You guys are a bad influence on me. I've been running petrol stoves for many decades and then stumbled on the Kero brassies. Somehow, i got some kero under my old hide and it has been a losing battle since. My stack of stoves is growing, and of course i could not resist clicking on this site. I've now been breathing kero at work since my 1946 Coleman 168 K was delivered there. Member JOHN was very kind and sent me some gaskets, mantles and a brass pump. I messed about with it all, and fired it up. NOW I'M HOOKED. (My name is Piper and i am addicted to the smell of Kero...) Here are some pics of my poor old, crooked 168 K. I'll add to the post and tell what I have done so far. And, i have a MILLION QUESTIONS too. Thanks in advance for putting up with me. Piper
Nice! Don't fight it Piper, that white gas will just rot your brain cells! Looking forward to seeing photos of the lamp lit!
The whole unit has been bent. Some of that was in the column and i have not addressed that. Some of it was in the fount itself and for that i made a 1/3 circumference fitted pad from pine and gingerly put the whole thing in the big vice and squeezed till the column's lower end exited the tank straight. that was after these pics were taken. Yes, the fount bottom must have been rusted, and a previous owner smeared it with hot lead. At some point i may remove that and make a fitted brass patch and sweat solder it on. The NRV seems to be working and the valve in the fill cap is working so i hesitate to mess with either till they fail. I heated the steel hanger wire and did some artful black smithing on it and made it straight. Of course, then it all leaned over due to the crooks in the whole spindle/center column . So, I warped it back up so it stands pretty straight in spite of that. I have no upper works which hold the glass shade and will need help tracking something down or advice on fabricating one. Further, of course, I got no glass shade and will need to be watching for one. Shall i leave the original El Crappo green paint on the fount, or shall i take it off and polish the brass? Your advice is golden. I have the wooden center handle grip, burned at the top. Should i graft in a new portion or simply turn a new one? More questions as they develop. THANKS!!! Piper
Hi Piper, I prefer the painted look to polished brass, since it wasn't polished from the factory I feel there may be defects in the finish that won't polish out. Try polishing the paint with Turtle wax Polishing Compound in the green tub, you might like what you see. The burn mark on the handle is a fact of life with these lamps, the valve nut gets loose and they drip fuel; the owner doesn't understand that the nut can be tightened so they take it out of service. I've had several lamps given to me for this very reason. This same handle was used on several different lamps, the fount too for that matter. You can always swap and paint at a later date. Watch ebay for spare lamps, they usually go pretty cheap.
Nice lamp if it has an undented font. Needs a Pyrex type glass globe, globe hanger, parchment type lamp shade, shade finial and of course correct era pressure pump to get it to as sold in Canada showroom condition. I'd replace the burn't handle, polish the font, clean the external brass parts, clean and seal the font interior and you'll have a family heirloom that will give good service for many more decades. As far as I've seen this model was only available in that color.
Great little lamps these. I can't say I like this vomit green colour much though. There were 4 variations of 168. 168K pale green 168KC coppertone, 168KS Silvertone, 168K "Silver Regal" all nickel plated. (Aus) ::Neil::
Dear @Mackburner , I am very intrigued of how this lamp works, I understand that it has no pump but uses an external one, can you explain how it works? Where does it connect? Is it a pump made just for this model? I have one but there is no pump, so I want to know if it is possible to put a lid with a valve to use a bicycle cylinder to be able to give pressure and turn on this beauty. I have searched catalogs or diagrams of this connection but I have not been able to find. Thank you.
@Cesar This thread is from the other day.. have a read of all of it, you may find some answers? Hope this helps
The correct pump is always perhaps the best way but you can remove the air stem from the filler cap and use an adaptor like this. I soldered a check valve fitter to a Schrader valve which will screw into the filler cap to pressurise a lamp. Once up to pressure it can then be removed and the air stem screwed back. Any tyre fitting garage will have lots of these old bronze Schrader valves as scrap and it is easy enough to remove the rubber and either solder into a fitting or just cut a thread on the valve. They will take an M6 thread and that will fit well enough into old AGM P66 type filler valves to work quite well. ::Neil::
Aha, fair enough. I thought it might be but it looked a bit long but probably to stop the top loop getting too hot.
Hello ColinG, it's to protect the ceiling from the heat and the link below shows the enamelled ceiling protectors which where often used, other folk just drilled a hole in an old enamelled plate and fitted that, biscuit tin lids were also used and probably other items too. 2 Enammeled ceiling protectors.
