York Road Leicester, N. Y.
As a result of my article which you so kindly published and
which was entitled ‘A Sad Case’ and gave the history of an
old marine engine and told of the problems encountered in restoring
it, many readers answered my plea for help. With their assistance I
was able to completely restore this fine old engine. Thought
perhaps your readers might like to read the happy part of the
story.
After writing the story and while it was being processed and
printed I started on the restoration of the old engine by making
sketches and carefully dissassembling it. After grinding the
crankshaft and making new main bearing bushings as described in the
original article I made a new piston pin and its matching piston
pin bushings. Since I could figure no way of pouring the connecting
rod bearing while the rod was in place ground a mandrel and poured
it outside the engine and then fitted it to the crankshaft.
Assembled the engine after honing the cylinder wall, filling the
rusted out spots on the cylinder and flywheel with epoxy putty and
repaired some rusted out threads by making threaded bushings. In
some places the cast iron was very soft and had to be dug out until
solid again. Made a new piston for the water pump and honed out the
pump cylinder as well as putting in new valve seats for the brass
balls used for valves in it. Replaced the cylinder head studs as
they were rusted quite badly. Made a new fixed igniter point which
is fitted thru the head and adjustable with jam nuts. Painted the
engine and pin-striped it and then made an oak mounting for it to
rest on. At this time the article I had written appeared in GEM and
I received several fine letters as a result. First, Mr. John Wilcox
of Columbus, Ohio wrote me a fine letter describing the action of
the igniter and sent me reprints from a book he has showing the
igniter and in fact, my engine. My problem concerning the igniter
was answered. Then Mr. Hugh Peoples, from Bolivar, Penna., wrote
and offered to loan me an igniter. Mr. Frank Kler, Camden, N. J.
wrote and told me he had a fine three cylinder Truscott which might
give me some help and since I was anxious to learn about the mixing
valve situation decided to drive down as soon as I could to see Mr.
Kler’s engine. During my correspondence with him I met a friend
of his, Mr. Ed Wainwright, also from Camden, N. J. and learned that
these two gentlemen and others in their club are setting up a old
engine Museum near Camden. When I arrived in Camden and met Mr.
Kler and Mr. Wainwright and was taken to their Museum location was
greatly impressed with the unusual, odd and rare gas engines along
with a large number of steam engines which they have secured over a
long period of years. They have over 200 such engines and all are
different from the run of the mill engine we so often see. They
have a great deal of work ahead of them in restoration,
organization, and setting up of their Museum but it will be one
which none of us should miss seeing when they are ready. The
beautiful old Truscott which was running in a boat only a short
time ago wasn’t of much help to me for it was built quite
differently from my one cylinder one. However, I found another
engine which was built so much like mine that at first I thought I
had found its mate. Am sure it must have been built by Truscott. It
had the crankcase valve on it which I needed to know about and Mr.
Kler took the valve off and let me take it home to copy. About this
time Mr. Larry Romblom, Waukesha, Wisconsin, loaned me a copy of
Harper’s Magazine dated 1902 which contained an ad illustrating
my old Truscott. By studying this illustration I was able to
determine the location of the oiler, water piping, type of oilers
used, etc., so it was a valuable aid to me.
Fairbanks Morse Model Z – 20 H.P. – 1921 – throttling
governor kerosene carburetor. The boy is my grandson Brett
Chapman.
Gas Engine Row at Sussex, Wisconsin, shown in 1963. These
engines are owned by local club members at Sussex.
Now I had no excuse for not finishing the engine so I went to
work on it. Decided not to build a completely new igniter casting
so built up the old one with weld and then shaped it as per the
illustrations I now had. Made new fingers, rod, point and springs
and completed the igniter. Made a new push rod and the rotating
finger on top which activates the igniter finger. After the igniter
finger is lifted and snaps by the finger on the top of the push rod
rotates so it will pass by and then is rotated back in position by
a spring. The ends of the two fingers are beveled at 45 degrees so
this can occur.
International 8-16 – 1922. It was shown at the exhibit tent of
the Elkhorn International Harvester, Inc. at the Walworth County
Fair in 1966.
Made the crankcase valve and sent back the one Mr. Kler loaned
me and installed a mixing valve Herb Keith, Wanakena, N.Y. gave me.
Found the original muffler castings were good and the inside
baffles of sheet metal were alright also. Made an inner and outer
cylinder of sheet metal and new Through bolts. This muffler is a
‘Yankee’ and has a patent date of 1909. Built a gas tank of
copper and touched up the paint job. Since this engine ran under a
constant load and since it has no governor as such, only a spark
advance governor, to allow for starting, it seemed mandatory to put
it under load. Baker Fans, generators, etc. came under
consideration but finally decided to use a water pump type of rig
so the load could be varied easily. Welded up a pump by using an
old blower off a coal stoker and attached it to a barrel. By
varying the opening in the exit of the blower pump the load can be
varied as desired. Hooked up the pump to the old Truscott and then
belted it to an electric motor to ‘break-in’ a little and
then started her up. That was a thrill! She’s finished but only
because so many kind people helped and I certainly wish to thank
them sincerely.
‘Would you say a half hour is a reasonable average of the
time it takes a woman to get out after she has announced to her
hostess that she must leave?’
