I am writing in reference to Flywheel Forum 51/4/5: Unknown engine, in the June/July 2016 issue of GEM. These are pictures of our 9 hp Alamo. Sadly, the engine went through a fire hot enough to melt the babbit and oiler glass. The vertical flyball governor is at my brother Bob’s in South Carolina. He is in the process of resurrecting a 7 hp tank-cooled Alamo that also went through the barn fire. You can see the melted glass in the bottom of the big end oiler.
My grandfather Russell started collecting engines in the early 1960s. I was about 6 years old and am now 58. I guess you could say I’ve been around the engine shop a time or two. My dad, Robert, is 87 years old and lives next door, and between us we have over 200 engines, everything from Maytags to a gearless Olds.
The 9 hp has 40-inch flywheels and a 7-inch bore and 10-inch stroke. It is kerosene, throttle-governed, with intake air preheat and water metering from the hopper. It also does have the base. I have no doubt that the unknown engine is an Alamo. I’m not sure what size though, without dimensions. This engine ran beautifully before the fire and will run again in the future.
Jim Meixell
Westport Island, ME
meixells@roadrunner.com
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