Lister CS 6/1 as form of rehab

[ajaffa1]

G`Day all from down under. (Northern NSW, Australia)
I have been a member for quite some time but have never posted before. A few years back I purchased a Lister ST2 SOM in very neglected condition. With a lot of help and parts from Gary at Diesel Electric she now provides back up for our home.
Last year I had a very serious car accident and have been undergoing rehabilitation ever since. In a slightly mad attempt to speed up this process I bought a Lister CS 6/1 yesterday. Serial number 1510616 (1956) crankcase casting number 25 A 56 so January 1956 I believe. Four years older than me.
It is my plan to restore this to as new condition and add a three phase generator head to power my workshop machines.
The CS is missing a fuel tank, cooling system, inlet manifold and filter, exhaust silencer and push rod. I will have to strip every part of this and examine them to compile a list of required spares. For now all I plan to do is cover everything in penetrating oil and let it soak in for a while.
I will post some pictures as I go and all advice will be very much appreciated

[starfire]

Awesome. Its the best way to disengage from reality and relax in another world.  It will exercise you physically, improve coordination etc, and more importantly distract you from any nagging pain. Once completed, sitting down close and watching it run is akin to relaxing on a deserted beach, watching the lazy waves of the ocean breaking on shore.
I could drift off to sleep listening to mine....
Good luck with the healing process.....

[dieselgman]

Very nice! I just pulled 10 units out of storage today and most of them looked like your photo or worse. It maybe too ambitious but I intend to get on with the restoration on these old beauties this winter - mass production style.

dieselgman

[ajaffa1]

Thanks starfire and dieselgman for the encouragement, doubt I would be undertaking this without this forum.
I am going to struggle with just one such engine, 10 is probably masochistic, good luck. do you expect to get ten running or cannibalise some to produce maybe 7 good ones?
A couple of early observations on my engine: 1. having removed gib key cover(1 missing) I note that the gib keys are numbered to match the corresponding fly wheel. I have to assume some level of individual fitting was employed, probably involving a file and some engineers blue. 2.Wear on the crankshaft from the starting handle is normally on the number one side allowing a person to use their right hand for cranking before using the left to disengage the decompression lever. On mine the wear is on the number two side suggesting that the previous owner was left handed. 3. No discernible play or end float in the crankshaft. Crankshaft is not seized but I will refrain from attempting to turn her over until I have investigated the condition of the cam shaft and idler.
Just a thought, has anyone tried driving an air conditioner with one of these? Temperatures here are set to soar to 50 degrees this summer.
They say that laughter is the best medicine, my wife is feeling great laughing at her stupid husband. I am hoping to have the last laugh when the CS fires up.

[vdubnut62]

Well it seems that you have learned a very valuable lesson, "never give up!".
I am sure that you will persevere and get the old girl running.
Ron in TN.

[dieselspanner]

Why not?

Plod along, no rush, take your time, chill out, and you'll have something occupying your brain along with a reason to get a couple of the lads around to give you a lift with the heavy bits whilst sinking a few beers in the shed.

Don't know much about direct drive but there's got to be an old unit from a 'reefer' container that would make a good starting point.

Do Well
Stef

[ajaffa1]

Thanks Ron and Stef, just finished for the day. "No surrender" was the moto for the Irish Republican Army, while I don`t endorse their policies or methods you have to love their determination and enthusiasm and I am trying to embrace both.
Doctors tell me I should take it easy as I broke my neck twice, bust my sternum and ribs and followed it all up with a heart attack. What a load of BS, I can sit around waiting for a word with God or I can get on and try to be productive.
Today was the best I have had in twelve months. I am excited by what I am trying to do and have already learned a lot. Love the idea about a cooler unit from a refrigerated container. if I did that the wife might think I was doing something useful.
So how did I get on today?
1. I hit everything with penetrating oil.
2. Removed water pipes, exhaust manifold &etc.
3. Removed rocker cover & rocker arm assembly.
4. Removed Fuel injector and pipes.
5. Removed fuel filter and pipes to injector pump.
6. Removed COV.
7. Removed cylinder head.
8. Remove water jacket access covers from cylinder.
9. Drained sump
Observations so far:
Cylinder head has been home to a family of mice, long gone, only to be replaced by a live red back spider (nasty toxic beasty) which is now an ex arachnid (no machinery was damaged during this extermination)
Some Muppet with a large hammer and a small brain decided the best way to free seized valves (due to lack of maintenance) is to beat the sh1t out of them. Picture of deformed rocker attached.
Cylinder bore badly worn, Listard chrome finish damaged and severe corrosion due to water contamination.
Sump filled with some primordial slime that appears to be a mixture of crude oil and sewage.

Information required as to best re-bore, fit high chrome/steel liner with soft piston rings or rebore and use oversize piston with high chrome rings?
I need a supply for Whitworth studs and nuts in Australia any info welcome.

[broncodriver99]

I need a supply for Whitworth studs and nuts in Australia any info welcome.

Try this guy for parts. I have never dealt with him but other members here have posted up good experiences. https://www.oldtimerengines.com.au/

There are also sources in the UK and USA.

[mikenash]

I need a supply for Whitworth studs and nuts in Australia any info welcome.

Try this guy for parts. I have never dealt with him but other members here have posted up good experiences. https://www.oldtimerengines.com.au/

There are also sources in the UK and USA.

Hey Jaffa.  I'm in NZ and have bought lots of CS bits off Rob at OldTimerEngines.  He's great.  Can't recommend him highly enough

[Samo]

Hey mate,

Rob has most things, and second hand parts too, and Gary (Dieselgman) can get you parts from the US, and they take bugger all time to arrive.

Samo

[starfire]

The beating on the rocker thing is something that farmers did to reseat the valves, either carbon buildup with long runs of light loading, or valve seat rust through sitting for long periods.
Either prevented starting through low, or no compression, so a few "taps" on the rockers fixed this, and over time they developed that time worn "mushroom" look.
All Lister owners knew these little tricks.
I have always prevented this problem by narrowing the valve seats to increase the seating pressure without resorting to heavier valve springs, especially on the intake valve, these suffer the rust , exhaust valves suffer most with carbon, made worse when burning oil rather than diesel fuel.

[dieselgman]

I guess I just need a lot of rehab!

[dieselspanner]

Depending on where on's head is at, that photo is somewhere between a wet dream and a nightmare!

Cracking shot!

Stef

[basewindow]

Even though restoring my CS has been very cathartic for me I'm not quite sure what id think faced with that....😲

[ajaffa1]

Well guys, looks like we all need a bit of rehab except for dieselgman who appears to need help, if he doesn't need therapy now he soon will.
I had a real fun day:
Removed cylinder, badly worn/corroded.
Removed one gib key and fly wheel, came out easy. Wish I could say the same for the other one, broke my gib key puller. Made a tapered drift and warmed everything up, still no joy. More penetrating oil and will leave for a few days before trying again.
Removed piston and conrod. Main bearing shells badly worn down to the copper, crankshaft looks ok but will measure the journal to be sure. Anyone know if undersized bearings are available if it needs a regrind?
Managed to free up the fuel injector pump rack enough to disassemble the governor linkages. Any advice on decontaminating the injector pump?
Removed cam followers/tappet assembly, exhaust side has a lot of play, anyone know what the tolerances should be?
Just a couple of pics to prove the knackered old git is still having a go, No surrender.
Bob