WRC Guys and Gals,
The ride out the Jack & Sylvia’s place is always a pleasure as you pass some of the wide open greenery along the way ! The contrast of the jewel blue sky with the open fields of corn and grass makes one think you could be anywhere out west in rural America ! It’s always a bit of a challenge while cruising along at a reasonable speed to just blow by our destination, but today there was no chance of missing the Deck’s address. There were more cars, trucks and SUV’s than I’d ever seen before on the road, in the driveway and mostly in Jack’s lower grassed lot !
It was just a few minutes past 9:00 when Peg & I arrived and I quickly realized the age old adage rings true, “The Early Bird gets the Worm” or that one and only item that you came for had already made it’s way into someone else’s collection ! I didn’t really have anything I needed or was looking for but like many of the guys tell me when they go the Constantine, they try to get there on Wednesday to beat the crowd to the really good deals !
We pulled down into the lower grassed area and found a nice shaded spot to park. Peg headed up the the house to see Sylvia and help her with what ever needed to be done ! I greeted the group of guys, checking out the deals at the back of John Hagerman’s car. Some of the first guys I met were John Fairgrieve, Bob Joynt, John Hagerman followed by Bill & John Reed and Brian Klima and his Dad ! As I turned around I soon saw our new youngest member Mason Biller and his grandfather Mike. Jerry and Lynn Kay rolled in just as we were checking out some of the goodies John had brought ! Bob J. was asking me what was the advantage of the shinny brass prop laying on the ground. It happened to be a Michigan Featherweight 10 X 12 for a Johnson or Evinrude 25 – 40hp ! I told Bob he should buy it as it would sure look great on his newly refinished Peterbough with his 25 Evinrude !
Another of our recent members, Marty Winkhart caught me and reintroduced himself to me reminding me he was the one that brought a very strange looking air propeller drive outboard. I was intrigued because it had the same Chrysler motor on it that I used on an air motor I built. He explained that he had bought this motor locally but when up in Wisconsin he saw another one exactly like his ? Both of them look like they were home made using parts one might find in a tinker’s work shop ? It poses the question how could there be two air motors that look home built but were in states that far apart ? Could they have been manufactured / Or maybe the same guy built two of them and sold one to someone up in Wisconsin ? Hmmmmm !
Right next to the prop was what I thought Bob was looking for, a wiring harness for an electric start JohnRude complete with the SS dashboard mount with key switch and choke button ! Moving on to some of the other deals and trinkets I saw Brian Klima unload a manual powered rowboat device that looked like it could be mounted on a small boat and powered by pumping the two peddles. I asked Brian if it was for sale and got a big NOPE as an answer !
I was pleased to see Butch Wood and his son Collin when they came in. I had met Butch and Collin through Bob Joynt several years ago when they were moving a huge wood boat out of a horse barn he had it stored in. Bob, Jerry and I were there to watch how they accomplished moving it from it’s cradle to a trailer and then out a door that was not an easy maneuver.
Jack came by and told everyone there was a rack of motors down by the barn and said make an offer as they all had to go ! He had Mercury’s Evinrude’s a couple Johnson’s and an early single cylinder rudder steer motor I think was an Evinrude ?
Wandering back up to where all the cars were we saw Scott Wimbush pull in and knew he would be going over to see Vance Roth as Vance had brought a hoist for the truck Scott had just bought from him. Scott had to unload several motors he’d brought to sell to make room for his new treasure. There was a Johnson 16hp QD20?, a little Evinrude single that Randy Wilcox was trying to negotiate with Scott for, and a little Clinton weed whacker outboard !
Shortly after Randy walked away, Mason asked Scott what he wanted for the little Evinrude single ? I think they came to a deal that Mason couldn’t refuse and there was a bonus thrown in for good measure ! This young man sure knows how to work a deal !
I saw Bob and Tom Kenepp checking out some of the deals and walked over to say hi. Bob and I have had several good talks about mounting twin ScottAtwater outboards and making one a counterrotating model ! Tom asked if I ever found out what was wrong with the PO-15 I took to the Pymatuning, I told him I think it was just too rich on the hi speed carb jet ?
Mike Seachrist and Bob Korosa rolled in and were soon checking out all the deals. Mike saw all the Mercury powerheads and parts and headed straight for them, I think he got some good deals ! Mike caught up to me later to tell me about another pickup truck that had a couple motors I might be interested in ? One was a 12hp Elgin that looked to be complete but I had promised myself unless it was a really unusual motor and a good deal I wasn’t buying anything ! There were several other motors in the truck, a couple 5hp OMC badge motors and one Neptune that looked kinda interesting but needed some TLC to bring it back !
I had received a message from Greg Schnelzer that he was going to try and make the meet, Greg had contacted me some time ago to ask If I could help him restore his grandfathers old 7 1/2hp Firestone. I told him about our Wednesday get-togethers and he came to a couple of them where we tore into the little 7 1/2. To Greg’s credit he is meticulous in how he does things, we completely disassembled it down to the crankshaft rods and pistons. Unfortunately, he got busy with work and couldn’t get back to the engine for a while but now is ready to dig into it again ! Ready when you are Greg ! He did make the meet and showed me all the parts he’d cleaned and readied for reassembly. The big question now is whether to completely strip it and repaint or leave it original ! Decisions, decisions ?
I sat and talked with Rick Whitman who just had knee surgery and was a bit sore after PT ! Jerry Kay also had knee surgery and was also suffering from the PT ! I can sympathize having gone through it also ! Seems many of us are at that point in life where things either wear out, leak or wither away, but the good news is medical science can replace some of these parts !
Sylvia announced Lunch was read and the ladies were first ! The meal was rolled Lasagna with meatballs, bread, salad and drinks ! We are never disappointed when Jack & Sylvia put on a meet, and if anyone goes away hungry it’s their own fault ! Added to the menu was Cindi Hagerman’s delicious cannoli cake and Sylvia’s Pineapple upside down cake, Yum ! Many thanks to those that brought drinks and water for the lunch and to all those that helped setting up tables and cleaning up after !
Until the next meet, remember, Keep the Blue Smoke Flowing ! I have another rather interesting story that I will send out after I write it up ! It came from John Fairgrieve’s question about testing ignition coils from a Harley Davidson. Bill Mohat and I try to figure out how it works ! Stay tuned !
Gary & Peggy