Route 2, Carroll, IA 51401
About five to six years ago I got a phone call one evening and
the conversation went something like this: ‘Hello. Hello, Walt?
This is Jim Miller.’ ‘O, hello, Jim.’ ‘Say, Walt, I
had a barn fire yesterday and you know those engines in the horse
stalls are all shot.’ ‘O gosh, Jim, that is too bad.’
(I could hear the tears splashing on the table.) ‘I’ll help
you fix them up.’ ‘No, I’m not going to fix them up. I
spent one whole winter on each one and they’re much worse now
than they were when I started. You want them? I’ll sell them
for iron price.’ ‘Sure, I’ll take them, but I think you
should reconsider.’ ‘No, my mind’s made up you come and
get them.’ ‘O.K., Jim, I’ll be over tomorrow.’
‘Good night, Jim, and I’ll see you.’
Well, the next morning I hooked up the trailer and headed to
Denison. When I got to Jim’s yard there sat six burnt down
hulks, all a uniform color of red rust as a result of the paint and
grease all burned off and a generous amount of water applied by the
fire department. The oilers and mags were burned off, springs just
rusty wire, bearings all gone, wood on carts gone, axles in a bend
and gas tanks exploded. It sure was a mess. I wasn’t near as
sure I still wanted them as I was the night before.
About then Jim showed up, and I offered my condolences and again
urged him to keep them, but he said ‘No’. Well, we loaded
the junk up and I asked, ‘How much money, Jim?’ He said,
‘Well, I’d like to have a hundred dollars.’ I said,
‘If I get one fixed up of the lot it will be worth quite a lot
more than that, so I’ll give you one hundred and fifty
dollars.’ He said, ‘Well, thank you, they are all
yours.’ The roster of the pile was this: 3 HP Hercules, 1 HP
Monitor with pump jack, 1 HP Galloway, 1 HP Waterloo Model E, 1 IHC
Model M, and a 1 Vi HP Headless Fairbanks Z. These were all running
before the fire.
When I got home with them my wife asked why I hadn’t just
left them off at the junk yard as I drove by. I put them all in my
shed and kind of kept each one separate so I could tell what
belonged where. I didn’t get started on the Galloway until the
next day and when I drug it out to start work I noticed that the
hopper and the hollow under the camrod were full of wet charcoal. I
took the head off and the bearing caps as well. Next I took the
crankshaft and set it on the concrete floor. It began to roll to
the side as I watched and that’s when I became aware the crank
was sprung. More headaches I knew were sure to follow. I pulled out
the piston and rod, and sure enough, the rings were weak as
tin.
I then honed out the bore and oiled it, cleaned up the head, and
looked up a pair of usable valves and ground them in, ordered some
springs and quit for the day.
I had to sleep on how to align that crankshaft. I’d had that
problem before and spent quite a lot of time and money, taking off
the flywheels, putting it in a big lathe, porta-press, the whole
bitnothing was very satisfactory. Long about midnight I had a
brainstorm, so I fell asleep.
The next morning I was ready to try a new method. I got a couple
of sawhorses, set them close together, and set one flywheel on the
horses, the shaft upright with the other flywheel above. Next I
began to measure the distance between the wheels. I found a
variance of inch width between the wheels. I marked the narrowest
point and put a big hydraulic jack at this point and proceeded to
jack the wheels apart, measuring carefully until the wheels were
equidistant all around. Next we started up the acetylene torch and
heated the shaft at the connecting bearing until it began to look
pink, then shut off the torch and let it cool. About 45 minutes
later I let the jack down and the shaft stayed right there. I laid
it down on the floor and it rolled as straight as a string fast,
easy, and above all, cheap.
Now I had to pour bearings. I slept one night with an expert at
the job and some of it must have rubbed off on me. On the main cage
I drilled two small holes toward the end of the lower cage about
way up from the bottom at a 45 degree angle, threaded them out with
a 3/16′ tap and put stove bolts in from the bottom. Then I put
in a dummy shaft and raised or lowered each screw for perfect
alignment of the shaft. Next welded two bushing washers together
for each end of the cage, one being the exact size of the shaft,
the other the diameter of the flange I wanted on the bearing. Next
I needed shims good hard paper the thickness of a post card works
well. I use a steel one top and below to keep the inside edge
square. For anyone doing this, be sure to cut V notches in the
shims for the metal to flow through; also have them touching the
shaft. It isn’t necessary but if you want an oil groove just
tie a length of mason cord in a figure eight on the shaft with the
square knot on top right under the grease hole. Put in enough shims
so the shaft will be the same distance from the cage all the way
around. To check this simply use a drill bit of the right size
(heelend), stick it in along side of the shaft and go all the way
around. This done, I put on the washers, small ones outside, stole
the grandkids’ modeling clay (any sticky clay will do) and
smeared it on so the molten metal wouldn’t leak out. If the
shaft of the engine is worn or cut from too tight a belt and (or)
lack of grease, all is not lost. Simply smooth up the shaft with
emery cloth and use the damaged shaft to pour new bearings around
it. It will work perfectly and any steps or taper will be fitted
with the new bearings. Also this will eliminate any end-play in the
crankshaft. On engines having the bearing cage tilted forward,
block up the base in the front until you can pour the metal
straight down through the grease hole. This will avoid having an
unfilled space in the bearing. I like to pour these on a hot day
with the sun shining on the cages, else you must preheat the cages.
Be sure to back out the stove bolts several rounds after the
bearing is finished, and leave them in to anchor it. Cut them off
flush with the bottom of the cage with a chisel.
Having gotten new rings for the piston and pouring new bearings
in the rod, I proceeded to put in the piston. Then came another
surprise the piston would only go halfway in the bore. It had gone
in and out of the bore a jillion times and now it hung up. The
problem was caused by the charcoal fire around the end of the
piston, and it had grown too large for the bore. So I took it apart
again, put it in the lathe and cut it down to proper clearance. It
fits perfectly now. Next the Webster Mag I just happened to have a
spare, complete with ignitor so that was easily solved. I put on a
different oiler and thought I was ready but no, the oil pipe was
full of brass that had run in during the fire.
I made a new gas tank and check, then came the paint job which I
did myself nice fire wagon red and script lettering. It runs fine
now. I have four of the six engines restored, but the IHC and the
Waterloo E are still waiting.
