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Saving a 1943 Springfield Engine Lathe, Part 6:



After painting the headstock I decided to tackle the oil pump. As noted earlier, the pump has been replaced
 at some point- the stock pumps are a flat, pancake style, with an eccentric type rotor. Mine has an aluminum-
bodied gear pump,mounted to an adapter plate that had clearly been turned round from a square shape.
But, as factory replacements are virtually unobtainable, and this pump appeared to be working fine,
I saw no reason to change it.



Unbolting it reveals the end of the headstock input shaft and its bearing, and the socket for the pump shaft,
with a drive key. The key, however, is worn, or possibly has been filed to shape.



The end of the pump shaft doesn't have a proper keyway, it just has a flat. Again, it appears to work, so
for the moment I'm not going to alter anything- especially considering that to replace that key, I'd have to
remove the shaft and all it's associated gears, dogs and shifters. Not a project I want to take on just now.



The pump was clean enough inside, so I just stripped the paint and scrubbed it back to bare aluminum.



Cut a quick gasket and reinstall.



Factory Springfield oil lines are threaded black iron, but on this one, all but a short section had been replaced
with flared soft copper. I could have replaced the old, badly-installed and slapdash copper with black iron,
but fresh copper would be easier to fit and install- and since it's all either suction or negligible pressure,
it should be strong enough. I may eventually replace it with stainless instrument tubing for a little
more protection against swarf, but for now this'll get the Monster up and running.



The first section was easy enough, but the suction line is going to be a bit more trouble.



So here's a trick for bending tubing into a complex shape- aluminum TIG rod.



Just bend it by hand to conform to where you want the tubing, and then transfer those dimensions to your tubing.



With a little hand-adjusting and a good bit of cursing, voila`!



Throw the chuck back on for a quick check to be sure nothing interferes with
the pump or lines, and hey, it's starting to look like a lathe again! :)







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