Portland Find / Stolen Tool

[Mark Shulaw]

Found a nice 90% original paint model 92 with good single decal all tore apart at Portland that someone was going to blast and paint. I got them talked out of it after some arm twisting. The decal clearly shows wings on all four corners.
Why is it the good condition engines fall into the hands of blasters and painters. And rusty engines that need blasted and painted they avoid. But in any case I got it and reassembled it and will be stuffing it on the shelf to preserve as is.
Had a very odd incident with the Points Location Gage too. It was missing for nearly 48 hours. It simply disappeared and then two days later reappeared. Seems someone borrowed it, I think to try to copy it. Then returned it after they got the measurements. I am glad they returned it. But if copies of the tool start showing up It will give the Sheriff someone to talk to. Despite it being returned its still considered a theft. Sorta like if you rob a bank but then return the loot, Its still a theft. Mark

[Tom S]

Can you post a picture of the engine you saved?

People who have no morals combined with brass balls could really mess up this hobby!

[Keith Kinney]

Mark
You might post a picture of the gage too so we know what to look for.
Keith

[cheddarhead]

Sounds like a nice engine

[Mark Shulaw]

Who notices the extremely rare surviving feature of this engine. The only item missing from the pile of parts I got was the drain valve. I have one so no problem. Just would have liked to had the one this engine was birthed with. To me the question arrises how could anyone believe that a paint job today on it no matter how good the job can be better then all the original paint and decal left.

[Mark Shulaw]

[Mark Shulaw]

Heres a pic of the original TR-27 points location gage. This tool used to live on the assembly bench at Maytag when the engines were being built. I am sure there were others on the bench as they would not have just one. These were available for purchase by service technicians. How many were sold if any is not known. But this is the only example known to exist. The exception, three copies I had made by a man who used to work at the real Maytag. Two are in the hands of good friends who will not sell them, Or will not allow them to be borrowed to copy. I have the third. As always if you need your ignition points set catch me at a show or send the ignition plate to me and I will do it for free. Just provide return postage if you mail it. Mark

[OTTO-Sawyer]

Looks like a reletively easy (although time consuming) piece to make.

If it's as rare as you say, it's probably good that you didn't (& DON'T) provide any dimensions on it, like overall size, pin diameters, pin indexing & location, etc.

IF anyone is lucky enough to find another Original, at least we now know what it is, but without the dimensions, it would be hard to duplicate exactly.

The two hours it was missing would easily be long enough for someone to make up a sketch and put the dimensions as close as they could measure them, but the indexing may be off a few degree's if they didn't have the proper tools & gages to measure it with.

If there are any (& I'm guessing there are) MAYTAG Forums or Websites, I hope you post your information there as well to inform people of the situation.

[Mark Shulaw]

Otto,
For a GOOD machinist with the proper tools its not a problem but as you elude to very time consuming. With modern CnC equipment you could shuck out a hundred of these pretty easy. One of the keys to the proper construction is the exact measurement of the angles and degrees. One degree off or a fraction of an inch short here or there will throw the whole thing off. But without the original to check-calibrate your construction against you could never be sure. Now to some people exact measurements will not bother them as demonstrated by people who have copied the Simpson tool and sold the copies knowing of the flaw. Slime will sell anything. And we have some slime out there selling very poor copies of parts and such. They would have no qualms in copying this even if inaccurately constructed and selling it to suckers who do not know what's what. I suppose that's gonna be the new battle fighting the misconceptions that will arise from the sale of new inaccurate tools. But still when the copies start showing up we will know who's involved with the theft (48 hour borrow) of the tool at Portland. The only way they could copy the tool otherwise would be to produce another original that they copied. All they would have to do to prove they had nothing to do with this incident would be produce the tool they copied from. If they can not then we know. Just waiting for the new tools to appear to pass the info on to the Jay County Sheriffs Dept. Mark

[OTTO-Sawyer]

Originally Posted by Mark Shulaw

... To me the question arrises how could anyone believe that a paint job today on it no matter how good the job can be better then all the original paint and decal left.

I would have to guess that way too many people watch programs like Extreme Makeover Home Edition, and Pimp My Ride, and Nascar Angels, etc., instead of watching programs like ANTIQUES ROADSHOW that clearly show and tell people that antiques are more valuable in good original condition than restored.

That Extreme Makeover program really burns my a$$ when they take someone's prized heirloom and strip off the many years worth of hand rubbed original finish and paint the piece with high gloss enamel and put brand new hardware on it to make it look like new. If those 'well meaning idiots' ever did that to anything of mine I'd have little option but to beat them to a bloody pulp in front of their camera's. Sure, I'd end up going to jail over it, but maybe they'd learn to keep their slimy hands off of people 'personal possessions', and stick to building them a house with new appliances. They need to keep their damn hands off of the items that the owners say hold deep personal memories for them. It doesn't matter if it was "Grandma's favorite writing desk", or "Dad's old woodworking tools", or "Aunt Betsy's antique china cabinet".... I've watched those fools totally destroy so many things that they should end up in small claims court at the end of nearly every show. Better yet, put them in the stockade and whip them for it.