6548 Lipscomb Street S.E., Salem, Oregon 97301
Deve Brown, 6548 Lipscomb Street S.E., Salem, Oregon 97301
discovered a ‘New-Way of Restoration’ with this 2.5 HP
Model C engine, Serial #1366. See his story inside.
Ever since first seeing a New-Way engine, I knew I had to add
one to my collection. I searched for some time, hoping to find an
affordably priced twin cylinder model, but soon found out that twin
cylinder New-Ways are anything but affordable! So I increased my
search to include horizontal single cylinder models and learned
that they are very difficult to come by. My expanded search to
include vertical models also proved very challenging.
My big break came when I showed up a half-hour early on August
5th, the first day of the 1998 Puget Sound Antique Tractor and
Machinery Association Show in Lynden, Washington. The trailer that
held ‘my’ engine, and various other choice pieces of
vintage iron, was still covered with a tarp, but I could see my
New-Way under there! It was a Model C, Type C, 2.5 HP, serial
number 1366. It came with a brand new repro shroud in a box to
replace the poorly made one that was on it. I knew I was going to
be the proud owner of this engine! I waited around until John, the
seller’s representative showed up, and I immediately bought it.
We loaded my new New-Way in the back of the truck, and after I
enjoyed the great show that is put on at Lynden annually, I drove
home.
I started checking the engine out and found it was made around
1910 and that it had been restored some years ago, but not to the
level of perfection I had in mind. I started to disassemble it and
found the fuel tank half full of rust scale and the rod bearing
extremely loose. Upon disassembly of the bearing, I noticed it had
been rebabbitted, but the job was quite poor and full of bubbles.
Now, where to get the rod and cap rebabbitted? I had never done
this before. Vintage Engine Machine Works in Spokane, Washington,
came through and did a fine job.
While the rod was out at the shop, I cleaned up all the parts,
reseated the valves and started the reassembly process as much as I
could. When the rod showed up, I hand fit the bearing halves to the
journal, which was a bit tricky, seeing as how the journal was
tapered and I had no way to true it up. But through using marking
ink and a knife, I got it really close! Then I added the piston,
new rings from Starbolt, and placed the piston into the freshly
honed cylinder. I then propped the engine half open.
Next came the chore of fitting the main bearing shims. For those
of you who haven’t set New-Way main bearing shims, it’s a
bit of a challenge. The crankcase hinges open at the main bearings,
which means the shims go around the entire mating surface between
the crankcase halves. Plus, if you do it right, the shims act as a
gasket. If you don’t, you get an oily mess when the engine
runs. This took a couple of days but after getting the proper
combination of hand cut shims, I sealed the engine up.
After adding the cam gear, cover and governor lever, came the
fan and shroud. The bearing for the fan was quite loose and I did
as I had seen others do, namely plug the oil pipe coming up from
the crankcase and place a grease cup on the top of the ‘T’
right next to the fan. The shroud went on after some fitting and
modification of various holes.
I had been painting the various parts along as I assembled my
New-Way, but now came the challenge of the quite elaborate original
New-Way paint job. Armed with New-Way sales literature, a photo of
a New-Way with original paint, and the photo on the back of the
July ’97 GEM I tackled the job. I used Dupont Dulux
#29609DH green and #2564DH maroon, which were the new paint codes
corresponding to those mentioned in Wendel’s Notebook.
The painting aspect of the restoration took quite a while which
included me hand painting on the flowers in their original
positions using a brush with a tiny tip. Then faced with the more
challenging tasks of the gold pinstriping, I decided to use the
stick-on variety. All in all, it turned out quite nicely!
In parallel with the engine, I had started making a truck. I
used a furniture grade mahogany 2 x 12 for the truck platform and
used maple and oak blocks to set the wheels the proper distance
under the platform. The quarter-sawn oak ignition box that I had
previously built was then added to the platform. Using excellently
constructed wheels and a front axle bolster from Madison Cast Wheel
Company, I completed the job. The truck turned out really nicely,
too. After finishing it, I took very careful measurements and
drilled the four mounting bolt holes through the 2′ mahogany
top and placed my New-Way onto it. Wow, did my New-Way ever look
good on its new truck!
A few days later, and after taking pictures of this beautiful
engine, I started it up. It fired right up and ran as beautifully
as it looked!
I was proud to add my new New-Way to my display at the 1999
Great Oregon Steamup at the Antique Powerland in Brooks, Oregon.
The Great Oregon Steamup is held the last weekend of July and the
first weekend of August each year and is an excellent show that is
very well attended-in fact it is the largest show on the West
Coast. My New-Way caught the eye of quite a few, including
professional photographers, and it seemed the most common question
was, ‘Who did the paint job?’
Finding my New-Way, restoring and then displaying it, has been
the fulfillment of a dream I have had for some years now. Of
course, like anything else, there is always ‘something’ to
do to anything regardless of level of perfection. Okay you New-Way
experts, what’s wrong with my New-Way? The pulley is wrong you
say? You’re right! Now you get to help me find a correct one!
Seriously, a lead on an affordable correct pulley would be
appreciated.
You are welcome to visit my New-Way and the rest of my
collection anytime at my website-http:ironradio.com. And naturally,
I still have my eye out for that affordable twin cylinder
model!
