Several readers have contacted us regarding a recent comment in
this column that General Motors has clamped down on unauthorized
reproduction of decals, literature, and other items. One of our
readers forwarded a clipping from the July 30, 1987 issue of Old
Cars Weekly which confirms our earlier report.
According to an article in Old Cars Weekly, retail automotive
stores throughout the United States were raided on June 24, 1987 by
the. FBI, local and state police, and other federal officers, all
armed with warrants. Apparently these officials were instructed to
seize, ‘among other items, reproduction decals, labels, trim
tags, printing negatives, plates, dies and metal stamping equipment
displaying GM trademarks.’ In addition, financial and business
records were seized-these included everything from sales invoices
and checkbook registers to bank statements and suppliers’
lists.
As we recently indicated in this column, the June 24 raid could
happen in our hobby as well. Although many trademark logos are now
inactive or abandoned, many others are still in effect. We’re
not trying to raise great consternation and alarm in this regard,
but we feel duty-bound to let our readers know of the GM crackdown,
and implore everyone who is now or who anticipates reprinting or
reproducing any parts, literature, nameplates, or other items that
may still be under patents, trademark, or copyright protection to
secure written permission for reproduction of these items. Going
this route could well be filled with countless letters, a fair
amount of stone walling, and possibly an inordinate amount of
frustration. On the other hand, this dwarfs the problems that might
occur, should a company follow the pattern of General Motors.
Getting a warrant served by the FBI, plus seizure of your property
and perhaps a journey to court would certainly top off a great
day!
While the Reflector feels that large corporations, or at least
their legal departments, might sometimes become overzealous in the
protection of what is rightfully theirs, the point is that in those
cases where infringement does exist, they are at least technically
in the right, and certainly do have the right to protection under
the law. We’re not about to dispense any legal advice on this
subject, but for any of you who feel you might be in this category,
perhaps you might consider obtaining some legal counsel in this
regard.
The other day we received a copy of The Olde Machinery Mart
published in Australia. It is a most interesting little magazine.
Although a great many British-built engines are illustrated and
discussed, an amazing number of American-made engines were also
shipped to Australia. For further information, contact: The Olde
Machinery Mart, Box 5237 M.C., Townsville 4810, Australia.
22/11/1 Q. What color is a Sandow engine, 1? HP
by Sandy McManus, Waterloo, Iowa. Also what year was it built?
Rick Rohrs, 1125 Broad St., Princeton, NE 68404.
A. The Sandow is a bright blue, comparable to
DuPont Dulux 93-1032. Your engine was probably built between 1912
and 1914.
22/11/2 Q. I would appreciate information on
the following engines: Galloway 5 HP, s/n 45896 and Stover 3 HP,
s/n W125430.Art England, 204-216th S.W., Bothell, WA
98021.
A. Galloway engines are finished in a deep red,
probably comparable to DuPont Dulux 93-660H. No serial number
listings are known to exist. The Stover 3 HP was built in
September, 1919.
22/11/3 Q. I have just acquired a 1? HP early
Waterloo-built engine. It has wheel weight governor, typical
Waterloo casting of the block and cylinder, with oiler in the back
of the hopper. I can barely make out the word’
‘Sandow” on one side of the hopper. The hopper is
rounded in the front but square on the two back comers. No one I
have spoken to has ever seen a hopper like this. Any
information will be appreciated. J. F. Whitt, 1018 Dixie Avenue,
Leesburg, FL 32748.
A. We would suggest this to be one of the
earliest of the so-called Sandow engines. As we have indicated on
page 299 of American Gas Engines, Sandy McManus organized his
company at Waterloo, Iowa in 1912. The Sandow engines were
obviously built by Waterloo Gasoline Engine Company and closely
followed their own designs except for the obvious (and simple)
modification of the water hopper. Possibly your engine was one of
those very early Sandow models with only a portion of the water
hopper rounded, probably to differentiate between it and the
regular Waterloo production. Full details of the Sandy McManus
operation are probably forever clouded by time, but in any event,
the McManus entrepreneurial adventure into the gas engine business
lasted only from 1912 to 1914.
22/11/4 Q. My Hercules 5 HP engine has no
markings on the flywheel that the ignitor timing can be set to.
Any information will be appreciated. Peter Himmelheber, Route
1, Box 71, Leonardtown, MD 20650.
A. For the Hercules and any other engine which
operates the magneto from the exhaust valve pushrod, the first step
is to be sure the valve timing is correct-the exhuast valve should
just close when the engine is about 3 to 5 degrees past the inner
center. After the engine comes up to speed, pushing the spark lever
forward will advance the spark to perhaps 25 or 30 degrees ahead of
the innter center. Generally speaking, the retard lever on the
magneto should be set for a fully retarded spark, and in this
position the engine should fire at top dead center, or perhaps 5
degrees past the inner center. Hercules engines usually have the
word ‘Spark’ stamped into the flywheel rim. When this mark
lines up with the valve rod ignition should occur.
22/11/5 Q. I have a Power Bug A.C. P.M.
generator plant, 600 watts, no volts, A.C, single phase, 400
cycles. Engine is. 1.4 HP 3750 rpm. Model 40135C6-D, s/n 6016. The
engine is a Bradley Edlund Precision 4-cycle engine, Model B, Type
G1, s/n 49-1016. I wrote the company and it had been sold to
Monarch Tool Co. and they didn’t have any files on this unit.
They though tit was made in the 1940’s. Would appreciate
any information anyone can give me on this engine and generator.
(See photos below). Dean C. Barr, Rt. 2, Box 460, Hiddenite, NC
28636.
A. Now here’s a new one for us! Never heard
of this company, nor can we find any listing of it in any of our
materials. Perhaps it was intended for military or communications
applications.
22/11/6 Q. I have started restoration of an
Empire engine, built for Cockshutt Plow Co. Ltd., Factory,
Brantford, Ontario, Canada. 1? HP, engine no. C113390, 650 rpm.
What magneto does this engine use; what is the proper color; and
what was the approximate date of manufacture? John H. Harding,
92 Braden CRNW, Calgary, AB T2L 1N3 Canada.
A. We can’t tell you much about the Empire
engines-they are seldom seen in the Midwest (where the Reflector
lives). Hopefully some of our readers can provide the necessary
information.
22/11/7 Q. Engines have been manufactured in
almost every possible combination of design features. Nowhere have
I seen any review of the longevity of any particular feature. We
all puts around with our engines, but if we were to leave a journal
for the future as to what is the ‘best’ design, what would
we say?
You once mentioned that F-M engines tended to lose wristpins due
to poor lubrication. Fine, what was wrong with the design used?
What did others do that was better? What other engines have what
flaws?
What about the determination of what the better designs are? It
may be done backwards by gathering information about what the
flawed designs and features are, and why. J. C. Halbrooks, RFD,
Box 106B, Sterling, CT 06377.
A. Your letter raises a number of interesting
questions-the answers to which might be (and probably are) tainted
with the personal likes and dislikes of that individual making the
evaluation.
In general terms, American and British designs differed
considerably, with the latter tending to use far more iron and
including many niceties that American practice tended to avoid.
More iron and more subtle features meant more money for the
finished engine, and in a market as intensely competitive as the
American engine market from 1900 to 1930, design features were
compromised to some extent.
Regarding a feature such as wrist pin design, the majority of
engine builders secured it in place with a setscrew in each piston
pin boss. Should these setscrews work loose, allowing the wrist pin
to shift, eventual destruction of the cylinder was inevitable.
Wrist pin lubrication was usually effected by a hole drilled in the
top of the piston, leaving oil to drop through the piston and onto
the wristpin bearing. This scheme worked fairly well, and in fact
was sufficient in most cases for hundreds of hours before
adjustment or service was required.
Of the better known engines, some of the best design work in
this writer’s opinion was done on the Fairbanks-Morse Type N
and Type T engines, along with the IHC Mogul engines. Ours is
however, a subjective opinion, one that is of course prejudiced by
our own ideas of what epitomizes the ideal engine design. Other
collectors might be of the opinion that the Waterloo Boy and its
siblings are the pinnacle of design. It will be interesting if some
of our readers pick up the gauntlet and drop us a line giving us
their opinion of the ‘ideal’ engine design.
22/11/8 Q. Jim Hill, 2567 Hesperia Road,
Bradly, CA 93426 asks whether anyone can identify the log saw in
the below photo.
A. From the illustration on page 530 of
American Gas Engines we believe this to be a Wade built by R. M.
Wade &. Co., Portland, Oregon.
22/11/9 Q. I am looking for information on
Brownwall engines. I have one like shown on page 67 of American Gas
Engines. It has a 3? inch bore. There is no nameplate or decals on
it. Also, can anyone tell me how to check a coil on a Briggs &
Stratton FH engine. I cannot get spark and need to know how it is
connected. Any information will be appreciated. Clayton
Brimmer, 17430 Yankee Road, Morley, MI 49336.
A. Without a photograph we can’t tell you
much about your engine. Our files do not have any specific data on
testing the magneto coil on the FH Briggs & Stratton
engines.
22/11/10 John Hamilton, 461 Algonquin Place,
Webster Groves, MO 63119 sends us a photo of his restored feed
cutter. Back in the March, 1986 GEM John asked for information
under item 21 /3/10. Since that time several phone calls and
letters stimulated by of his query resulted in identifying it as an
A. T. Dick feed cutter made in Canton, Ohio. The feed gearing is
reversible and can be set for a 1 or 1? inch cut. The red and
yellow colors are approximately correct. John has had this machine
out to several shows and will display it at others yet this fall.
He also wishes to thank everyone who responded to his query
22/11/11 Q. Can anyone supply information on
the Pioneer 4-cycle engine which was a division of Gen-E-Motor in
Chicago? I am particularly interested in the Model A, as I noticed
that it had Briggs & Stratton rings and the internal carburetor
parts also match. Larry Kastens, RR 1, Box 116-B, Hereford, AZ
85615.
22/11/12 Q. You and several other sources
(perhaps quoting you) have written that the proper color for Mogul
engines is a bright pea green similar to DuPont Dulux 93-29609-H. I
have only had the chance to study a few Moguls with a little
original paint, but I thought they were darker.
Now we have some interesting new evidence from LeRoy Baumgardner
Jr. (GEM July, 1987, pages 14 & 15). The reproduced brochure
and accompanying text indicate that the Mogul was a two-tone green.
The text also states that the color scheme for Titan, Victor, and
Famous engines included Brewster green. The brochure color pictures
indicate that the hopper of the Mogul and the trim of the Titan
might be the same color. From my Model T Ford experience, Brewster
green is a very dark green. Do you have any comments or additional
information? Sam Hamilton, 2877 Mark Circle, Stillwater, OK
74075.
A. It appears that at some point in time the
Mogul engines were in fact a two-tone design, using a darker green
color on the flywheels than on the rest of the engine. However,
other information shows that for the Mogul engines at least, some
of them had the outside of the flywheel rim and the two mating
flanges of cylinder and frame painted IHC blue, and in some cases
we have seen, these two areas were painted IHC red. The Famous,
Victor, and Titan series appears to have varied somewhat as
well-with some of these using green flywheels, others used either
black or a greenish black, and still others were entirely red.
Using the brochure colors as an exact color match is misleading.
The original may not have come close to shade, and in fact, where
dark colors were concerned, these were intentionally printed
somewhat brighter to better display the engine or tractor involved.
From one year to the next, or perhaps better stated, from one batch
of paint to the next, the color might have varied substantially in
shade. In fact, it appears that the final color combination might
have depended in part on the painter!
A final point-we attempt to match colors as closely as possible,
but within the bounds of more or less standard colors that can be
secured with a minimum of difficulty. For a standard paint number,
93-29609 DuPont seems to be as close as we can come to a comparable
paint number. The reference to ‘Brewster green’ leaves
considerable leeway, since a comparison of some old color chips
shows a considerable difference among them. This whole matter of
color matching is not unique to IHC engines! In talking with
collectors, and even former employees of some old line companies
over the years, we have learned that the color could and often did
vary considerably depending on the paint manufacturer with the low
bid!
22/11/13 Q. Can you tell me the proper color of
a ‘green’ International 8-16, 4-cylinder tractor, s/n
HC3589? Albert D. Denyer, PO Box 207, Pakenham, Ontario KOA 2X0
Canada.
A. Your 8-16 was built in 1919. If it was
finished in green, then a comparable color match might be DuPont
93-29609-H.
22/11/14 Q. Can you help us out on the
following engine: Maynard, distributed by Charles Williams Stores,
New York. Need to know the manufacturer, when built, proper color,
and horsepower. Kurt H. Kilmer, 9818 Saratoga Road, RD 9,
Gansevoort, NY 12831.
A. Without a photograph or dimensional data it
is difficult to provide any great amount of information regarding
this engine. Chances are that it was built in Pennsylvania, perhaps
by Jacobson Engine Works, or possibly by Nelson Bros, at Saginaw,
Michigan. We do not have an accurate color match for this
engine.
22/11/15 Q. I recently acquired a Cushman
2-cylinder, 8 HP engine similar to the one shown on page 117 of
American Gas Engines. The engine is complete, except that it has no
cooling tank or fuel tank. I understand these engines were
available either with a cellular radiator or a circulating water
tank. Did both units use a water pump? Would appreciate hearing
from anyone with good sharp pictures of a complete unit, and would
also like to obtain photocopies of the instructional manual. James
P. Paquette, 60 A High St., Uxbridge, MA 01569.
A. The 4 HP Cushman engine illustrated in the
upper right hand corner of page 116 in American Gas Engines shows
the same general arrangement as was used for the 8 HP Cushman
engines. Regardless of the cooling system used, all of these
engines used a water pump-it is imperative due to the small size of
the inlet and outlet water passages- thermosyphon cooling will
simply not work!
22/11/16 Q. I have just bought a small engine.
The plate reads: Lansing Company, Lansing, Michigan. HP (blank),
No. 115167, speed 500. Flywheels are 20 inches, the piston is 4
inches, and the engine uses a Wico EK magneto. Am particularly
interested in determining the horsepower of the engine, and whether
it is quite rare. R. V. Hickman, 1014 Sanjuan, Exeter, CA
93221.
A. Several months ago we ran some information
on the Lansing Company-they built cement mixers as I recall.
Without a photo, it’s impossible to make any kind of
identification, although it seems certain that Lansing did not
themselves build the engine. The 4 inch cylinder bore would seem to
indicate something of 1? to 2 horsepower.
22/11/17MSG E8 Ralph H. Collins, HHC 8th SPT
GP, PO Box 1149, APO, NY 09019 writes that he is stationed with the
military in Italy. Being an avid engine enthusiast, GEM has so far
been his only connection with vintage engines and tractors in
Italy. Therefore if anyone knows of any collectors in Italy, kindly
contact Mr. Collins at the above address. (He is located only 8
miles from the Leaning Tower of Pisa.)
22/11/18 Q. Can you help me identify this
engine. The nameplate is missing, but the serial number is 239598.
Ronald E. Valliere, PO Box 34, Washington, VT 05675.
A. Your engine is a Fairbanks-Morse Type
‘Z’ and is a 1? HP size. It is of 1917 vintage.
22/11/19 Q. Do you have any information on a
LeRoi engine, s/n 64309, such as the year built etc. Roy
VanSickle, 127? E. Stephenson St., Freeport, IL 61032.
A. We are unable to provide any serial number
data on LeRoi engines, and even having this data, we are unable to
determine the model, size, and other information. A photograph
would be most helpful.
READERS WRITE
22/8/7 Duplex-Superior engines R. D. Hamp, 1772
Conrad Ave., San Jose, CA 95124 writes: I believe this engine was
built by Moline Plow Company, and not by Duplex-Superior. Duplex
also sold engines built by Rawleigh-Schryer and Ziegler-Schryer,
both of Freeport, Illinois.
I also need some help-I recently acquired a 2-cylinder Edwards
engine. It uses a Bosch magneto. I would like to find a copy of the
operating instructions for this engine, parts list, and a detailed
sketch of the fuel tank and its mounting brackets. Would appreciate
hearing from other Edwards owners, especially anyone an the West
Coast.
Note: Ye olde Reflector contends that Moline Plow
Company did not build their ‘Flying Dutchman’ engine but
instead purchased it from Alamo. In fact, the Flying Dutchman is
virtually identical to the Rock Island engine by Rock Island Plow
Company, and it too came from Alamo Engine Co.
Pierce Engine Company
The Reflector was happy to receive a series of photocopies on
Pierce Engine Co., Racine Junction, Wisconsin the other day. This
material came from Chas. & Gerry Tingley 2020 Joe St., Ponca
City, OK 74601. Our thanks!
MODEL MAKERS CORNER
No letters this month.
A CLOSING WORD
At the Midwest Old Threshers Show in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa we had
five excellent days, including beautiful weather. There were more
than 800 engines and approximately 400 tractors, of which a great
many were rare and unusual models.
On behalf of Stemgas and myself, I want to thank all the people
who stopped by our booth to visit with us.
