Our car has a rare, short-lived, and allegedly dangerous acetylene self starter made by the Prest-O-Lite company. (see my notes on the Prest-O-Starter at: https://michiganmotorcar.com/nuts-bolts-2/prest-o-starter-acetylene-starter/  Cars earlier than ours often had acetylene generators which were complicated and messy. Instead of an acetylene generator, our car came stock with an easy to use Prest-O-Lite tank mounted to the right running board. The tank supplied acetylene gas to both the headlights and the Prest-O-Starter. Our family photos of the car show this tank.

Fleck family July 4, 1915 parade, Hobart, Indiana. (click on photo to enlarge)

This very same tank (or one that was swapped into place back in the 1900’s) was with the car when we took it out of Steve Dickey’s barn in 2011. It should be noted that 1912 was a pivotal year in the rapidly evolving automotive technology scene. The 1913 Michigans did not have acetylene for headlights or starters. Both were upgraded to something we would recognize today – electricity. Both light bulbs and an electric starter were new for 1913.

Craig displays the Prest-O-Lite acetylene tank, Sept. 17, 2011.

While it would be unwise to actually refill the tank, we nevertheless wanted to display this authentic accessory. So, I pulled the tank from storage under a workbench and got to cleaning it up and gave it a coat of paint.

Prest-O-Lite tank showing evidence of use and warning label.

Unfortunately, the tank’s nickel plating had worn off and corrosion had removed much of the copper plate labelling. So I used some “chrome” rattle can spray paint as a nickel plate substitute. Aesthetically it was a good alternate for the shiny nickel plating at a fraction of the cost. The application of a copper colored sticker added the verbiage that was on the original label.

Restored acetylene tank, ready for mounting on the running board.

Brackets and tank installed.

I should note that when I got ready to clean the tank, I opened the valve.  There was a faint hiss and I got a whiff of genuine 1900’s acetylene. But it’s all gone now. If we get our lights  (and maybe the starter) set up some day, we will use a modern tank hidden somewhere else on the car.