Late one evening, the week before last, a friend alerted me to a stationary engine, going free, to protect it from scraping on Facebook.
Upon looking into it, the engine seemed interesting enough and 10 miles from where I would be the following Saturday.
So, at this point, without knowing what type of engine, or really anything about its condition, I contacted the owner, and some 12hrs later, the engine was mine to collect.
At this point, I got talking to the owner, to try and find out some more about the engine, and to draw up a plan to remove it from the garden. It turns out his late farther in law, was an engineer by trade, who had restored vintage Bugatti’s, one of which he found in a shed in France, (really shows you truly don’t know what’s out there) he had acquired the engine as a project to do during retirement. But unfortunately, never got the chance. Subsequently the house had been sold, and now the engine needed a new home, or it was off to the breakers yard for it.
About this time, I started asking around some friends in the stationary engine world, about the origins of the engine and mostly what it was. Thankfully, one friend soon pointed out it was an International and the that it was a type M, likely 1.5HP.
It was later agreed that I would go round Saturday evening, with an engine crane and a trolley to move the engine. The removal however would prove more interesting than first expected, as for one the engines crank shaft was longer than the width of the door (rather begging the question of how it got there some 30+ years ago we believe), nevertheless we eventually managed to extract the engine, and get it lifted into the van. The owner being very happy with this outcome as it meant the engine wasn’t going for scrap.
The engine is now home, and I’ve had a chance to look it over. It is not looking like an easy restoration, one side flywheel was half removed, and now seized to the end of the crankshaft, and the cylinder head similarly, half removed and seized on and not to mention the engine stuck or the missing parts. However, if parts can be sourced, I’m happy to give it a go. This is where I need some help, I have never worked on an American engine before and don’t know where to start for parts. If anyone has any advice, I would be very interested to hear from you.
Anyway, for now enjoy the pictures of the job ahead and thanks for reading.
You must be logged in to like this post.
Country: GB
