Kevin Lightcap, who was profiled in Young Iron in the April/May 2010 issue of Gas Engine Magazine, recently sent in this gas engine info request:
“My grandfather bought a gas engine 30 years ago that had no nametag nor any place where a tag would be located. For all of these years, neither he or any of our engine crew has come close to a name for this engine. We are pretty sure it’s a Canadian engine according to Paul Seachrist, also known as the guy who sold off his collection at Cabin Fever 2011. We all know him very well and my grandfather and Paul go back a long time together.
“I have pictures of the engine from the last show my grandfather took it to. He is giving up on trying to find the name and that breaks my heart for him. I am determined to somehow figure out this 30 year “nameless” mystery!
“Some thoughts I have is that it might be a prototype engine built by Empire. The head is not cast iron but rather machined steel, so another thought was that it is a gas engine that could have been a possible diesel conversion. The three needle valves are for gasoline, kerosene and water. The strangest thing to me is why does the exhaust come out of the carburetor? Could this have been an experiment for a prototype or a way to heat up the kerosene for easy lighting on cold days? Also note it has strange casting numbers on the crankshaft bearing caps (02X) and on the water hopper (03). Maybe those will help identify this engine.”
If you have any ideas as to the name of this mysterious engine, post your comment below:
