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Profile of a member…George Shinn On a brisk, January morning, my intrepid partner in crime, Darrell Maples, and I set out for tiny Sumterville, Florida, home to Mr. George Shinn, one of the pre-eminent antique engine restorers in the country. It was a cold Saturday morning when we arrived where a large imposing man greeted us. “You must be Rick,” he said as he extended his hand. “Yes”, I replied as my mind was frantically trying to erase the mental image I had of George through my phone conversations with him. “I guess you didn’t get lost” he said, “No, not really” I replied. We made one wrong turn but it was my fault. “Where did you guys spend the night?” He asked. I think it was Baldwin piped Darrell. “Baldwin! Why did you do that?” George exclaimed. To make a long story short, if for some reason you must stay overnight somewhere in Florida don’t admit to Baldwin. To many of us in the Antique and Classic Boating World when talking about vintage engines, the name George Shinn is certainly on the short list of men by whom one would like to have an engine restored. At any given summer boat show, or in any antique and classic boat magazine or book purchased, the odds are very good George Shinn had a hand in either the restoration or research of one of the engines in the vintage beauties. George Shinn by trade is a journeyman machinist whose career began with Donnelly Printing in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. George served a seven-year apprenticeship as a printing press machinist, then an additional seven years as a full machinist for the printing giant now regarded as the largest printing concern in the world. During his time at Donnelly, George was raising a family with four children. Every summer they would pack up and head to Florida for two sun soaked weeks of vacation. One year as the family drove through New Jersey to return home, George looked at his wife and asked, ”What are we doing?” Later during the winter of 1972, George quit his job at Donnelly, and with $3000 cash and four kids in school, moved to Ft. Lauderdale, Fl. for good. There he signed on as a marine machinist and propulsion specialist for a local marina and repair facility for large pleasure craft. The Shinn family worked and lived for the next 20 years in the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale area, but George yearned for a quieter more simple life. During that 20-year period, he purchased a house in central Florida in the tiny town of Sumterville. George would commute on weekends to his retreat in Sumterville until 1992 when it became his permanent residence. He moved to escape the “Rat Race”, although he now says he is busier than ever! It was Hank Timmerman who owns a Hacker Raven that first commissioned George to rebuild his V-12 Kermath Sea-Raider Special. Luckily for us, that’s all it took! George was hooked, and he never looked back. I would imagine the intricate work, research, and attention to detail appealed to his meticulous nature. Upon visiting George’s modest but well equipped shop you feel much like a kid in a candy store. Parts and engines are plenty: Some are restored and ready for delivery. Some are in for repairs that require expert fabrication of parts no longer existing. Others are just waiting for that special boat and owner to come along. In no way is George the retail engine business. All the engines present primarily belong to customers. Only a small handful belongs to him, and he’s in no hurry to part with any of them unless the right situation presents itself. During our time there, we saw numerous before and after pictures of some of his many projects: From Kermath Sea-Raiders and Scripps F6 Gold Cups to Chris Craft A-70’s and A-120’s, to Chrysler Imperial EM, and LM’s, and Majestic straight 8’s just to name a few. In fact, George has restored so many he can’t remember them all. George’s fabrication skills are nearly unheard of by today’s modern disposable standards. In one seemingly Herculean feat, George custom fabricated copper exhaust manifolds for a Chris Craft A-70 engine. Polished to a high luster, they are certainly better than they were when original some 70+ years ago. When restoring engines George has occasionally taken certain liberties during the process. If he encounters a “flaw” in design and he can make it better without compromising the appearance or integrity, and will improve performance and reliability the improvement is made. It is safe to say that a George Shinn restored engine is in better condition than it was when new. George is a craftsman at the top of his game that truly loves what he does. Some might think this kind of dedication is wasted on an inefficient dinosaur of an engine when modern power is far more cost effective and abundant. Yet, George is a rare treasure who finds the joy in working on a small piece of history. “Heck I need a reason to get out of bed in the morning” he says in a modest tone, befitting a man of his talent. Wouldn’t all of us like to feel that way everyday?
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