MTFCA Forum

I decided not to high jack the hit and miss engine thread and start this 1 to share some odd balls I am working on.
This is a Briggs and Stratton 6HSF engine with 2 inch bore. Best I can find out, febuary of 1952.
I have a couple engine of similar models a tad older.
I decided to refurbish some of what I have always considered and called vertical shaft engines. Turns out Briggs refereed to these as horizontal engines.They referenced the cylinder position instead of crankshaft position.
This engine was a bit pricey to fix and the exhaust manifold is a "copy" as the originals are impossible to find.
Parts for repair, I found a fellow in Virginia that sells NOS and good used Briggs parts ,if you ever need any let me know and I will pm you his number.
He had the new connecting rod and so forth I needed for this 1.

These are a couple others on the table now.
The unrestored 1's look a bit rough don't they?
Third 1 is a 6HS
second 1 is a 6H
Both have the same bore,but the S indicated suction feed carb.
These are in mid restoration right now.
first engine is a WMB Briggs and stratton engine.These were used on washing machines.

Neat stuff Mack.

You are one clever, persistent man, Mack....good luck and good health to you. Dave

Thanks Dave,I enjoy fixing things. I like the challenge and the learning experience of something different. And similar to Model T's ,you meet alot of people when you are trying to scare up the right parts for a particular project.

That 6HSF sure is an oddball. Neat find.

This is my 1949 Model 23 12 HP B S. I haven't started it for about 10 years and it went on the first pull. It was originally in a 12 foot Clinker boat, the boat got wrecked but I salvaged the engine.

Those engines are known to have ignition coil issues. and the coils are hard to come by.There is a conversion process, but I have not read about it lately and can't remember the details.
I have a 23 with reduction gear that is almost NOS .it was bought and installed on a mud pump and then the pump went bad shortly after.
Very heavy,alot of torque.

I think on the 23's, if there is a D after the 23 it is a counter rotating engine.

I always run this one on white gas, camp stove fuel, it never goes bad you can leave it in the tank for years.
When I was on the fire department all ours mall engines ran on white gas. It has several names, Naptha,
high test, camp stove fuel and white gas.

I used to put "white gas", "Coleman fuel",etc, in antique engines until it became more expensive than good whiskey. It does keep well and runs well in low compression engines, but it has rather low octane. It will detonate readily in a Model A engine. I'd be cautious about using it in any Briggs-type air cooled engine with that is running under load. It seems to work fine in early hot head engines.

I was taught years back on these small old engines to mix coleman fuel 50x50 with some high octane non Ethel gas .
1 thing I sadly have learned the hard way and it will require some work, is to NOT use startron or stabile in a gas tank that has been lined with Red Coat tank liner. It will eat it up and that stuff will clog the carb, stick the valves and wherever else it gets.

I don't think the octane demand for the older Briggs-type engines is very high, but they do run very hot under load in warm weather which will increase octane demand considerabley. The earlier cast iron block and head engines don't seem to cool as well under load as the later ones.

I don't think that too many of these vintage engines ever operate under a demanding load.

Most of the engines I restore,don't even get gas put in them,I will pop them off on a bit of carb spray or something to make sure all is well. To much trouble cleaning old fuel out of tanks and such.
I built this trailer over the last month or 2 to strap down my water hopper engines onto and take them to day shows without alot of handling.I have devoloped 1 of those hernias in my belly just under the right ribs, and it seems lifting makes it hurt worse,So i am trying to cut back on that.

Here are 4 of my current finished engines I have redone over the past month or so,
2 more are on the bench now about 1/3 done. I have a total of 8 of the kick start WMB model Briggs engines now.
the red 1, is a engine sold by Sears,thus it is red. the green engine, well, let's just say I was getting sick of BLACK and decided to paint 1 a different color, later learned that yes there was a vendor that sold them under a machine and green was correct.

I noticed I didn't update the thread after I mounted the hit and miss engines to it. So here it is, the grey and black 1 is a 1926 Fairbanks morse 1 1/2 hp "dishpan".The red 1 is a IH 1 1/2 hp throttle governor engine that was given to me in 2022 at Luray,not quite running yet,
the green 1 is a fairbanks morse 2 hp ZD engine.
the small green 1 is a Lauson sold under the fairbanks morse name, the other 1 is a Wisconsin that Hal Davis gave me years ago.

Now here is some stuff,I will be needing to learn about, and i am hoping to get some of my friends that are machinist to help me on them.A freind of mine , Bill Meanus, is very bad sick with cancer, He has been a great friend for years and he has given me some engines here that i HOPE I can get some of them working.
He was in the MTFCA in the 70's and built his T while living in Oregon. He sold it when he came home and did a A which he still has.
He cast his own metal,self taught machinist.
just a talent beyond me for sure.
Here is are a couple hot air engines ,the plans are on ebay for what is called a 4 in 1 engine,as in 4 styles, flame licker is another name for the,, and the big boy, a 4 cylinder Snow model, built 30% larger than the plans.
That is a 6 foot table it is sitting on. quite a bit needs to be done to finish it, but the little flame lickers just need the graphite valves and such done, the other engine that is apart, is a 1/2 hp Ideal, I think I will be able to make it go with some work, most of it's there.

Beautiful work, Mack! A whole lot of skill and patience shows in each engine! As far as fuel goes, 100ll avgas from your local airport will work well. It never goes bad, I’ve had some ten years and it’s as good as new. It has a very small amount of lead still in it for valves and seats. My airplane exhaust still turns white like all your cars used to when they were tuned right.I bought some yesterday to put in my sixties triumph sports cars to mix with the crappy unleaded we get now. It will help protect the fuel system from gumming up. My old airplane, 1946 Ercoupe, has a Continental C75, which is low compression, at about six and a half to one, and it starts well on it. It was designed to run on 80 octane, which hasn’t been available for years. My plane is legal to run on non alcohol unleaded gas, but it still goes bad quickly, and I don’t need that in the air!

I have several antique boat motors that are waiting to be worked on. A circa 1919 Caille, straight shaft outboard, that runs on a battery and a T coil, made in Detroit, an ole evinrude, rudder twin battery operated, a 1938 Johnson, and an early fifties Johnson seahorse five horse with its factory stand and safety chain. I have a 1924 Adirondack guide boat with a square stern to use them on. I bought the boat from the son of the builder in 1966 when I was fourteen. Plus two T’s, the airplane, the two triumphs, about thirty 1880-1890 antique bicycles, and 25 acres to look after. Still working full time, after retiring once and getting called back after a year off!

Johnson outboards, yep, my dad's are in the shed, 1 5hp, 3 2.5 hp's and 1 10 hp.all 40's-50's engines, a couple were my grandfathers and the boat is still here to, a Feathercraft.
I had considered getting 1 of them out and trying to fire it but just hadn't done it yet.I know the ignition coil has leaked on 1 of them,and has the engine gooey sticky,not wanting to rotate.