Hello everyone,
I have been lurking here for a few years and wanted to finally introduce myself and say hello. This place is great and a wealth of information. You guys definitely know your Listers.
I live in the US and one day while surfing youtube came across a video of a Lister CS. I was mesmerized, most everything here is a 3600 rpm screamer, and most all of it is gasoline. I must have watched a hundred lister videos after that and my mind was pretty much set that I wanted one. At the time I didn't have the time to take on another project but the thought stayed in the back of my mind. I succumbed to temptation after a couple of years lusting over these big flywheeled beauties and started gathering bits and pieces in the fall of 2014. I had looked into the clones here in North America but the EPA was well on it's way to eliminating their import. Pricing and quality was all over the place and longevity was an unknown factor, so I decided to start looking for an original English made example. I came across a Dursley made 5/1 from an SOM set on Ebay UK and placed a couple of bids on it. I figured there was no way I would end up with it considering what originals were going for, but in the last few minutes of the auction I realized the possibility of victory and mounted my battle plan. I won the auction in the last seconds with one last desperate 10 Pound bid. The seller was none other than the admin, the man behind the curtain, AdeV. I quickly sent him a message here to let him know I had won his auction, was in the US, and was making arrangements for payment and for the lister to be picked up. He was very gracious and happy to help in any way he could.
I had been in contact with millman56 for a week or so before I came across Ade's auction. We were discussing putting together a shipment if I found a lister. He had a couple of CS engines that we were talking about and the possibility of him selling one of them. I can't thank Mark enough for his help and knowledge in navigating a transcontinental shipment which I had no experience with outside of a FedEx package. He did the heavy lifting as far as getting everything mounted to a stillage, helping coordinate shipping, and getting everything dropped off at the proper place. He even drove several hours to pick the engine up from Ade. He was extremely reasonable with his fee for putting it all together for me, got everything done in a timely fashion, and was great with communication along the way. Again, many thanks to Mark. All in all it was a pretty painless experience. Mark had a few pieces and parts that I needed for the engine and also offered up a North American spec generator head that he had at a very agreeable price.
Everything was now on a ship working it's way to the US. It arrived in port and started making it's overland journey down the East Coast to me. I hired a bonding agent on this end of the shipment as customs wants someone registered, bonded, and insured to file the country of origin and BOL documentation. Customs was great to deal with, I had printed and filled out every imaginable document I thought they would even remotely need including for the EPA. The officer working the customs desk at my local port was a cutie and I may or may not have done a little flirting to help the possibility of getting my documentation accepted. She commented that I was one of the most prepared people she had ever dealt with and happily stamped and filed my paperwork also thanking me for making her job so easy. One quick phone call to the the inspection officer and they cleared my shipment for pick up. Funny thing was he specifically asked if it was an original English lister, or an Indian or Chinese one. I guess they were on the lookout for clone engines for some reason. One last thank you to the cute customs lady and I was off to a bonded warehouse to pick up my shipment. Fast forward 18 months and here we are. My lister and generator head have been sitting in the corner of my shop waiting for me to have some time to work on them. Other than walking over and spinning the flywheels while making chugging noises like a 5 year old I haven't done a thing with them.
Here is a little about the engine and generator head. The engine is a 5/1 built in 1954 with a spec plate rating of 6hp@650. It has the heavy SOM flywheels and was missing a few bits and pieces. It has been back to lister at some point and was bored and rebuilt .010" oversize. There is a brass tag denoting the service attached to the cylinder barrel. I located a few of the missing parts surprisingly on ebay here in the US for next to nothing before the engine had even left Ade's garage. They were original English parts that had been left behind in someone's garage at some point. I snatched them up for a few dollars and set about looking for the rest. It is currently not in running condition but I plan to remedy that in short order. The alternator is a Stamford New Age model ES8. It is a 4kw head and has a 24VDC starting and charging winding just like the original SOM heads. It was attached to Mark's 8/1 when I bought it.
Being an SOM engine it is lacking any of the parts necessary for manual starting and the solenoid had been removed. It is also missing a fuel tank. I have picked up originals for as many of the missing parts as I could and will likely get the remainder of items from Gary at DES. My plan is to start this project with building a mounting base. I have a couple of questions and am looking for a little input as far as materials and construction. I have read through a lot of info both here and elsewhere on the web trying to narrow down the best material to build a base out of. For now I am just looking for a skid of sorts with the ability to later anchor it to a concrete pad when I get around to building a generator shed. I am leaning in the direction of a pair of 4"x6" wood runners and fabricating a base out of 3"x3" angle iron to sit between/on top of the runners. I saw a good write-up somewhere where someone had done something similar. I have also seen everything from channel iron to I beam used. I am considering 3"x3"x3/8" angle iron, but have seen everything from 1/2" plate to some thinner metal used. Any advice or examples from you guys that have been in this boat would be much appreciated. I am also looking for dimensions. It seems most of the original lister bases were about 45-48" long and about 24" wide.
Sorry about the book I wrote. Here are a couple of pictures of what I am working with. They are pics of when everything was still in England as I haven't taken any pics of it sitting in the corner of my shop.
