My Hit and Miss Compressor and Stuff Engine

By Staff
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3012 S. Catherine St. Lansing, Michigan 48911

It started at the 1987 Allendale, Michigan show. I saw an air
compressor for sale. It had a 12′ pulley on one side and it had
an open crankshaft. There was a brass rod and
23/8inch bore and a 3 inch stroke. It had no
name or numbers or marks of any kind. I thought, ‘Here is a
start for an engine,’ so I bought it. I made my gas tank and
base out of ?’ steel plate. At the Portland,
Indiana show I bought a brass fitting with a cap on it for my gas
gas inlet. I also bought a Ford coil for the ignition. The coil is
hidden in the base.

At the Caro, Michigan show I bought two 12′ cast iron wheels
for my flywheels. I welded a piece on one side of the crankshaft
and cut it in my lathe so I could have two flywheels. I made my
governor out of a piece of brass, scrap steel and part of a muffler
clamp. I made a set of points on the governor to ground the engine
only when it slows down enough to fire. I used the timing gears and
valves from a junk Lauson engine. I cut down an old F.H. Briggs
head and made an adapter so it would fit. I had to cut down the
valves to fit as the heads were too large. I made my points to fire
the engine from a feeler guage and a piece of pipe. The carburetor
is an old chunk of brass, a needle valve from a junk carburetor and
a brass petcock for the choke.

The muffler is made from an old grease cup that I bought at the
Hartford, Michigan show. I worked a lot of hours on it in my
basement during the winter. When the weather got a little nicer, I
moved it out to my garage to finish it up. It ran very nicely after
I did some fine tuning on it. I tendend to show it at a lot of
shows this year with the hit and miss Briggs and Stuff engine I
made last year. I have almost all the junk rounded up for a
different engine for next year. I don’t think there is any
other hobby that I could get as much enjoyment from. It’s a
real thrill for me to get an engine running that I have fixed
up.

My girl friend Trudy and her little dog, Babes, go to all the
shows with me. Me and Babes take care of the engines while Trudy
hits the flea market. Then they hold down the engines while I make
the rounds. We have a good time at all the shows. I have a gas
engine fan and we put up an awning on the back of my van when it
gets hot.

  • Published on Oct 1, 1988
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