My friend Roger offered me a great deal on a very rare old engine. It's an Olds Gas Works Engine made sometime between 1900 and 1905 and it was rated at 5-7 hp . ( it's very difficult to get an exact date on manufacture of the Olds engines due to various owners of the company and thus the lack of records from the acquisitions )
Roger's Dad purchased this engine and had it on the family farm until his passing this past March. The engine came from another farm about 1-1/2 miles from his farm and where I grew up ( which was across from his farm ). It's complete engine only missing the fuel tank cap.
Here is the original battery box with the mixer ( carb ) and intake manifold.
We jacked up the front of the engine and slid boards under it. Started pulling with a chain come a long and rolling it on pipes.
up onto the trailer
and all strapped down ready for the ride out to Rough and Tumble http://www.roughandtumble.org
Notice in both the strapped down and lifting pictures, we did NOT lift or strap on the flywheels. You will bend the crankshaft if you lift the engine that way. The straps went against the main casting under the crankshaft mains
Once we placed it in the Willock Building, I took the head off and then gently rocked the engine to make sure everything was free to move. Luckily it was as there are a number of parts on it which are next to impossible to get. The bore looked great
The babbitt bearings and the crank were in fantastic condition. The dark is 70 year old grease. It cleaned right up.
This still has the original paint, decals and stripping on it. All I will do is clean it to show the original paint.
original paint on the cylinder water jacket
Olds decal
I ran the crank guard under some water and wiped it with a rag and the paint came up beautifully.
Here is how it sits right now out at Rough and Tumble. I have a few parts at home to clean up. The engine to the right is a 1896 Olds hot tube engine. That's Roger's and is so early it doesn't have any patent markings on it at all.
