Hit-and-Miss

Up and Running

It’s always gratifying to see yet another old engine brought
back to life, carefully prodded back to mechanical soundness until
its exhaust pipe once again emits a pleasant “chuff” with every
flick of the igniter.

Woody Sins certainly knows the feeling, as his careful
“resuscitation” of a 6 HP Domestic shows.

Woody’s Domestic is one of those fabled “barn finds,” the kind
of engine every fan of old iron dreams of; complete, unmolested,
just waiting for someone to give it the attention it deserves. And
the best part is, the engine found Woody, a direct result of his
previous writing in Gas Engine Magazine.

Woody’s interest in old engines stretches back a bit, and he’s
displayed that interest in the pages of GEM more than
once. And what was he looking for in return? Not much, just the
opportunity to share his interests and, he hopes, to help other
collectors in the hobby.

And Woody’s interest in the hobby is exactly what led the engine
to him, its owner having seen one of Woody’s stories in these
pages.

Which gets me to my point: Have you found or restored an
interesting engine lately? If you have, have you thought about
putting together a sketch of its history and your ownership, and
sharing your story with the rest of the old-engine crowd?

In a time when it seems we increasingly throw away more than we
save, rescuing old iron feels that much more important. The rest of
the world may not pay a great deal of attention to our obsession,
but for my money every engine saved means there’s one more piece of
history in the collective for everyone to enjoy.

So next time you come across an old piece of iron, make sure to
take some pictures and jot down what you know about the engine and
its history. And once you have it running again, drop us a line and
send some photos. We’d love to share your find with the rest of the
crew, and we know they’d love to read about it, too.

Until then, turn to page 20 and enjoy Woody’s great find.

Richard Backus
Editor
rbackus@ogdenpubs.com
www.GasEngineMagazine.com