. Once that was working more than I've ever seen it work I committed to the rest of it.

It's turning out nicely. The handle was bent, so I chucked it up in my lathe and cut off 1.5" of it and re-machined it - as well as the inner square-drive bit, which I had to shorten 1.5" too and put new threads on.

Will know in a few days if it works. Waiting for all this paint to harden. I know, should'a powder coated it. But the warmth we're supposed to get this week should help.

Fingers crossed.

Though I found, and then lost, an Ad for this showing a price of $15.75, I found this one just now.

Nice little project - the new paint really makes it pop.

Well, suffice it to say I have a very pretty non-functional floor jack now. It lifted the car nicely, once. Then the second time I tried to use it something "gave way" inside somehow, someway, and it transferred the weight of the car to the pump valve and flung it upward and wedged it up hard against the rear bumper - nearly taking me out in the process as I was not expecting the swift upward movement of the handle. I was able to lower the car, but it seems like a check valve failed. I'm going to try and study it out a little more before tossing it, but I'm a bit bummed. That was a lot of work!

:doh:

After a bit more futzing with it I got it to jack every time I tried without failing, but I didn't find anything AH HA! to point to why it did what it was doing. So, I got a jack they had at Costco. :( So much for maintaining Americana.