Rick Cooley asks in MMD 010811 for numerous parts for an Aeolian
pushup.  He doesn't say if this is a 65-note or 65/88-note version.
Since he has the tracker-bar and stack, this probably isn't important,
except that the latter is vastly more valuable.

The 65/88-note, which commenced production in 1909 and ceased in 1916,
was merely a "stretched" version of the standard Themodist 65-note
pushup which dated from 1907, with a double tracker-bar and a mightily
complex sliding changeover valve at the back of the spoolbox.

There were three case styles overall, "symmetrical round-top" (seen in
most of the early ads), "square top" (you can stack rolls on top) and
"asymmetrical round-top" (with scrolled carved ends), the 65/88-note
version using the last two only so far as I know.  Some 88-note-only
pushups were made for the US home market and one is known in France.

By far the easiest thing will be to buy another 65-note pushup, since
they crop up regularly in British auction rooms and are even more
common for some reason in Australia.  "Pianola" pianos don't usually
have the extra Themodist valve block screwed to the top of the stack,
since the "theme" valves are often incorporated in the main stack.

Seemingly Aeolian had a big stock of non-theme pushup stacks when
Themodist came in and always added the valve block as a bolt-on goodie.
Why they should also have done this with the 65/88-note ones which
started life after Themodist, I don't know.  Perhaps there was a
non-Themodist version too.

I assume Rick has the "bottom unit": the pedals, exhausters and
reservoir unit.  Just as well, as a piano one might be too large.
Screwed up under the stack, there are usually the two knife valve
assemblies for treble and bass, the two regulators with screw spring
adjustors and the tempo knife valve and regulator which usually
incorporates the play-reroll valve.  Piano ones will probably serve
here.  I assume the tracking is manual and the linkage for that is
present.  (Aeolian's automatic tracking on pushups was always a bit of
a kludge, but I've seen some superb modern double-finger conversions.)

The surviving pushups in the States and England have rather
unsatisfactory small 6-pneumatic roll motors of the familiar Aeolian
type.  I've always found, on several pushups that have passed through
my hands, that these have to be kept well graphited to work well in low
humidity.  In Australia this evidently came to a head, and nearly all
the pushups there I've seen have the much larger motors standard in
Steck/Stroud/etc. uprights.  These don't fit naturally under the round
tops, which have had "power alcoves" carved in the underside to
accommodate them!  So if you obtain a piano motor, it will work, but
some surgery may be necessary first.

On the "bits of iron" which are so often missing: the sustaining pedal
linkage, rod bracket and boot, the "phonograph handle" for cranking the
legs up and down, the plunger rods which lock up under the keybed and
(even rarer and not essential) the two notched bars which are screwed
up under the accompanying piano's keybed to receive the pushup
(explaining the metal plates on the pushup where it bears up against
the piano).

A complete set of photos and a lot of emails on these were sent to Eric
Bergstrom <epb@critical-test.com> in 1997 for the restoration of Jim
Edwards's 65/88-note pushup which lacked most of them.  The "phonograph
(in UK "gramophone") handle" is variously square-ended and
hexagon-ended; you will have to examine the worm gear closely to
discover which.  Eric made some gear which was a lot more practical
than the Aeolian original, so it might be worth talking to him or Jim.

This worm gear, by the way, must be assiduously greased with graphite
grease, as if used to any extent it has a great history of locking up
and stripping.  Getting new phosphor-bronze wheels specially cut can
cost more than a whole pushup.

(Michael Broadway, who takes his 65/88 all over Europe, avoids this
possibility and covers for different keyboard heights by not moving the
gear but using stepped foot receptor blocks which he slides under the
castors to fit for the venue.  Normally the worm gear is used to wedge
the pushup into position (by cranking it up eight turns) once the right
height has been achieved and the plungers set, so it takes some of the
piano's weight, and I haven't observed how he replaces that function.
I'll guess he taps very shallow wedges in under the blocks.)

Dan Wilson, London