Greetings, all!
I'm a recently infected Lister newb wanting to find my first engine. I was in contact with Sid here in Atlanta regarding his posts that he was ready to sell his Listeroid and Petteroid. As it turns out, after meeting the man I understand that he has recently obtained a fresh lease on life, and only a monster would ask him to give up his man toys when he clearly doesn't want to or need to at this particular moment in his life.
I should add that I'm in contact with 38ac, and if no engines are available I'll be buying one from him and having him work his magic on it. Not afraid to pay a man with his skill set demonstrated so aptly on this forum. But naturally, being a gearhead myself I would love to take a swing at fixing one up myself and so I'm also at odds with myself on this conflict of interest.
So, I'm looking for either a running engine or a non-running collection of parts. I'm perhaps more mechanically skilled than our national average, but by no means am I a rocket scientist. Avid home gamer with a nice collection of machine shop toys including lathes and mills, and even an old Steptoe-Western 24" shaper. An engine I could get back into shape using those tools would be right up my alley.
Proximity to Atlanta, GA has to be considered, although for a true original Lister (or even one Butch has worked his magic on) my range for a road trip pretty much includes all of North America. Yeah, the bug bit me pretty hard all right.
Also, I have sold this idea of an indestructible engine with excellent fuel economy on the basis of promising an emergency backup generator for the house, so if it would have a generator head setup included well hey, that'd be awesome.
Thanks in advance, and I look forward to spending time on this forum. It seems like you have a great group of users who focus on helping each other rather than trying to scare off the new guys. Well done to you.
As a closing thought, I'm also utterly fascinated by the Chinese horizontal diesels in a morbid way. They're just so industrial raw and beefy, at some point I'd like to possess one of those as well and make a genset out of it. If anyone needs to find a new home for theirs, please let me know. I am already in touch with Tom up in New England about a brand-new 1115, but $1500 might be a touch high for me to swing by my wife. I'm sure you all understand that predicament.