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Cedge

A Jensen Engine Resurrection

Yup... I said resurrection. The rare Jensen shown below was acquired from the former Jensen sales manager in payment for an old debt. It was one very sad puppy when it arrived. As any Jensen collector will tell you, when a riveted boiler leaks into internal the heater well, your beloved Jensen engine is certifiably dead as 4 o' clock.

This one went a step further, completely missing the whole internal well . There was just a gaping hole where the internal tube was once mounted. Since these tubes were originally installed from the inside, it's always been considered common knowledge that the things were unrepairable.

Call me bull headed, but this old engine was just too rare to patch up and modify to take a newer style heater. I let her sit for months as I cogitated on how to do a safe and proper repair to the boiler. Last night I took the bull by the horns and began the touchy task of fitting and silver soldering a new tube in place. That doesn't sound too complicated until one realizes thin brass tubing and silver solder have similar melting points and these old boilers are put together with common, non silver type, solder with a much lower melting point.

Long story short.... the operation was a total success, the patient has made a full recovery and I probably lost a few ours off my life sweating out whether I was fixing or destroying a valuable 1935 Jensen "Big Power Plant" version of the well know model 10, based on the model 20. I still have another of these engines needing a good bit of work, but that one is fresh fodder for yet another day.

Steve

steamyman

Congratulations, Steve. looks great!
Stilldrillin

And some people can work magic!
Graham-Jilly

A realy wonderful job well done Steve
Sandman

What a great job Steve.

Must give you real satisfaction bringing rare engines back from the dead.

Well done mate.
Mamodman123

Jesus thats BIG! Did Jensen ever do anything by halves? That looks great Cedge! Video?
Griffin

Wow , thats huge. Great job on giving that old girl a new lease of life, and a lovely job too.

Steve, is it known how many of this type of engine were ever produced?
flywheel61

That's a brilliant result Steve, as SM said it's a great feeling to make a rare engine work again.

Cheers

Chris
Wallace

Fantastic job Steve
John Chapman

Fantastic job Steve, congratulations on bringing it back to life.
tmuir

Nicely done Cedge.

There is definitely an artform to silver soldering small objects and it looks like you have mastered it. Well done.
SillyBilly

Nice!
IndianaRog

Holy cow Steve, I don't think I have even seen a picture of such a beast until this one....looks gorgeous. Now what's this about another hiding out at your place???
Cedge

Thanks guys...
This one was a real learning experience and the satisfaction level is there. That solder job was nerve wracking but I'll be doing it again, now that I figured out how to make it work. As with all my restorations, the engine was kept as original in fit and finish as possible. No new paint and other than the replacement wire used for the lamp connection, all parts are original and of the right era.

MM...
Tom Sr. was known for "over engineering" things while keeping them simple. I've noticed this tendency in many danish design items over the years, so I suspect it is something cultural. This was the largest of his early engines. The boiler is 3 inch (76 mm) x 6.25 inch (159 mm) and the flywheel is a full 4 inches (102 mm) in diameter. The standard model 10 of the time was built with a 2.5 inch (64 mm) x 5 inch (127 mm). The cylinder is significantly larger than the 4 bolt versions used on the model 10 and 25 engines with a robust 5/8 inch (16.7 mm) piston.

Everything was scaled up in size on this engine, including a larger generator magnet. It's the only Jensen engine that used a commercially made bakelite commutator for the generator.

Roger....
Sorry old friend, but the math works against the second machine ever escaping its current confines. 2 engines plus 2 grandsons = high points score for 1 eccentric grandpa....LOL

Steve
steamyjim

OOOOH OOOOH OOOOH I LOVE THAT

Must get myself a proper cast base Jensen. Bloody lovely they are
Manxman

I'd guess a very good feeling and always better when you bring these old engines back to life. Another great addition to your collection Cedge. You must have one of the most extensive and complete sets of Jensen models ever.
Steve_S

It's a stunning engine. Fantastic work steve!
JensenSteamMan

now that i've seen a picture up close once you've worked your magic Steve Ican say that is fantastic! Simplicity at its finest!
Were these one of Mr.Jensens one (or I guess two off in this case)
experiments that were sold? Or was at some point was this a production peace early on?
James

Looks great Steve
Cedge

Thanks all... its one of those engines that now has a bit of history and a proud new inductee to my assemblage of engines.

Manx... actually I'm a piker where Jensen collecting is concerned. While I do have a few of the rarer engines, I'm not even close to matching some of the really serious collectors of Jensen engines. I have sold some of them pieces far more rare than anything I have, other than a couple of my prototype engines.

I probably do however have the most extensive collection of Jensen historical items, photos and information ever gathered in one place. I inherited a lot of this type of material along with the job. I'm continuing to persue more of this type of stuff as time goes by.

Some of the items yet to be acquired are a number of taped interviews with Tom Sr. in his late life. There is also a known film clip in existence of a Jensen being demostrated on a kids TV show from the 1950's. I know the collector who has his old shop coat and some of his cigars, while I have his desk lamp and one of his handmade wooden signs from when he was doing toy shows and a number of his old cigar boxes.

Casey... nope... not a one off at all. This was a production engine at one time but apparently not many were sold, since we so seldom see one offered. This one came from J.F. who used to have my job. He owed me a bit of money and I took the two basket cases in lieu of cash. They were both train wreck engines but I knew that going into the deal.

Funny how things happen... this morning the second engine was perhaps years from being restored since a few parts were missing. I recently bought a bunch of parts from a fellow and they arrived today. There in the box were two of the 4 impossible to find pieces that were missing from the second engine. Now its just a matter of finding time to make the remaining 2 peices (old style sight glass blocks), solder in a new heater tube and then put her all back together.

Keep watching Ebay... you'll eventually get a chance to bid on one, but they do fetch astonishingly high bids.

Steve
(who really needs to shoot a group shot of his Jensens to share)
JensenSteamMan

Yes a guess an engine of that price wouldnt have sold very well in the time that is was being marketed?

And thats great you got 2 more parts for it! We all have lucky days everyonce in a while. And maybe someday I will get to bid on one : P that will be close as I'll ever get to owning one


-Casey
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