Prologue- My wife has already threatened that if I go first she is calling one of the 1-800 junk removal companies and snapping her fingers on the workshop/garage and reloading room and making all my treasures disappear….
My recent score from a local on line marketplace was a darn near new in box M-1950 Gasoline Stove for the low cost of $35 to add to my collection of white gas powered stoves and lanterns. This would be my second M-1950 Squad Stove and in way better condition than the well-used one I acquired in the military years ago. According to the nice older lady her husband got it when he was in in collage ROTC many, many years ago. They are cleaning out some of the clutter and this was one of the things that had to go. I had responded minutes after posting (lucky me) and supposedly she had multiple offers even doubling the price but I had already committed to the buy and set up the meet.
The downside was that it was obviously stored with some gasoline in it which dried out/varnished in the tank and most of the pump seals were dry rotted and hard as a rock. I spent an hour or so trying to get the pump and check valve to work correctly. The leather plunger sprang back to life with some fresh oil to pressurize the fuel tank. As expected the check valve leaked and the pump plunger would hydraulically extend as fuel flooded the pump body and leaked fuel everywhere. A suitable size dot of some sort of flexible plastic was sourced from a truck battery terminal cover lanyard from the junk pile, time will tell if it is truly fuel and oil resistant. The generator and fuel tank were flushed out before throwing the juice to her and setting the thing alight.
Though I didn’t pull them out the “spare parts” are still in the pump rod and it has the little box with the spare jet (clipped to the left of the valve on the burner support leg. As usual it is of course missing the silly wrench that clips to the side like most of them. Old Coleman parts sells a reproduction wrench but it doesn’t fit in the mounting clip. I’ll likely hit them up for a couple of seal kits to keep on hand. The end state goal is to put together some sort of truck box with a lantern, stove etc for “emergency” use.