Hi BruceV, if you are in Australia try contacting Rob at Old Timer Engines, he may not have what you need but he will know where to look.

Bob

G`Day from down under. As many of you will remember we lost our home to a bush fire in 2019. We purchased a property on the East coast of Tasmania and I moved here in 2021 once the covid travel restrictions allowed. I have spent the last couple of years putting up a new shed, landscaping the property, decorating and fireproofing our new home. The most recent project was to have a 7.5 Kw grid tied solar system installed, cost us A$9,000. Our quarterly electric bill has fallen from A$600 to A$13, should pay for itself pretty quickly. We are also going to change our electricity provider to get a better feed in tariff, we should end up with a credit balance during the summer months, with a small deficit in the winter.
So now it`s time to think about generator backup. I already had a restored Lister CS 6/1 and a modified ST5 generator head with an AVR, this should be adequate to keep the house lights burning and the fridges/freezers cold in an emergency. I also bought this trailer mounted generator 18 months back.

This is a 12.5 KVA three phase generator with a Petter PJ2 diesel motor. The generator head has four slip rings so it is in a Y configuration giving three 240 volt single phase outlets and one 415 volt 3 phase outlet. This unit will be dismounted from the trailer and used to provide backup power to the shed/workshop.
I don`t know how you guys spent your Easter but I spent mine pouring two concrete slabs.

The square slab at the back will have the Lister CS bolted to it. the slab is 200mm of reinforced concrete sat on a 1m deep 600mm reinforced concrete pile. The blockwork shelf will have a cooling tank sat on it.
The narrower slab will have the demounted Petter generator sat on it.
After inspecting the PJ2 engine the only apparent problem is that the push rod tubes have rubber sleeves covering the joins. These sleeves have become brittle and split. The bottom tube is 22mm and the upper tube is 19mm they are spring loaded so they can expand and contract as the engine cylinder heats up and cools down. I have not been able to find replacements for the rubber sleeves, I am wondering if heavy duty electrical heat shrink might work, what do you guys think?

I will be posting details of the Petter rebuild as I go

Bob

Hi Ernie, looks good. I still recommend replacing that selenium rectifier with a modern silicon bridge rectifier. Selenium rectifiers deteriorate over time, if you are going to use the originals please watch out for a smell a bit like garlic, this will be coming from a failing rectifier and is extremely carcinogenic, don`t breath it in!

Bob

I would come and do the job for nothing, just for the opportunity to learn from the master. Sadly the commute from Tasmania might be a bit much.

Bob

Hi Butch, looks like word has got out that you are a man that knows what he is doing. I`m still going through trying to get my workshop set up, but work has already started to roll in, don`t need it right now but word gets around.
I do hope that the quantity of incoming work is not going to impact your contribution on this forum
Thanks for your great advice to Hugh.

Bob
 

Here in Australia Mid Brunswick Green is available off the shelf in hardware stores, if they haven`t got it they can mix it for you. When I look at some of the amazing custom paint jobs on hot rods and motorbikes in the USA, surely someone there could mix it for you. I can only assume that some of the pigments needed are banned in the USA for environmental reasons.
Good luck with your search.

Bob

When I had to dismantle my CS, to have it shipped to Tasmania, the flywheels had also welded themselves to the crank, despite my having used an anti seize lubricant during assembly. Pullers and sledge hammer wouldn`t budge them. Eventually I gave up trying to pull them off and instead tried to get them to spin on the crankshaft. I took off the crankcase door, removed the piston and fed a piece of 4x2 between the big end and the crankcase. I then gently rocked the flywheels against the timber, once they started to move it allowed the ATF to get in and they came off easily.
Hope this helps,

Bob