A Boy and his Baker

There were still a few mechanical details to complete, such as making new intake and exhaust valves and reaming the worn valve guides in the exhaust valve cage and the cylinder. The exhaust valve was simple to open up from 5/16- to 3/8-inch. Reaming the intake valve guide to the same 3/8-inch proved to be more of a challenge. To assure perfect alignment with the intake seat and exhaust cage taper, a special reaming fixture was made to guide the reamer. The fixture was bolted in place and we reamed the intake valve guide true again.

Cosmetics

In conjunction with the engine work, we began working on wooden rails to go with the set of Rock Island trucks we had picked up at Tri-State's 2004 spring Swap and Sell in Portland. SEL member Richard Fink came up with a nice piece of oak that we sawed into rails for the cart. Local cabinet maker and engine buddy Clayton Ballard and his son David helped us plane, sand and router the details on the edges.

Once they were ready for finishing, Devin stained and polyurethaned the rails to make them look nice.

In late July we began assembling the engine and got some paint on it. We built a pump assembly in early August from PVC pipe and a foot valve that fit up inside the pump. We began putting the whole thing together on the cart and got it done about a week before the 2005 Portland show. Devin and his engine had their debut at the 40th anniversary of Portland. We've got the engine running slow and it pumps water at a nice, leisurely rate. It's great to have youth involved in the hobby and it's important that we pass our passion for old iron on to them.

Contact engine enthusiasts Curt and Devin Holland at: 209 Wynnchester Road, Gastonia, NC 28056; (704) 853-2992; curt@imc-group.com