Thanks BruceM,
And yes, I found the issue. basically time and entropy were the culprits. 
A corroded screwed connection where the power lug passed through the starter casing.
I cleaned + bench tested the starter and it worked fine again.
After that was fixed more corroded connections were found at the battery terminal. Then, a quick test of the battery showed that it was shot.
I am not too surprised after 9 years of use, and the fact that the battery was a "take off" from my vehicle after 6 years of prior use.
On this assembly I coated the connections on the new (used) battery as well as the starter solenoid to help prevent corrosion.

cheers,
veggie

Thanks BruceM,

Ok, I will toss that idea.
I am also a bit cautious about spinning an 1800 rpm motor over 4000 rpm once the system is running,

The reason I am looking at stater alternatives is because my golf cart starter/generator died after limited use.
I suspect it too had issues with spinning the heavy flywheels up to speed and pushing through compression stokes.

There is a Gast 4AM air motor with a rubber friction wheel in my inventory, so air starting is a possibility. But that thing uses a LOT of air. I don't really have space for a dedicated starting air receiver tank... but perhaps I can make it work.

Thanks Keith71,
veggie or veggiefuel both work, When the site crashed many years ago, my veggiefuel account could not be reinstated so it changed to veggie.

Powdermonkey, Changfa engines make excellent generators. Either belt driven or direct coupled, they are super reliable machines which have proven themselves worldwide. Take a look at this youtube site where Radoslav builds Changfa generators for shipment to Ukraine and Slovakia.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIVBVYuw4xBMXGzEYPtGueA/videos
The majority of the units he builds are belt driven. (In between the tractor videos there are many good examples of Chinese diesel generators)

I much prefer belt driven systems for two reasons.
1] Simplicity of construction. Direct coupled units need their shafts to be rigidly aligned within a few thousandths of an inch in order to make the coupling last a reasonable amount of time. Belt drives are a bit more forgiving.
2] Belt drives offer great flexibility for engine speeds. By changing a pulley size the engine can be run at any desired speed. This is helpful for noise control and engine longevity (if one wishes to run the engine a bit slower than normal for extended life).
With direct shaft coupled units, the engine MUST run at the speed dictated by the generator, usually 1800 rpm or 3600 rpm in north America.

Hi All,

I'm looking for a Changfa style R175 or R180 engine. (new or used is ok)
Preferably in Canada, but USA would work also.

Veggie

CS6_owner,
This inverter has no settings. It's a small 1000 watt unit.
Just plug-and-play.
I want to limit the power going to it at 800 watts.

Oooops !

*** Duplicate ***

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cujet

Thanks for the numbers. All the research I have done regarding DC alternators states that the average efficiency is around 55%.
So it would seem that the ST generator is far more efficient at making power.
A difference of 30%  (85 compared to 55) is considerable.
In other words, my engine with an alternator would have to work 30% harder to make the same power as an ST head.

I have never opened my Cam oil port. If the bearing is tucked away in an upper corner of the crankcase, I wonder were it gets oil from?
The idea to divert some lubrication to this point seems like a good one. Currently, I'm fitting a pump and oil filter to the sump, so branching
 the return line and running a tube to that port would not be hard to do.