BEFORE & AFTER RESTORATION OF THE MONTH

(Page 2 of 2)

August 2003
Scott Hollis 
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The tiresome job proved successful, and he began to reassemble the old engine. Gary removed some of the shims around the main bearings, but kept the old shims for future restorations. 'You try not to throw parts like that away if you plan on repairing any other engines,' he advises. The wrist pin needed a little machine work and then a good polish. Gary discovered that the rod bearing was loose in the bearing cap, so he rebuilt it from the backside with JB Weld, and then scraped the bearing to size. 'The bearings in this engine are cast babbitt, and most parts for the Sparta Economy are hard to find,' he explains.

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Next he sanded and primed the bare metal, which took almost an entire day. Then he painted it red. 'I had parts hanging everywhere in my garage it seemed,' Gary says. 'By the time it was painted, most of a gallon of red was sprayed onto the engine.' After a week of dry-time, he put the engine back together, adjusting and fine-tuning as he went. Thanks to advice from a collector Gary contacted on the Internet, the engine's pin striping was applied using a paint pencil, turning out very nicely, he says. When the paint job was complete, engine decals finished the restoration.

The resuscitated engine made its first public appearance at the 4th Annual Purchase Area Antique Tractor Club Show in Mayfield, Ky. Collectors were awed by the superb restoration, he says. Now he plans to show it and other engines in his collection at one engine show a month through October, 'time permitting,' Gary adds. See his 'Sparta' Economy Model CX engine and others at the annual American Thresherman Association Show in Pinckneyville, Ill., Aug. 14-17, and at the Paducah, Ky., Lone Oak Lions Club Engine show the third weekend in September.

- For more information about Gary Bahre's 'Sparta' Economy, contact him at P.O. Box 40, Sparta, IL 62286; e-mail: gsrba@egyptian.net



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