At Gas Engine Magazine’s request I’m taking the
opportunity to chip in my 5 cents worth concerning “restoration.”
To each, that word means something a bit different than what the
next guy or gal would define it as. The word or topic of
restoration is quite relative in nature.
I think that at least over this way in northwest Ohio, the
larger percentage think like I prefer to do; that a restoration
involves getting the engine simply to run and as original in parts
as possible or practical.
I don’t often paint an engine since it isn’t a new engine. They
have performed magnitudes of work making them an almost glorious
object as they are. Some folks aren’t willing to take the time or
expense to doll the old iron up, it’s a matter of getting it to the
show grounds for that attitude of, “look what I have,” and that
takes the true sense of adventure from this interest. I more often
than not walk by or merely glance at an engine chrome-plated or
otherwise brought back to the extreme, including filler in the
casting if not done so at the factory.
Of course there are those reading this who couldn’t disagree
more, and that’s OK with me; “your rights end where mine begin.”
Why do we need to pigeonhole that word anyway, as long as each of
us enjoy our engine and restore it the way we like it. Anyone
attending the shows does not need to like or enjoy each and every
engine there – that’s why there is variety.
This is my latest and largest purchase to date, an IHC 6 HP
Model M and she runs terrific. I presently have it in the shop
restoring it, meaning washing the 75-year-old oil and grease off of
it, recharging the magnets in the low tension magneto, reseating
valves and, last but not least, looking at it! Paint it? … No way!
Grind the weld off the head from a freeze repair? … No way! Those
things are pieces of history that follow this engine anywhere it
goes, just like the nametag. Martin Zirger, basco@#bright.net