Alright, let me tell you about this old Harley Davidson oil can I messed with recently. Was cleaning out a corner of the garage, you know, the spot where stuff just piles up. Behind a stack of old tires, there it was. An old-school metal Harley oil can.
It wasn’t looking too pretty, honestly. Covered in dust thicker than your thumb. Had that greasy film on it too, from years of just sitting there. The logo was still visible, though, that classic Harley Davidson script. Looked kinda cool, even under all the gunk. Seemed a shame to just leave it there or toss it.
Cleaning it Up
So, I decided, what the heck, let’s see if I can make it look decent again. Hauled it over to the workbench. First thing, just took a dry rag and wiped off the loose dust. Already looked a bit better. Then I grabbed some degreaser, sprayed it on a clean cloth, and started working on that oily grime. Took some rubbing, especially around the seams and the handle.
Found some rusty spots, mostly near the bottom and a bit on the spout. Didn’t want to go crazy and scrape off the paint, you know? So I got some super fine steel wool, like the 0000 grade stuff, and a little bit of light oil. Went really gentle on the rust, just trying to knock off the surface stuff without messing up the original finish too much. It wasn’t perfect, but it got rid of the worst of it.
The pump mechanism on top was stiff. Sprayed a little penetrating oil down the spout and worked the thumb lever back and forth. After a few minutes, it started moving freely again. Pretty neat. Wiped the whole thing down one last time with a clean rag, tried to buff it up a little.
So, yeah. Didn’t take long, maybe half an hour total. Now it sits on the shelf above my workbench. Doesn’t look brand new, obviously, it’s got character. But it’s clean, the Harley Davidson logo stands out, and it just looks right sitting there. A nice little piece of garage history I brought back from the dusty corner. Felt good to do it.
