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Tech week, Recycle SBC oil pump into a usefull drill pump

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Pir8Darryl, Sep 28, 2008.

  1. Pir8Darryl
    Joined: Jan 9, 2008
    Posts: 2,487

    Pir8Darryl
    Member

    I have no illusions that this will put me in the running for the grand prize, but someone here might find this little gem usefull.

    Especially since it can be made for about $23, and it's self priming. Also, it's practically bullit-proof!

    At the VERY LEAST, I'd like to contribute SOMETHING back to the HAMB for all it's given to me.

    I make bio-diesel, and I use one of these to pump used vegetable oil. On more than one occasion, I'v had 50-60 gallons of water in the bottom of my veg-oil tank, and this little pump has sucked it up without so much as a quiver.

    You could use this pump to:
    Drain the cooling system before working on a car.
    Change tranny fluid without droping the pan
    Change rear diff fluid
    Clean up oily messes
    Empty barrels, or transfer fluids
    Empty gas tanks [dont get any ideas, punk!]
    Or even move water in a pinch.

    It's designed to be used in oil, and it will require some lubrication. So if you do use it to move water, try and limit it's use to just a few minutes, and then run some type of oil thru it to protect it.

    Ok, here we go...
    How to turn a SBC oil pump into a utility pump for cheap.
    Here are the raw materials used:
    1 small block chevy oil pump from autozone @ $15.88 [tax included]
    1 package of J.B. Weld available anywhere @ $4.23 [tax included]
    1 section of 3/8 I.D. pipe from home-depot @ $3.17 [tax included]
    [I used a 10 inch section. Your needs may vary]
    [​IMG]
    At first, I was going to use these 3/4 inch screw in barb adaptors that I got from Lowes for $0.88 cents each, but upon closer inspection, it was revealed that there was not enough "meat" in the oil pumps casing to support drilling a hole this large.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    Building the pump:
    Step one, dis-assemble the sbc oil pump by removing the 4 10mm bolts that hold the housing together. Remove all internal components, as shown
    [​IMG]
    The 3/8 iron water pipe is pretty darn close to the size of the existing opening for the oil pumps intake, but it will have to be slightly enlarged to fit properly.
    [​IMG]
    This is where the "new" outlet for the pump will be. This hole will have to be drilled right into the side of the casing.
    [​IMG]
    Start by clamping the base of the oil pump into a bench vise. Get the largest drill bit you can get your hands on that's capable of cutting metal. This one I'm using is 1/2 inch. Start drilling down to enlarge the inlet opening untill the iron pipe fits into it.
    [​IMG]
    It only took about 40 seconds to "woller" out the hole untill the pipe fit. I stoped when about 1/3 of an inch of it would fit down in there.
    [​IMG]
    Whoops!!! I made a mistake! I got a little too carried away with the drill bit, and drilled thru the factory installed plug for the pump bypass. No big deal, we'll fix it later... Just lucky we caught it early.
    [​IMG]
    Now we have to drill the hole for the new outlet, right smack in the middle of the case. Clamp it into the vice and drill away. It's really surprising how easily a good drill bit goes thru cast iron.
    Once thru, work the drill bit back and forth to enlarge the hole to fit the 3/8 pipe... But dont go too far.
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Sep 28, 2008
  2. Pir8Darryl
    Joined: Jan 9, 2008
    Posts: 2,487

    Pir8Darryl
    Member

    Do the final work with a rasp. I got it soo close, that I was actually ablw to screw the threaded pipe into the hole I had just made... Yes, I am that good!
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    Now were gonna cut our 10 inch piece of 3/8 pipe into 3 sections. You will need a small piece about 1 1/2 inches long to connect the pump to an electric motor later. The other 2 pieces are a hair over 4 inches long each.
    [​IMG]
    Here are all of out "modified" pieces. Time for some assembly...
    [​IMG]
    Use a hammer to drive the pipe into the base plate. I finally got all the threads to dis-appear down into the hole,,, but keep in mind that cast iron can crack if you abuse it too hard... Just make sure it's down in there good and snug.
    [​IMG]
    Screw/insert the second section of 3/8 pipe into the pump sase as shown, then wad up some newspaper and stuff it into the factory outlet hole, as shown.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    Keep the paper wad up as close to the top of the hole as posible so you can get a good ammount of J.B. Weld into the inside of it, so it seals up good and solid.
    [​IMG]
    Mix up some J.B.[about a teaspoon, or 1/4 of the tubes], and fill the factory outlet hole, then sculpt and smooth it around the threads of the 3/8 pipe to form a good seal, as well as to hold it in place. A pop-sickle stick makes an excellent sculpting tool, plus it's a nice treat on a hot summers day.
    [​IMG]
    The small piece of tape is holding a small dollup of J.B. in the hole I accidently drilled out earlier. The repair came out perfect!!!
    [​IMG]
     
  3. Pir8Darryl
    Joined: Jan 9, 2008
    Posts: 2,487

    Pir8Darryl
    Member

    Notice I'm using the gravel pieces to "hold" the pump parts at the perfect angles to keep the J.B. from running.
    Here, I use a dollup of J.B. to seal off [and eliminate] the factory bypass, so this pump will be capable of generating over 100 psi if I push it hard enough!
    Let the parts sit for a couple hours untill the first batch of J.B. firms up.
    [​IMG]
    Time for re-assembly. The coffee can is full of heavy axle grease. I'v found that if you coat the main shaft with heavy grease, it eliminates the "weeping" that a lot of people complain about.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    All re-assembled, bolts installed.
    [​IMG]
    Now use masking tape to form a "dam" around the to pieces of pipe. Were going to completely encase them in J.B. weld.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    Mix up the remainder of J.B., and pour it into the cavity, completely sealing the pipes we have installed.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
  4. Pir8Darryl
    Joined: Jan 9, 2008
    Posts: 2,487

    Pir8Darryl
    Member

    Allow a couple hours for it to set, then remove the tape.
    [​IMG]
    Just to make it look nice, I now use a rasp to smooth the flash from the J.B.
    [​IMG]
    How about a fresh coat of paint? Hmmm... Fire engine red sounds good! Not nessecary, but I do it anyway.
    [​IMG]
    The 1/2 inch shaft fits perfectly into this $31 harbor freight 1/2 drill[/URL] it's capable of spinning at 1000 rpm.
    Harbor freight also sells this $29 hammer drill,[/URL] that appears to have the same motor, and is capable of spinning up to 2400 rpm. If your buting new, I'd go for this one!!!
    [​IMG]
    Found a scrap piece of "L" bracket, or plumbers bracket... I think we can make a nice mounting bracket out of some of this...
    [​IMG]
    Cut off a few inches of it, and hammer it flat.
    [​IMG]
    Make a couple bends in it, and trial fit...
    [​IMG]
    Perfection!!!!!!
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     

  5. Pir8Darryl
    Joined: Jan 9, 2008
    Posts: 2,487

    Pir8Darryl
    Member

    Time to test it out.
    One full 4.5 gallon cubie of used oil.
    Standard 5/8 heater hose is cheap. 12 feet of it was $19 at the mom and pop auto store down the block.
    On your mark, get set,,,, GO!
    [​IMG]
    Nice flow, especially for only 1000 rpm. The drill never slowed down or showed any signs that it was stressed. No excess heat comming off the engine.
    The full cubie took axactly 1 minute and 12 seconds to empty. The pump started as "dry",,, keep in mind these are self priming. I'd call that a solid 4 gpm.
    Nice..... But I want more.
    We scrounged this electric motor from a gas clothes dryer that was sitting in a garbage pile, so it was free. It's old, but it works perfectly.
    It needs an electical cord. This old extension cord will do the trick. Crimp on some terminals, and it's good to go!
    [​IMG]
    The end of the shaft was already slotted, about 20 minutes with a belt sander and a rasp made it the perfect size to mate up with the slot in the end of the oil pump shaft.
    [​IMG]
    Another bracket fabricated from the scrap piece of L-bracket, a couple nuts and bolts...
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    The 1 1/2 inch piece of tubing we saved from our original piece of 3/8 pipe comes into play here. Drilled and tapped it for some set screws, but ended up not using them. It was good and snug as is, and the bracket held it perfectly.
    [​IMG]
    Ok, now let's test it at 1/2 hp and 1700 rpm's...
    [​IMG]
    Full cubie took 43 seconds. Flow was much better. That works out to about 6-7 gpm of flow @ 1700 rpm.
    What was nice about this setup over the drill is how quiet it is. Only a slight hum from the motor, and a buzz from the pump. From about 20 feet away, you cant even hear it running! The sound of the oil splashing into the empty cubie was louder than the pump/motor!
    When it was on the drill, it sounded like,,, well, a drill...
    Total expenses are as follows:
    $15.88- chevy oil pump
    $4.23- J.B. Weld
    $3.17- 10 inch piece of 3/8 water pipe
    -------------
    $23.28- total to construct pump
    Add to that...
    $29.99- New drill from H.F.
    -----------------------
    $53.27- for 4 plus GPM. If it can spin up to it's advertised 2400 rpm, it should be able to flow about 11 GPM
    Or,
    A free electric motor from a junk washer or [gas] dryer, and if you scrounge up some junk parts to assemble it all, you can move 7 GPM at up to 100 psi, that's self priming for the grand total of $23.28 :eek:
    If you get a good cordless drill, it could be mobile for under $60, but dont expect a lot of battery life. It would probably start to drain down after about 6 or 7 minutes... Still, you could move quite a bit of oil in that ammount of time.
    Soooo... What are you waiting for??? Go make one of your own!!!

    The only thing I'd caution is that the SBC pump is designed to live "inside the pan", so a little will leak out around the shaft. Not much, maybe a drop every 10 seconds... Maybe none. I'v built 14 of these pumps, and 7 of them dont leak at all. But it's worth pointing this out if you ever use it to transfer flamable fluids, like gasoline, because the drill motor could throw off sparks. Just use caution and ALWAYS keep a fire extinguisher handy......... But of course you do that anyway.
     
  6. Crazydaddyo
    Joined: Apr 6, 2008
    Posts: 3,343

    Crazydaddyo
    Member

    I used one with an old sink and a 15 gallon grease drum and made a solvent tank ............back when you could still use real solvent.
     
  7. Lotek_Racing
    Joined: Sep 6, 2006
    Posts: 689

    Lotek_Racing
    Member

    Cool, gotta make myself one of these.

    And buy you some pipe taps!

    Shawn
     
  8. tomslik
    Joined: Mar 3, 2001
    Posts: 2,161

    tomslik
    Member

    for flammables, use an air drill.
    i do on the gasboy we have at work cuz i got better things to do than crank that fucker by hand;)
     
  9. power58
    Joined: Sep 7, 2008
    Posts: 432

    power58
    Member

    Great idea ! Thanks for the build photos
     
  10. I love homemade tools.
     
  11. You can get a used oil pump for free, just ask any machine shop or your friends. Also , buy a NPT tap and you can avoid the interference fit and JB weld.

    I like your idea and you can't beat building it yourself.
     
  12. Old61
    Joined: Sep 20, 2008
    Posts: 268

    Old61
    Member
    from PA

    If you're gonna use it to move oil, go with plastic tubing, it will last a lot longer. Great idea!
     
  13. jusjunk
    Joined: Dec 3, 2004
    Posts: 3,138

    jusjunk
    BANNED
    from Michigan


    +1 on the pipe taps....
    Dave
     
  14. Ol Deuce
    Joined: May 30, 2007
    Posts: 1,188

    Ol Deuce
    Member
    from Mt. U.S.A.

    What a great Tool ! I am always pumping some thing. Thanks
     
  15. Pir8Darryl
    Joined: Jan 9, 2008
    Posts: 2,487

    Pir8Darryl
    Member

    I hear you guys on the tap, but there's a reason I did it this way.
    Like I said, I do the bio-diesel thing, so I originally developed this for a bunch of greenie-weenie tree huggers. The idea was something that anyone could make in their back yard without any special tools. All it actually requires is the drill that will be used to power it. The pumps designed to move veggie oil are running in the ~$200+ range. It was a nice compromice doing it my way. Another reason is that veggie oil wil disolve teflon tape... Also the JB is practically required to plug up the bypass and factory outlet... So it worked out well.

    If any HAMB'ers want to make this, then tapped and teflon'ed connections would be in order.

    I'v made about 20 of these and sold 14 of them, and my bio-diesel friends have made about 30-40 of them. A very nice low cost usefull tool.

    I'm glad y'all like it!
     
  16. tomslik
    Joined: Mar 3, 2001
    Posts: 2,161

    tomslik
    Member

    do we want to know what?
     
  17. fiftyv8
    Joined: Mar 11, 2007
    Posts: 5,394

    fiftyv8
    Member
    from CO & WA

    Excellent project, I am going to make on to run diluted molasses thru my cadillac flathead engine to give the water passages a good clean out before attaching the radiator etc.
     
  18. Lotek_Racing
    Joined: Sep 6, 2006
    Posts: 689

    Lotek_Racing
    Member

    Better not tell them that electricity for the drill comes from coal, nuclear or hydro! That stuff comes out of the socket in the wall, it's clean!:eek::eek::eek:

    J/K

    Shawn
     
  19. Pir8Darryl
    Joined: Jan 9, 2008
    Posts: 2,487

    Pir8Darryl
    Member

    LOL! They're an interesting bunch. Quite a few of them run 100% solar, home bio-mas generation, hydro, wind... So it is possible to make the power comming out of the wall-plug green!

    Seriously tho, I'm just glad you guys think it's cool. :)
     
  20. Devin
    Joined: Dec 28, 2004
    Posts: 2,369

    Devin
    Member
    from Napa, CA

    very cool, thanks for posting!
     

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