Different Strokes:
Rare Canadian engine takes some getting used to
By Leslie McDaniel
Nothing in his collection of 10 antique engines prepared Sam Curry for a 6 hp tank-cooled Goold, Shapley & Muir engine dating to 1898.
"It's a different deal than any engine I ever fooled with/' Sam said. "But I got a lot of advice - and a lot of comments -when I took it to shows. In a way, it uses a pump to pump gas in; that controls the speed.
"In a sense, that's a kind of fuel injection," he said. "It's really hard to believe that they knew about such a thing 100 years ago."
"A lot of engines control the speed by ignition," Sam said. "They don't spark every time. But this engine sparks every stroke."
The engine is tank cooled. The water tank is arranged so that the exhaust pulls air through the water to cool it. "It's kind of unusual," he said, "kind of like a Rumely."
Another collector started restoration of the engine eight years ago, but when the project derailed, Sam got his shot at it - after hauling away the parts, in boxes.
Goold engines are not exactly a dime a dozen.
"They made two or three different concepts of engines," he said. "But there's not too many left out there. I know of maybe three.
"I've taken this engine to seven major shows, and I've never been to a show where somebody didn't say it was the first one like it they'd seen. I've even had some guys look at the brass tag... they were kind of doubting my word."