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"A lot of people say it's too light, but standards in those days were not as close as they are today," he said. "They'd mix paint a batch at a time, and it could vary a lot.
"I have the original skids from a Mogul junior," he said. "They were all covered in grease, but when I cleaned them up, underneath I found the original color, and this is it."
At the same time he was working on the Mogul, Johnny was restoring an upright Famous 3 hp engine. The hopper-cooled engine (serial number LF721) dates to 1912. It was more of an undertaking than the Mogul.
"The crankshaft was bent, so I had to straighten that, and I had to make a gas tank," he said. "It was missing a carburetor and fuel pump, but new ones had been lined up and were part of the deal."
The color on the Famous is also correct.
"There were quite a few traces of the original paint on this engine," he said. "This particular Famous was made for export, and International painted their export models blue. But International did have other equipment over the years that was painted blue."
Both the Mogul and the Famous are prize additions to Johnny's collection of about three dozen vintage engines.
"Both of these engines are pretty rare," he said. "The Mogul was a real high quality engine in its day. It was too expensive for people in this area, so you don't find them around here. You'll find more of them back east, or up north. The Famous was a little better-than-average engine, too. This Famous was a cheaper model, I think: It has the spark plug ignition."
Fully two-thirds of the pieces in his collection are made by International, including a 1905 upright Famous 2 hp.