Restoration of the Bair Hercules

By Staff
Published on October 1, 1985
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RD#2 Columbia, Pennsylvania 17512

Restoration of the Hercules actually started in the early
1960’s while I was in high school. Like so many other projects,
this one took one step backward before it moved forward.

I was involved in vocational agriculture and had access to a
steam jenny. I convinced my instructor to allow me to bring the
jenny home one weekend to clean up the engine. Like other teenage
projects, I lost interest in the engine after I had all the grease
and grime steamed from its metal surfaces. Twenty plus years later
when I got serious about restoring it, I had to deal with a coating
of rust on most of its surfaces hence the one step backward!

Between the early 1960’s and 1984 it is really a miracle
that the engine stayed in the family. During that time I went to
college for six years, spent two years in the Army, moved four
times, and changed jobs twice. During that same time my parents
retired from farming to pursue an educational career, had a public
farm sale and moved several times. Getting your friends to move a
rusty hulk of iron can strain the best of friendships! Through it
all, the Hercules survived sorely neglected, but complete.

Actual restoration began in the winter of 1984. For about a year
prior to that, I had been reading my newfound friend Gas Engine
Magazine. Through this reading I learned a lot and got interested
enough to finally tackle the restoration.

Prior to disassembly I did take a few poor quality black and
white photos. I also made drawings and took notes during the
process. When I finally got around to putting everything back
together, my notes and drawings were more for ‘moral
support’ than actual help. The photos and sketches of the
striping were a help in final painting.

The condition of the engine can best be described as almost
complete, some light rust, a little original paint, and a lot of
old dry grease and crud. My steam cleaning of 20 years prior had
only removed the dirt and oil from the flat surfaces. The only
missing part was the muffler. A new muffler was purchased from
Ritter’s Engine Shed.

I completely disassembled the engine and cleaned each piece in
kerosene. A power wire brush was used on all rusty surfaces. Most
of the pieces were painted before the engine was reassembled.

The paint was a real challenge to match. There was enough
original paint to get a good idea of proper color but it still took
eight trips to the paint store for a good match.

With all those many parts laying around for so long there was a
good bit of family skepticism about the engine ever running again.
As it turned out on the big day, the only reason the engine did not
start on the first try was not enough gas in the tank!

Now the final striping is complete and all adjustments made, it
is safe to say that the Hercules is ‘good as new’.

This engine has a lot of sentimental value and I enjoy having it
around and listening to it run. However, I’m ready to tackle
one of the ‘finds’ that your readers talk about as soon as
I ‘find’ one!

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