REFLECTIONS

By C. H. Wendel
Published on August 1, 1985
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20/6/25 From Wyon Arendsen, 3278 N. Mpl. Is.
Rd., Hesperia, MI 49421 come a pair of photographs showing the
brown color and the decal layout for the Rawleigh engines.

20/6/26 Q. Can anyone tell us about the
Atlas-Thornburg engine shown in the accompanying photograph. It has
a 3 1/8x 3 bore and stroke, and uses American
Bosch injection. Ronald Bemont, 6450 W. Hillsborough, #31 Vivian
Court, Tampa, FL 33614.

A. Per American Gas Engine, page 38,
the Atlas-Thornburg engines were designed by Jack Thornburg, and
built for only a short time at Mattoon, Illinois. Except for a
single advertisement in the February, 1939 issue of Diesel
Progress
, little more has crossed our desk concerning this
model.

20/6/27 Q. Chris Romness, Box 127, Wanamingo,
MN 55983 would like information and proper colors on a National
Engineering Co., NEW MODEL,. Type 2 engine, 1 HP, made in Saginaw,
Michigan.

20/6/28 Q. We have acquired a Gibson Model H
tractor and need paint colors, along with any other information on
this tractor. ]on Reese, 4330 N. Broadway, Indianapolis, Indiana
46205.

A. These fine little tractors were painted red,
but beyond that we can’t give the exact shade. Other Gibson
owners, please help us out.

20/6/29 Karl A. Russ, Marketing, John Deere
Werke Zweibruken, Postfach 67, 6660 Zweibrucken, Germany asks for
historical and technical data on a Minneapolis-Moline tractor,
Model EE 151, S/N 422198. Kindly forward any information, parts
manuals, catalog data, photocopies, etc. to the above address.

20/6/30 C. L. Pedersen, 28918-44th PL So.,
Auburn, WA 98001 recently acquired a Mietz & Weiss engine which
someone changed over to spark plug ignition. He would like to
correspond with anyone who might be able to provide the necessary
information to get it back in the original form.

20/6/31 From W. E. Neal, Cedar Valley Engine
Club, 613-8th Ave., Charles City, IA 50616 comes an interesting
letter and newspaper article (below) concerning their
recent acquisition of the big Corliss engine-air compressor from
the old Rumely plant at LaPorte, Indiana. Along with the engine,
they acquired the original order and blueprints for the engine.
Ordered from Nordberg in 1916, they have learned that this is the
only remaining example of probably hundreds of operating units of
this make and style. The club hopes to have it operating as soon as
possible.

20/6/32 Sometime ago, Mr. Jesse Livingston,
Route 2, Troy, TN 38260 indicated that he would be sending a series
of photos on the Heath-cock &. Rush engines. The company was
formed about 1900 by Ambrose Heathcock and Lee Rush, former
employees of Southern Engine &. Boiler Company. Photo #1 is a
copy of the original governor patent, and closely coincides with
the late 1930’s or early 1940’s. The machine shop and
foundry closed in 1949 some time after the death of Mr.
Heathcock.

READERS WRITE

20/3/11 Skip Cleveland, 301 Nesbitt St. NE,
Palm Bay, FL 32907 writes that his recollection of the Ideal
‘Twenty’ was that is was a deep grass green color. It also
had a nasty habit of tipping over forwards when going downhill, and
would really tear up the sod going uphill if you weren’t
careful.

20/1/12 Regarding the Standard Engine Company
of Minneapolis, a check of the Minneapolis City Directories from
1929 to 1953 listed this firm during the time period indicated.
Allied Motors Corporation was not listed, however. Thomas Melville,
6383 Imhoff Road, Oxford, OH 45056.

20/3/24 Charles Waiters, 249 Old 99,
Burlington, WA 98233 writes that the proper color match for
Fairbanks-Morse ‘competition engines’ that used the steel
battery box is DuPont Dulux 2564-DH Tartar Red.

20/2/30 Bert Levesque, 1722-lOth Ave., New
Westminster, B.C. V3M 3J4 Canada notes the typographical error of
this previous comment. We erroneously stated the colors for R &
V and Fairbanks-Morse ‘Z’ engines. This should read DuPont
Dulux 93-5316 for the R & V, and 93-72001 for the FBM
‘Z’ engines. Mr. Levesque also notes a need for
specifically sized piston rings. Aside from stock piston ring
manufacturers such as Hastings, we only know of one source for
custom made rims. Contact: Joe Sykes, 1701 Campbell Blvd., North
Tonawanda, NY 14120. A further comment of this interesting letter
notes that Fel-Pro of Skokie, Illinois can supply the
Fairbanks-Morse 6 HP ‘Z’ head gasket under their Part No.
8220-C.

20/2/16 From Gary Burger, Box 149, Everett,
Ontario L0M 1J0 Canada comes a comment regarding the confusion that
exists regarding certain models and styles of the Allis-Chalmers
tractors. Tracking the actual production down through serial number
lists is extremely difficult.

20/3/6 Regarding the letter from Joseph Gorski
and the Graham-Paige rototillers, several subscribers wrote to the
Reflector indicating that parts were available from Frazer Farm
Equipment Company, 1919-23 South Wayne St., Box 391, Auburn, IN
46706. On page 9 of the June GEM, Gene L. Brandt comment, it is
reported that the governor came as an attachment for the early
Fordson tractor. These were available from several different
companies.

20/3/12 Several readers commented that cork
floats for Schebler carburetors are available in one model of
Harley-Davidson motorcycles, or can be purchased in one specific
size from Jim Coo, 3608 Reimer Rd., Norton, OH 44203. Other
comments included several letters noting that the float can be
built up from sections of sheet cork. Balsa wood can also be used.
(Note: The Reflector assumes that something on the order of epoxy
fiberglass might be the ideal medium to bond the layers of cork
together. It seems that this material would be forever impermeable
to the solvent action of gasoline.)

20/3/22 Milton W. Fox, RR 1, Bicknell, IN 47512
writes that the IHC Fairway 12 tractor was painted Deering Blue. A
few other tractors, including the Industrial 20, 1-30, and 1-40
tractors from Nov. 1,1936 through 1940 also were blue. On Nov. 1,
1936, IH changed from dark gray to IH red on their farm tractors.
After 1940, ALL tractors were painted red.

20/2/36 Regarding the method of obtaining the
year built from the serial number information, it’s back to the
drawing board! Several letters came in on this one, indicating that
this method is incorrect. As soon as possible, the Reflector will
attempt to get the final word from Deere & Company if at all
possible.

20/3/4 Cecil Heyn, Box 111, Pauma Valley, CA
92061 writes that he has a Tiny Tim electric plant, and in the
process of restoration went to the extra effort of getting a new
nameplate made. He has a couple of extras, so if interested, write
him directly. He still needs a wiring diagram for this unit,
although the engine itself is now restored.

THE FINAL WORD

Many of you have written to GEM asking for a ‘How’s It
Done’ column. Perhaps this will become a full-fledged feature
obtaining the O.D. of a gear blank: The formula reads that the O.D.
equals the number of teeth plus two divided by the diametral pitch.
In simple terms, this means that for example if the pitch is 8, and
the gear has 38 teeth, then adding two gives 40, which divided by 8
gives 5 inches outside diameter for the blank.

And to close, here’s one more: When machining aluminum, use
about half each of lard and kerosene. Even straight kerosene works
fairly well. When drilling or turning hard steel in the lathe, try
turpentine as a lubricant. It’s expensive, but still a lot
cheaper than $4 or more for a pint of today’s exotic cutting
compounds.


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