4660 County Road 134 St. Cloud, Minnesota 56303
Jerome A. Then of 4660 County Road 134 in St. Cloud, Minnesota
56303 tells the story of the restoration of this 1915 4 HP Mogul #
EZ1172.
I purchased a 1915 4 HP Mogul, serial # EZ1172, in the summer of
1997. The first winter I owned it, I did not get to do any work on
it. It was a running engine, an older restoration, but needed to be
restored again. It also was running on propane, which I liked very
much because they run so clean.
I started restoration the winter of 1998-99. Mechanically the
Mogul was in pretty good shape. I took the magneto to Mitch Malcolm
to be rebuilt; he does very nice work.
I ground the valves, cleaned the ignitor, and had some of the
nuts and bolts nickel plated. I stripped all the old paint, primed
it, and then brush painted it with two coats to get a better
finish. I was able to buy the correct color paint at my local
N.A.P.A. store. I had the engine pinstriped and then put on the
decals. I made new skids for it out of 4’x6′ white ash and
varnished them with four coats of marine varnish.
A local trailer manufacturer custom-built the little tandem axle
trailer complete with crank down stands for display. I then mounted
the Mogul on the trailer using six 5/8‘
bolts going through the trailer frame. I also mounted a plastic
work box, the kind you see in pickup beds, behind the engine to
store the propane tank, tools, etc.
I had one more problem to solve, that being the starting of the
Mogul now mounted on the trailer. I have a heart condition and my
doctor thinks I should not be spinning those large flywheels. We
know sometimes engines can get stubborn. So, I decided to go the
pony engine route.
I built a frame to set an International LB on, then fabricated
some linkage to move the LB back and forth so as to be able to
clutch the LB into and away from the Mogul’s flywheel. The
linkage was springloaded to keep the LB’s pulley clear of the
Mogul’s flywheel when it is running. I used the thread part of
a tire cut to size to bolt around the LB’s pulley. I then
bolted the unit in place on the left side of the Mogul. The pony
engine starting system worked out perfectly.
Spectators enjoy watching the starting procedure, it sure beats
hand cranking and the little LB never gets tired.
I enjoy taking the Mogul to shows as it gets lots of attention,
also one gets to answer lots of questions and make lots of
friends.
