Fairbanks Morse Engines ZC 118 and ZC 208, Instructions for Operating and Servicing; Instructions No, 2850C-1, originally published by Fairbanks Morse S.A, Piso, Mexico, 1970s. Reprinted in 2009 by Nation Builder Books, Mebane, NC. 8½ x 11 paperback, 23 pages.

Please note that this book is a new reprint, not an original .

In 1823 Thaddeus Fairbanks opened an ironworks in St. Johnsbury, Vermont his patented cast iron plow, and patented heating stove. After the Civil War, a Fairbanks employee, Charles Hosmer Morse, was sent to open an office in Chicago, Within a few years, Morse had engineered the purchase of Leonard Wheeler and his Eclipse Windmill business in Beloit, Wisc. The addition of windmills proved to be the key to making Fairbanks a highly successful national company, and Morse was made a partner in the company. By the end of the nineteenth century, the company was officially named the Fairbanks Morse & Company, and was headquartered in Chicago. After International Harvester, Fairbanks Morse was probably the largest producer of stationary gas engines in the world. The ZC engines were developed in the 1940s. At least one Fairbanks Morse ad for the engine was targeted to the oil and gas industry for use in gas and oil fields.

Among the sections included in the Instructions are:

The last 14 pages are a complete, illustrated list of parts, with instructions for ordering same.

There is NOT one of those neat “exploded” drawings of the entire engine, showing where each part goes with little arrows. There is a side elevation drawing and a top elevation drawing of the base showing the crankshaft and cylinder, with all the parts numbered, and a parts list. There are similar elevation drawings for the fuel mixer; piston and connecting rod; cylinder head and valves; base cover and fans; fan radiator and hopper; exhaust rod and rocker; governor and governor control; and dust covers and starting crank.