Ray Smith has a clear understanding of antique gas engines. He knows what makes them run, he knows how to get parts made and he knows how to coax them back to life. He also knows how much the antiquated relics mean to an old timer.
And that’s what prompted him to load up a pair of engines he’d just restored and pay a social call on an elderly friend. But before he went to the door, he unloaded the engines onto his friend’s driveway and started them. Then he rang the doorbell and helped his friend out to the driveway, where the other man could see and hear engines that had once been his, running again.
“He was getting up in years, and wasn’t able to get around too much,” Ray says. “So he really appreciated what I’d done.”