Repost from the 300 forum… A few photos of a fairly mixed-up 1943 lamp. A steel font (unfortunately poorly painted), mixed brass and steel cage rods, original red seals to tank and NRV, “patents pending” on cage, and a black control knob. So an early (1941?) cage that had a couple of replacement rods during the war? The steel ones were painted blue but no sign of paint on the brass ones. The NRV came out and apart very easily but the control knob won’t come off despite all methods being attempted (heat, cold, wd40 overnight, vise+long wrench). So I kept the original gland washer and added a bit of PTFE tape. Seems to be air and fuel tight. I replaced the pip in the NRV and retained the nice red seal but added a new one on top. This solved the problem of the pump being pushed out. I also retained the red tank washer, again with no leak. The brass on the hood was in an awful state. I stripped it in rust remover (works a treat but turns the brass a bit pink) then repatinated it with patination fluid until it matched the cage. The cage was fine so just cleaned it. I challenge anyone to spot that the hood was not just cleaned up. Now to the tank… There are hints of original RAF blue paint (btw, I wouldn’t call this Rapidal grey because Rapidal referred to the type of paint not the colour afaik). But it’s going to get stripped and repainted with BS143 RAF blue/grey, which I guess is about as “authentic” as I’ll get. I also bought a yellow sticker from Artpharty. More to follow.
The hood looks nice. I've made a note of the way you've done that, in case I need to do something similar. Good luck with the rest of the resoration (fingers crossed that the rust is not deep). Sooty
I would say 1943 is fairly accurate. Is there a split pin on the air release valve within the filler cap. I think the black control cock is later, it would be purpleish / brown. Nice lamp though, one of my favourites.
Ah the last detail. No, there is no split pin. It’s definitely 1943 given the stamp on the hood. I managed to strip off the green paint and an undercoat to reveal some of the original colour and the warning label.
Why do you say the black knob is later? I’ve seen this said a few times. But later black knobs had screws in them didn’t they? Which model are you thinking it came from? This is exactly the same as the maroon knobs.
Good work on the paint strip there Ken i really like the look of the lantern in its ‘work clothes’.. i think that looks great pb
I’ve decided not to strip and paint it. It will stay as it is. It tells a story. It’s amazing how damaged and aged some of these lamps are. They really must have seen some action.
