Candy Shop Engine

By Staff
Published on August 1, 1997
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12234 Harris Carleton, Michigan 48117

It was in the middle of January when I took the phone call. The
fellow on the other end of the line introduced himself and asked if
I was interested in an old gas engine. I said yes, of course. Ted
Mazur went on to explain that he owned a restaurant and in one part
of the restaurant that he called the candy shop, where they sold
all the sweet goodies to take home, there was this engine. It was
there when Ted bought the business 17 years earlier; they would put
flowers in the water hopper.

When Ted retired and closed the business, he took the engine
home with the notion of someday getting it running. Time passed
quickly, he was now selling his home and moving into a condo, and
there was no place for an engine.

He described the engine as a 3 HP Ideal upright. Now the first
thing that came to my mind was a large engine about five feet tall
with one of those large oversized water hoppers weighing about 600
lbs. I said that I would come and take a look. I went on to say
that if I was not interested in it, that I belong to a couple of
engine clubs, I would take some pictures of the engine and put them
on our bulletin board. I assured him that someone would want it. We
set up a date and got directions how to get to his house.

Needless to day the day that I was going to see the engine, it
had snowed. Does this sound like a typical engine story or what?!?
The trip should have taken about an hour and a half. As I drove
north, the road had turned to ice with many cars off the road and
in the ditches. I slowed way down and took my time.

As I was driving down his street, I spotted the engine in the
garage before his house number. I pulled up and got out. To my
surprise it was not the 600 lb. monster I had envisioned, but small
only three feet tall, and I just had to have it. If you ever had
that feeling, you know what I am talking about. Ted was working in
the garage, packing boxes. We introduced ourselves. As we were
talking, I started looking the engine over.

For the most part, the engine was complete. With the normal
troubles, valves were stuck open, fuel pump body and packing nut
were there but the plunger and spring were missing and the fuel
pump arm was broken off. The top of the oiler was broken off, the
water hopper was cracked, and naturally the muffler was missing. I
did not want to spin the engine over very fast; I was afraid of
doing more damage to something. Had I spun it over I may have seen
that the crankshaft was bent. I did not care much for the paint job
it had. The block was black and the flywheels were black, red, and
gold, but I still wanted it.

I took some pictures like I said I would. And in our
conversation I asked how much he was asking. He said he didn’t
know. We talked for a while longer and again I asked what he was
looking to get for it and again he said he didn’t know. At this
point I knew I would have to make him an offer. I am not
comfortable doing this, I am much more at ease when there is a
price on something and I have a place to start working from. My
mind was going at a hundred miles an hour to try and come up with a
fair price. The whole time I did not want Ed to see how much I
wanted this engine.

I did come up with a price and he said okay. I felt much better
after that. Did I mention I used to be a Boy Scout, so I came
prepared? I had my can money (my engine money I keep in an old
paint can), loading ramps and tie downs. It didn’t take long to
load the Ideal and I was heading home, feeling very good with my
new toy.

Getting home and unloaded, it didn’t take long to free up
the valves. So I toyed with the idea of trying to make it run.
Installing a spark plug, I found out the exhaust valve would not
seal. Removing the spark plug and looking inside the cylinder with
a flashlight, I found out why. The cylinder was full of candy
wrappers and toothpicks. Not wanting to give up, I got out the shop
vac and started sucking out the cylinder. By the sound of the paper
going into the vacuum, it must have been filled to the top. After
the clean-out, it had some compression for a while, but something
kept sticking the valve open. At that point I knew it would have to
come apart for a good cleaning. I filled the water hopper with oil
to help soak the large pipe plugs over the valves. I then pushed it
over in the corner.

Needless to say the engine didn’t stay in the corner long. I
just could not leave it alone. The next thing to come off was the
fuel pump. The fuel pump pick-up tube was almost rusted away. At
that point I knew the fuel tank was full of rust. I filled it with
oil also. I started to look for information or another engine to
look at. I had seen a couple at a show two years earlier. I found
out who they belonged to and gave him a call. He said I could come
and take a look, but he was leaving to spend the rest of the winter
in Florida and would be back in town in April; I could come then.
Not much I could do but wait.

The engine club was holding a show committee meeting at one of
the member’s houses. Everyone arrived early to look over the
Fischers’ engine collection. The Fischers have an excellent
collection two large buildings as well as their workshop. As I was
enjoying myself looking at everything, I noticed an engine in the
corner that looked very familiar. When I uncovered it there it was,
an Ideal just like mine. What good luck! I went back a week or so
later to make drawings and to take measurements of the parts I
needed to make up. It took three trips before I had all the
information I needed.

I went ahead and started taking my engine apart. I needed to
make up special sockets for the valve and fuel tank plugs.
Everything came apart rather easily; even the troublesome flywheel
gib keys came out. The oil in the crankcase looked like it just
came out of the ground and smelled like it too, but it did its job.
The inside of the engine was like new. Everything was cleaned and
given a good look over.

The first part I repaired was the fuel pump rocker arm. Besides
working the fuel pump, it opens the exhaust valve and holds the
buzz coil contacts. The missing part was made up and welded on. New
steel rollers and pins were installed. Next came the fuel pump. The
pump gave me a rough way to go; both check balls were rusted in.
After removing them, the seats had to be reground. I tried lapping
the seats with valve compound but they were too rough for that. A
new pump plunger was made. I found the old one in the fuel tank
when I cleaned it out. It took three or four tries to get the fuel
pump packing to seal and work right.

Ideal engines have their very own oilers. The reservoir is cast
as part of the water hopper, and all that oiler is is a sight feed
glass with a snap lever shutoff. The shutoff lever, as well as part
of the oiler casting, were broken off. Using parts from an old
oiler, some drilling, tapping and making a new needle, I got it
working again.

The next big clean out job was the fuel tank. Removing the large
plug from the bottom, I stuck my hand in to remove the large chunks
of rust, but, oh my! What I grabbed felt like a small furry animal!
Now wearing rubber gloves, I removed what turned out to be a mouse
nest. What I removed from the tank made a pile the size of a
football. I first power washed it, then used acid, and then
finished cleaning it by sandblasting.

The last major repair job was the water hopper. The crack looked
small when I first saw the engine. When the hopper was cleaned up,
the crack was filled with plastic wood. Once cleaned out, it
reached three-quarters of the way around the hopper, about 28
inches long. It was arc welded with rod made for cast iron
repair.

With everything cleaned and repaired, it was all put back
together and started. A little more work was needed on the fuel
mixer. The only thing I needed to change was the governor spring;
it was running much too fast for what I wanted to do with it. Now
running at a slower speed, I ran the Ideal for about four or five
hours.

Happy that everything was working well, it was now time to take
it all back apart and get everything ready for painting. I painted
the engine partially assembled; the block and cylinder together.
The flywheels and small parts were painted separately. It made the
paint work rather easy.

The engine trucks were from Madison Cast Wheel Company and the
side rails were made from three inch channel. The only ads I have
seen for Ideal engines were for construction equipment. So I made
the battery box larger to also work as a tool box, something you
might see on construction site equipment. This engine was an easy
one to restore enough things to repair to make it interesting, yet
easy enough to make it enjoyable and fun. You need one like that
once in a while.

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