Restoration of an old Fire Hydrant

[@maintuning]

Very nice work. Looks great. I just now got around to getting mine sandblasted. I hit it with primer and will be painting soon. Red and black were the original colors so that is what I will be spraying.

[@drjohnson98]

Nice job and excellent tutorial. I bought a hydrant yesterday and needed a restoration tutorial. Yours provides exactly what I need. I was thinking all red but like your two tone scheme.

[@WaterBearOfficial]

Thanks for the kind words! Am to do another and spend more time on it.

[@lordfartquadbeanz2002]

I enjoyed watching this video so much,that i went to my local scrap yard and picked up a hydrant to restore, great video again my friend!!

[@WaterBearOfficial]

Its time consuming but very satisfying in the end. I'm looking for another to do.

[@lordfartquadbeanz2002]

@@WaterBearOfficial awww mannn ive got 7 now,i got em all at rhe dame scrap yard just yesterday id give ya a couple if i had a way to get em to ya

[@finneganalexzander1317]

you prolly dont give a shit but does someone know of a way to log back into an Instagram account? I stupidly lost the password. I would love any assistance you can offer me!

[@khalidgraysen4848]

@Finnegan Alexzander Instablaster ;)

[@finneganalexzander1317]

@Khalid Graysen i really appreciate your reply. I found the site thru google and im in the hacking process atm. I see it takes a while so I will reply here later when my account password hopefully is recovered.

[@lordfartquadbeanz2002]

Great job! A proper restoration by definition

[@WaterBearOfficial]

Thank you for the kind words!

[@robjohnson4260]

Good job, pretty cool

[@littlemonster4297]

Very impressive work Sir. Great job

[@jaygurley9621]

Aye man, I got 4 hydrants as my collection so far and I paint them all different colors. Cool paint job.. it’s a fun project man. 💯

[@WaterBearOfficial]

very cool you, should make a video and show it off. I'd be interested in seeing them. Thanks for watching!

[@mmacejko929]

That German shepherd keeps coming by and saying “hurry up I gotta pee!”

[@centralgafirefighter4760]

What spray paint was used?

[@WaterBearOfficial]

Rustoleum automotive primer, Rustoleum safety red, and rustoleum semi-gloss black.

[@colin1818]

What type of sander tool did you use on the exterior to get the old paint off?

[@WaterBearOfficial]

4" DeWalt knotted wire wheel and a good respirator.

[@colin1818]

@@WaterBearOfficial - I saw in some other comments that you used paint thinner on the lettering. Did the Knotted Wire Wheel not work on the lettering? Or were you afraid that it would damage it?

[@WaterBearOfficial]

Also be careful with the bronze fitting at the top, I didn't have an issue with the wire wheel, but bronze is a soft metal, so be mindful of that.

[@WaterBearOfficial]

The lettering in the cast iron is pretty stout, it's good for the outer edges.But the wheel couldn't get a lot of the inner parts of the characters. I tried a propane torch, and paint stripper. It took about two 24 hour applications of stripper and a steel pick to dig out the paint. The flame worked, but consumed a lot of propane. When I find another I want to take my time with it, I was excited to finish this one and make a video of it.

[@colin1818]

@@WaterBearOfficial - Did you also replace a gasket that I saw? I haven't disassembled my hydrant yet, but I'm assuming that anything like that will need to be replaced (mine is dated 1964)

[@runbuddymobile]

What kind of primer was that?

[@Blue2crows]

Where can I ship mine to be refinished?

[@gilmo1938]

Nice job! I was given one with a broken base, right at where 2 bolts would go into, that whole piece is missing. I was thinking of using bondo or similar to patch it up. it will be inside my hose along with other Firefighter memorabilia (retired FF) Do you have any other suggestions. I can't attach a picture here.

[@garciakevin293]

It looks sweet

[@xblackjeepx]

May I ask what you used to remove the paint from the hydrant? I’ve got a 1948 Mueller I want to restore and don’t want to use the gel paint stripper method. Awesome job by the way!

[@WaterBearOfficial]

I used a dewalt wire wheel on am angle grinder. I also tried gel paint stripper on the lettering and grooves. But the wire wheel was the most effective though it makes a mess! Be sure to wear eye protection and a respirator. Thanks for the kind words!

[@colin1818]

@@WaterBearOfficial - I should have just read the other comments before asking my own question!

[@seanjuth]

If I get a hydrant like this I would’ve painted it yellow and blue. Yellow on the main body indicating it’s a city water source, And blue caps to indicate high water displacement

[@WaterBearOfficial]

When I find another, I'll definitely do a more true-to-life paint scheme. Thanks for watching!

[@seanjuth]

@@WaterBearOfficial That's actually the original color scheme that you sanded off. The body was yellow and the cap was green indicating its displacement

[@WaterBearOfficial]

@@seanjuth Ah gotcha, it looked more green to me. It makes sense though

[@ashontayowens8010]

excellent!

[@blakebullard7455]

Where and how are you able to find old hydrants?

[@WaterBearOfficial]

Some municipalities sell their scrap metal to salvage and metal recycling yards. I found a pile of them at my local yard. Got Lucky to find this complete one that didn't have a length of pipe attached to it.

[@keenangrant7780]

Yes

[@Wa3ypx]

The right 21/2 cap didn't come off a Mueller. LoL Maybe a Kennedy?? I have a 1953 Mueller Centurion that I would like to start. Hope mine comes out as good as yours. If they all looked that good, people would steal them off the street corners!

[@caseytbss]

Why not use paint stripper?

[@WaterBearOfficial]

I did for the top and raised lettering but it only removed a layer or two at a time.

[@giovannymedina3984]

Great work, came out very nice. What blade did you use on the angle grinder? Have an old hydrant sitting here that I’m looking to tackle

[@WaterBearOfficial]

Thanks! used a 4" dewalt knotted wire wheel. used heat for the three caps. paint stripper helped, but overall the wheel i think was the most efficient. lay down some tarp cause itll make a mess! cheers!

[@giovannymedina3984]

@@WaterBearOfficial yeah figured there would be paint chips everywhere. Did you just use stripper around the raised lettering.

[@WaterBearOfficial]

@@giovannymedina3984 yes as well as the top caps lettering and grooves.

[@giovannymedina3984]

@@WaterBearOfficial thanks!

[@cfd_26tln21]

What about the bolts, did you just soak them in stripper too??

[@Wa3ypx]

My apologies, I looked at my unrestored Mueller today. BOTH of my 21/2 caps are "knurled" if you want to call them that. I'm used to having them tapered. when I was on the job, the city was moving from the old Kennedys to Muellers, so I'm used to seeing the more modern cap.

[@WaterBearOfficial]

I didnt realize how different caps could be. Hopefully I can find another to do at the local scrap yard. Thanks for watching!

[@Electrimusprime]

That's how you get the damn top off

[@darealberrygarcia]

The yellow and green was cooler

[@jimshowalter305]

So, you removed a few bolts, scraped the paint, one coat of primer and one coat of red paint. You didn't fix the tool marks on the bolts you did remove and didn't remove the bolts on the bottom plate that held the hydrant to the concrete. You didn't remove any of the casting marks. Not much of a restoration, I would say.

[@WaterBearOfficial]

So you just happened to create a KZbin account just minutes prior to leaving a critical comment. Kinda hard to take you serious. Perhaps youd like to show how youd do a proper restoration since you know so much?

[@lordfartquadbeanz2002]

By definition restoration means to put something back to original condition which he technically did because the casting marks were originally there when the hydrant was cast in iron as far as the paint job I think he did a fine job it looks much better than it did before,so rather than commenting stupid things such as you did here,maybe give the guy some tips or advice, ASSUMING YOU HAVE ANY TO OFFER 😎👍

[@fern9234]

Bravo Jim! Way to poopoo on other people's work. I see you have no videos posted. Maybe you should spend more time doing something useful and stop complaining. Btw, if you don't have something nice to say consider keeping quiet. I wish you well.