Our Garage ‘Mini-Museum’

By Staff
Published on August 1, 1990
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The Gilson.
The Gilson.
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The Maytag 82.
The Maytag 82.
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Restored upright.
Restored upright.
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The upright in its torn-down state.
The upright in its torn-down state.

P.O.Box3l8 East Liverpool, Ohio 43920

Thirty years ago, we purchased a 1? HP Gilson engine from a
neighboring farmer. We really didn’t know what we would do with
it, but this greasy piece of machinery was on two wooden pieces
which still bore the phrase, in the original paint, ‘Johnny On
the Spot.’ Imagine, after 43 years of daily, and not too tender
use at that, to be able to read the writing on those old wooden
strips. On the fender was a metal plaque which said ‘Goes Like
Sixty.’

Four years ago, when he retired, my husband decided to restore
this engine to its original beauty. We never anticipated just what
this decision was going to do to our lives. We became ‘engine
fanatics,’ attending shows, buying magazine subscriptions and
asking everyone we knew where we could find more engines. In the
meantime, with the help of Dan Hickman, Sam Hilditch, and Eugene
Black, the Gilson was rapidly becoming a red beauty after many
hours of hard labor.

During this restoration process, my husband came up with the
idea of getting a Maytag engine. Little did we know how that was
going to affect our lives. Does anyone know how many styles of
Maytag engines were made? We soon purchased a 92 model after
following all the leads and eventually ended up with several 92 and
72 model Maytags. We continued to look for that elusive upright,
the one model we had to have. Last year we went to the show at
Wauseon, Ohio and there it was, in reasonable shape and affordable.
As with each previous engine, this one had to be torn down, cleaned
up, rebushed and repainted until it was perfect. This was done with
the help of a friend, a retired machinist, Dean Schneider, who very
ably did all the necessary machine work to make the engine perfect.
What next? Of course, we had to find an 82 model Maytag. Again, we
were fortunate enough to be able to get this one from Larry Simpson
of Madison Heights, Virginia, ‘The Maytag Man,’ and the
restoration was again completed.

Throughout this time, we had acquired an Economy, a Stover, an
open crank Cushman, and several Briggs &. Stratton engines,
some of which are waiting their turn for the restoration process.
One particular find is a 3 HP Jackson, similar to a Novo, which is
going to be a major project in itself.

You may have guessed by now that this was written from a
woman’s point of view, but I must add that over this four year
period, we have both learned a lot about gasoline engines and have
met many of the fine people associated with this particular hobby,
and it has been a very enriching experience.

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