[67drake]

Figured I’d throw this out there in case someone is in the same situation.
I had an old Craftsman air compressor from the late 80’s. Still worked well but the tank started to leak around the bung welded to the tank bottom where you drain the water out. Argh. I figured it had a long life, so I got my use out of it. Looking at new ones I realized to get a similar size one, CFM wise, was going to be expensive as heck.
Being the cheap arse that I am I set out to piece together a new one. The biggest challenge turned out to be finding a tank. Local scrap yards and Craigslist turned up nothing. A local radio station has a on air garage sale site on Saturday morning. I called in and asked if anybody had a 30-60 gallon tank. I got a few calls and ended up buying a 60 gallon tank for $50 from a local guy.
I figured as long as I’m going to do this I might as well tune up the motor and pump too. I found a local shop that still rebuilds electric motors. He charged me $56 to go over the motor to recondition it. He said that the GE motor I had would have cost at least $300 to replace, and said this one was in great shape now. I then tore the pump down (which leaked oil)and found no bad bearings and it seemed to still have good compression. I just cleaned the oil pan and reed valves and put it back together using bulk gasket material I had on hand to make my own gaskets.
I did have to fabricate a simple bracelet to mount the motor to the new tanks mounting plate. Then a trip to the hardware store to make a new pressure line and compression fittings. I also bought some new grade 8 bolts to mount the pump to the new tank. .
Total cost to me was about $112 start to finish! I spent maybe 4-5 hours putting it together. I’ll see how it goes, but all is good so far. I wish I could rebuild more things around my house like this!

[67drake]

My Frankenstein

[Simple Man]

Looks great!

[eric65]

Great DIY

[67drake]

Thanks guys.
I had to use my hopper type sandblaster today. Uses a lot of air. Worked great and it just sounds a lot “smoother” since the motor and pump were gone over.

[Mr Anonymous]

I've built quite a few, some dropped off tanks with no motor or compressor, others had dropped off motors and compressors. I put together about 6 in the last 5 years. Very easy projects with great sense of accomplishment / usefulness. Sold them or gave to family.

The compressor I use in my shop currently is homemade (60 gal) , and adequate for everything but the tire machine. I also don't paint or sandblast. Originally assembled 12 years ago.

Had to replace the compressor pump 3 years ago, went with a HF replacement, and its been trouble free. I did a very specific, overdone break-in procedure (three 30 min, no load run times with total cooldown and oil change after each). Havent had the first bit of trouble.

https://www.harborfreight.com/air-to...ump-67697.html

[JC455]

You might do a google search of air compressor intercooler- I've seen a few folks add one on- they are supposed to really knock the moisture content in your tank down to practically nothing. Seems like they were using A/C condensers.

[Old Goat Racer]

There must be a virus going around. My 29 year old comp. dumped water on the floor yesterday. Yeah I rarely drained it.
Thought I mite put some JB weld on the rust area. My son said DAD it's a ticking time bomb. Unplug it, let the air out and put a sign on it OUT OF ORDER !
I'm shopping for a new one.