So I decided to look for an older Silca floor pump. Found it. Moltini orange and Columbus tube. It works too! I guess it was in storage for awhile. It is well used and an interesting artifact.The base is slightly bent and as is probably typical, lots of dings in the paint from the chuck.
P1040744 on Flickr
P1040745 on Flickr
P1040747 on Flickr
P1040750 on Flickr

So I cleaned up the paint with Scratch X. At least the dirt is gone and the paint has some gloss to it.
What should I doo next, if anything. I have brass polish and Back to Black to give it the really clean look but at the same time I think I am digging the Patina of tarnish. I will like clean the plastic parts with a general cleaner.
What would you do?
P1040751 on Flickr
P1040752 on Flickr
P1040755 on Flickr
P1040756 on Flickr

That's a beauty. I'd leave it just as it is.

Someone broke into my Jeep (many years ago) to steal my Silca floor pump. I couldn't believe it, was the only thing they took. They obviously knew what they were looking at, was a damn expensive floor pump, and I absolutely loved it.

Replace Columbus sticker and since, it's Molteni Orange, consider some version of an Eddy Merckx sticker. Otherwise you're good to go.

Such as?

Next?

Pump up your tires with it. That's about it. For a pump.

Yup! It works!

I was looking for a pump to use as a new nightstand lamp. This is too good as is to mess it up.

I’ve had one for years. Prolly more effort to pump up my tires than modern pumps but...I like it!
Mounted it to a piece of wood to make it more stable.

You could look at getting one of those locking chucks - Silca or Hirame.

I picked this up several years ago at the Recyclery in Portland OR for about $50 NOS. Been using it since and just recently checked the check valve, which wasn't working well. Now it works better than new!
The chuck works great! Never have a problem with it.
P1040757 on Flickr

Looks the same as mine, albeit a slightly different handle:



Actually, does your handle have a small grub screw to secure it to the plunger rod?

Nope. It does have a threaded insert with a hex profile. where the rod enters. Probably to drive it in.

I'd dearly love to find an old Silca floor model, the current owner of the rights and tooling is far too proud of the reputation, and prices them far-far-far out of my short monetary reach.

Nice score on your Silca SJX

Bill

-----

don't forget to apply dressing to the cup...and make sure that its screw is snug

---

when one goes back further in time there were SILCA floor pumps with brass barrels

owned one of those

-----

I had one for many years, purchased new in the mid-1980s. Eventually it was leaking air at the pressure gauge. I ordered some replacement parts, but they were for a more current model! I think I ended up selling it on eBay for cheap.

I have a triangular base like that one as well, except the chuck, Silca labeled, is aluminum, and the sticker is different. I bought mine NOS off eBay and worked great for a year or two, then had all kinds of problems. I replaced all kinds of parts, including the check valve, and it got worse, to the point the gauge stopped working and I blew up over pressurized tires. Mine has aluminum chuck, aluminum barrel, and most importantly, cast aluminum manifold, which I think corroded in my humid climate. I wonder if it was the first cost saving effort when it was moved to USA. Otherwise, maybe a weird effort at a fake. Would someone fake a Silca?

At any rate, I replaced it with a like new Pista Plus off local CL and I’m happy again.

[MENTION=110545]qcpmsame[/MENTION] - Check ebay. My source. I picked this one because it was the lowest price and looked like it hadn't been use for years. Also because of the color and Columbus tube!

Balsamic?

Needs drillium. Definitely drillium.

French or Italian perhaps

Bill

That's the only complaint I have about my Silca Pista pump, it can be unstable, and at 6'1" I find it a bit short. Never occurred to me to mount it to a base - great idea!

I am bit shorter at 5'11" and have had the same issue with the white one above. I now steady the tube with my knee. Left foot on the base and the tube on the inside of the knee cap. Works great that way.
With the check valve now working, I can get to 120 PSI in about 20+ strokes. My main approach is to use the air compressor that gets to about 110. Then I use the pump to get to 125 on up. The first stroke needs to be sharp to get the stem valve open and the hose pressurized. Then it is fairly easy, but with increased pressure, less volume input.
The added benefit is the exercise of the upper body!

Tried to pump up a tire today. Got to about 25 psi and it started leaking around the chuck gasket.

Anyone know of a good replacement gasket for this older chuck? I don't think the current one, 242, will fit.

Might need a work around or buy the new stainless one. Though the cost of the new chuck is too high! The handle is too small too so I think it will be a display piece.

I use Vaseline as the "dressing" for the leather cups, and reco you do that stat, I consider it the best and most valuable maintenance for these Silca pumps. Plus it could be the ONLY maintenance ever required. I also like to add a piece of wood to the base for stability, and since I used to do furniture work I tend to make them a bit prettier than just a 2x6 "drop". But nothing more than a scrap, would not buy new wood just for that. Ditto the handle: the stock oval plastic is the worst thing about these standard Silca floor models, I would replace with a more comfortable and LARGER wooden handle: you won't be able to source a metric threaded insert (easily) in US, so I do as many of the Super Pista pumps: drilled through wood, washers on top/bottom and a lock nut on top. Downside is that reduces the effective rod length/stroke slightly.

That would be from the last 5 years of Italian production: the aluminum barrel started in 2008 and the brand was sold to Josh Poertner in 2013.

I've read (post by guyintense on another forum) that the move to the aluminum chuck was driven by US regulations. I believe this relates to lead exposure from brass in line with restrictions I've seen elsewhere affecting all sorts of things like key blanks and plumbing fixtures. I imagine the cast manifold was a cost reduction measure and I agree that was the pump's downfall, inviting galvanic corrosion between the body and the still brass valve pin, cap, and I imagine the gauge.

So, no fakery at play, this was just the death spiral that Silca was in during its last few years. I think Dario Pegoretti had attributed this to Italy's inclusion the Euro zone, eliminating economic advantages previously offered by the cheap Italian lira. Cost-reduction measures started after that, including the plastic base (previously cast metal) and a plastic version of the chuck body. I've also suspected they went to a Taiwanese supplier for gauges where they'd previously used European brands like Fimet and Wika, though I've since forgotten what pointed me specifically to Taiwan.

The current US-based Silca isn't entirely free of such measures either, but seem to be faring much better for it. The current Pista and Pista Plus, and possibly others are made in Taiwan - says so right on the box. I think they're made by Giyo (or possibly Beto). I know that in browsing the product selections for one of the Taiwanese makers, I spotted certain features I recognized as identical to on the current Pista, but I've forgotten what that match was.

Needed to use my white one for a ride yesterday. It wouldn't fill a tire! Need to take it apart as no air flowed past the check valve. Bummer.