Hit and Miss Engine---My Little Jumbo

I know that most folks expect to experience a high level of intellectual discourse while reading this blog, that means all 10 of you. Oh, I do have some followers in foreign lands and this one may blow by you for the level of the narrative.

What I have offered here is a Little Jumbo Engine made by Nelson Bros about 1915. While not reading Kafka, Steinbeck, Goethe, and Pushkin ( Oh I do mess with Old Engine Magazine and Fiddler), my daily activity does include splitting wood, talking senselessly to the birds, hunting for the illusive deer, staring expressionless into space and playing with engines.

This particular engine came to me by mistake in that I was at an auction and due to my general lack of awareness, thought I was bidding on another item and ended up with this pile of broken rust. I believe the one and only bid was mine at $100, a price I shouldn't mention.

However, once the rust bucket was home, it was clear it had to be made to run for that is the way of an OCD individual who does not really need to make a living nor impress any women---that just comes so easy. On close observation it was noted that many parts were soundly broken, present but broken, for no good reason. In addition, the old engine had obviously been run while many parts were very worn out. Who ever had it, simply would not give up and even though a pencil could be put in some of the out-around clearances, the brute still ran.

It would seem that at one point it probably stopped and then the guy threw rocks at it and even broke more stuff. So this is what I had. Well, hot in intellectual pursuit, we, (brother Jeff and I) started reworking parts, faking others and getting a couple of very expensive welding jobs on the cast iron. It was reassembled and a fudged ignition system was set up using a buzz coil. Low and behold the thing runs, not pretty as one can tell with all the odd hitting and puffing.

More than anything, it is a testament to the nature of these motors. They can always be fixes and by the local jackass. Unlike modern contraptions, it is made to go forever with only minor repairs---as long as one does not throw rocks at it.