1918 - 8 HP INTERNATIONAL FAMOUS HOPPER
COOLED ENGINE
The story about this engine find began at the 2001 Fall
Fair. While running my engines, a fellow came by my
site. During our conversation, he asked if I would be
interested in an 8 HP International Harvester, as he knew
where there was one. To say the least, I was definitely
interested. He said that he had heard of the engine some
time ago and that it belonged to a friend in Smithers. I
gave him my card and he was to call me after he got in touch
with his friend.
A week later, I got a phone call telling me the engine
was mine as his friend was selling his farm.
I called his friend to set up a time to pick up the engine.
After reading literature from Neil, I knew I would require a
tandem trailer to bring it home. A friend of mine had just
the one. The engine weighed 2700 lbs; He hadn’t been to that
area of the province so off we went. The engine had been
towed to the bottom of a field in 1939 and had not been
moved since. The Saskatoon bushes had grown up all around
and through the flywheels. Terry had cleared a trail with
his excavator so he could get a tractor in to retrieve the
engine. Two days later we were back in Comox with the
"Prized Possession". Needless to say, after 62 years of
sitting out in the weather, the engine required considerable
repairs. Stu welded the broken parts and also fabricated a
new intake valve and mufflers mounting flange plus many
other parts to numerous to mention. (Many thanks to Stu.)
At present this engine is stripped, cleaned, primed and
ready for painting. Although there are some parts missing
for the ignition it was displayed at the 2002 Fall Fair. I
called Terry Storey in Smithers to give him a progress
report and he was delighted to know that the engine could be
running again in the near future.
Dave Paquet
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