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| Below are some pictures of a LeRoi MH 3 engine
with serial number 1967. It is a 2 cylinder upright hopper
cooled engine in a factory made enclosure. It appears to be complete
except for the side panels. The major castings were poured in 1924
so the engine was most likely made in 1925 or later. It produces
6 - 8 horsepower from speeds of 900 - 1250 rpm. The entire spray
rig was assembled and sold by Essick & Company (ESCO) of Los Angeles.
The engine powered this Kellogg air compressor
at the Mount Wilson Observatory in the mountains above Pasadena, California
starting in 1928 and was used to spray paint the various telescope domes
and towers. At some point the engine was removed from the cart and
used to power a cement mixer and was replaced with an electric motor for
paint spraying. The spray rig was last used in June of 1972.
In August of 2005 the LeRoi engine was re-installed in order to show the
original configuration of the unit. After making sure the fuel system,
spark plugs, and magneto points were clean and changing the oil the engine
started right up and ran fine. You might find it interesting to note
the simple method we used to convert the three groove vee belt pulley on
the compressor back to being usable with a flat belt. See the pictures
below.
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These pictures can be be enlarged by clicking on them.
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Updated: 09/05/05