Hot rodding an air compressor

[SuperBuickGuy]

despite being an utter pain to pull down.... time to pull it down


to install a properly aged 16 scfm pump in place of the well-worn original


first step was to make a plate to mount the much wider compressor


then came the fun game of "guess the fittings"


they all ended up where they needed to be and should be fine.... also got a new pulley


and ready to reinstall.... though I think I'm leaving it on the floor again and put the diesel engine above it.... the engine is easier to move

[SuperBuickGuy]

the old compressor - a very good US build bit.... zero compression is a thing we throw around a lot, when it's really just low compression. The flywheel spins when you flip it.... no wonder it took forever to refill the tank... ah well, no one can claim I throw stuff away with some use left in it.

[SuperBuickGuy]

it works! oh my is it quieter.... I bet the noise level is 1/3 and the recovery time.... a couple minutes from zero.

[Russell]

So did you port and polish the intake while you had it on the bench

[SuperBuickGuy]

I tripled the number of cylinders so I figured I'd get a baseline with that.... and the way it is now, I love it. It's in my shop and I can hear my stereo over it.... over the DA, not so much, but just that is an improvement.

[Russell]

I didn't see the picture of the original pump. Is the electric motor up to task of three times as many cylinders or was it already over sized?

[SuperBuickGuy]

Did I mention I got the air compressor from my dad? our motto is, if good enough is good enough, overdone is much better.

though it makes me wonder - simply because there are 3x the number of cylinders does not mean that the motor is working 3x harder. Yes, working during more of its rotation, but presumptively it's only compressing air (work) 1 cylinder during each 1/3 of its rotation....

[ratpatrol66]

All I did to hop mine up was put stickers on it? Time for an upgrade!

[SuperBuickGuy]

my toolbox is, judging from its stickers, the fastest, best-handling, most modified box on the planet.

[DK Alice]

I have an industrial compressor but need a portable medium-size air compressor for filing car tires. Now searching .....

[68scott385]

Late to the party as usual.....Did the motor already have a pulley on it?
Needing to do something similar to a similar unit.

[DK Alice]

Next week I bought a California Air Tools 10020C Ultra Quiet air compressor for my car tire filling. It is one of the best silent and oil-less air compressor. To know more about this model you can visit https://bestaircompressorstore.com/b...ews-2017-2018/

[SuperBuickGuy]

Late to the party as usual.....Did the motor already have a pulley on it?
Needing to do something similar to a similar unit.

and I'm even later.... if I don't respond, PM me.

The motor didn't have a pulley, but Grainger did. I just took measurements, got the number from Grainger online, then bought that same pulley on ebay for 20% of the Grainger cost. For the record, I'm not a fan of Grainger - they can't decide whether or not they're a big-company-supplier or they want to cater to the little guys. So, as a little guy, you can get amazing service from them one day, and trespassed for daring enter their domain the next day (okay, maybe the second is a bit of a stretch but it's close).

So I suppose more explanation. They sought out my dad's business, told him that they would sell him parts at big-guy wholesale. So my dad relied on their statement about then got royally screwed when Grainger (after a couple years of that price schedule, and without telling him) decided that he needed to pay retail... thanks for the website, Grainger.

[Loren]

I try to not inconvenience the busy people at Grainger any more than I really have to. Believe me.

There was a company called Rutland that was pretty good, Grainger bought them out and that was the end of that. Amazon etc. will probably slaughter them now, just try to obtain one of their catalogs first as a source of part numbers, yeah.

edit: MSC bought Rutland. Comment about Grainger stands.

[SuperBuickGuy]

I try to not inconvenience the busy people at Grainger any more than I really have to. Believe me.
.