Here you can see our little Churchill Hydrolastic pump feeling a bit sorry for himself. I've had him for a long time and his job is to pump up our Wolseley and several other Hydrolastic suspension cars, but most days he can play "Exterminate" as much he likes. Many years ago, shortly after I bought him, I took the pump apart and cleaned all the internal parts. I did notice a metal ball had fallen out, and even though there were several other ball (bearings) on the bench from previous jobs, I presumed I had refitted the ball that had fallen out of the Dalek. The pump worked good enough, but it needed very short strokes of the handle to pump up enough pressure. Pumping up a car just took a bit longer. I made a note to myself to check the pump every time I used it. As This is not a tool you use on a daily basis I ignored the issue for quite a few years. And then, a few weeks ago I had to pump up an MGF and decided to check a few manuals for the pressure needed on the F. I also found a manual describing what size steel ball was required. It turned out I needed a 3/16 Stainless steel ball! So I ordered a pack of twenty. Today it arrived and I decided it was time to see what size I find in there.
Taking off the steel panels, the internal organs are quite simply a pump and a few pipes, hoses and several valves.
The valve with the 3/16 ball is actually inside this banjo fitting on the underside of the pump unit.
On the right you see the ball that I extracted. On the left the new ball of the correct size. It was easy to fit the new ball. As a test I pumped up the Wolseley. Much better!
As you can see this little Dalek feels much better now. Two arms in the air!
