Newbie Advise

[TPXX]

I am picking up my new in crate listeroid tomorrow morning. I would gratly appreciate any advice on inital inspection and setup. It is a Loveson 12/2. This will be my first lister and my first experience with them. All words of advice, encouragement etc will be appreciated.

[mobile_bob]

clear out an area 3 times to size of the crate,, at least

set up a heavy bench, good lighting, vice and all your tooling

open the crate, and dont even think about doing anything to start it.

just look at it for a few days,  read everything you can find..

order georges cd,,, and study it.

and.... if i were you,,,,, i would strip the thing to all its little pieces
every thing would be cleaned, hot tanked, pressure washed, dried, inspected
blueprinted, repainted and reassembled to the highest standard i could attain.

if you dont feel mechanically inclined enough to do that, buy some pizza and get a friend to help
that has the experience. get mechanically inclined,,get in there and learn all about it.

then and only then would you have an engine that is worthy of mounting and doing serious work
with some piece of mind.

this assumes of course that the engine is new in a crate as shipped from india, not one that has been gone
thru and at least inspected.

bob g

[Twinscrew]

Bob's post should be a sticky for all new imported engine owners. Any moderators out there want to help folks save a lot of time, effort, and heated debate?

[TPXX]

order georges cd,,, and study it.

Have sent the payment to him today! I am looking for as much info as I can get!

and.... if i were you,,,,, i would strip the thing to all its little pieces
every thing would be cleaned, hot tanked, pressure washed, dried, inspected
blueprinted, repainted and reassembled to the highest standard i could attain.

I am mechanically inclined so I think I can handle this. Except for the blueprinting, may need some help there as I do not have the proper tools.

this assumes of course that the engine is new in a crate as shipped from india, not one that has been gone
thru and at least inspected.

It is new from India and needs complete setup!

bob g

[hotater]

TPXX---

You lucky dog!!  You're coming in just as the problems seem to be getting mostly identified and fixes and preventions are proving out to be correct.

Read Bob's post again....he got it right.

A sawZall is the BEST way to uncrate it.  Just go on and buy another blade for whoever you borrow it from.  Indian nails are the 'hard as' kind.

If you've read ALL the post on this forum AND read all of George's CD, AND can retain 10% of it, you'll be the smartest guy around on Lister engines!!

[TPXX]

Alright! I got my listeroid! As mentioned it is a Lovson 12/2 new in crate. I picked it up from Magnolia Jack (very nice fellow). The fuel tank had been crushed, but the crate was not damaged, so it must have happened at the factory before or during the crating process (bas#@%ds). Good grief these things are heavy. It will be about a month before I can set it up (new house not quite ready) but until then I will study and inspect, and get the gennie and pulley. Jack had a 6/1 that was running and he said there was no casting sand or other problems during his inspection. It sounded sweet and quiet even on the little stock muffler. Thanks to those of you that have offered advice. I'm sure I will have more questions.

[bat outta hell]

TPXX

Throw the fuel tank away and get a good tank ,if you gotthe screw in grease fitting for the valves throw them away to if you have any vibration they will come off. Mine came off in about 100hrs. I have now 2,000 hrs on 2 motors

bat.

[DaveW]

TPXX -

     I was just about to add my congratulations when I figured out that you were the one that slipped up to 1488 ahead of me.  So now, I guess I just have to read your posts and dream of what might have been.  Maybe when you get it running I can stop by and drool.  Of course if you need help just email. I stand ready to see what the inside of a Listeriod looks like.

DaveW

[aqmxv]

Alright! I got my listeroid! As mentioned it is a Lovson 12/2 new in crate. I picked it up from Magnolia Jack (very nice fellow).

I got my 6/1 fully uncrated and moved off of its pallet today.  They are indeed heavy.  In order to minimize strain on equipment (and because I was going to tear it down for inspection anyway), I removed the head and cylinder before lifting it off the crate bottom, which should have lightened it by at least 100 lbs.  You should get a 200-odd lb reduction from this move with a 12/2.  The comealong got the job done again.  I ran rope through a hole bored in a floor joist (with my Great Grandfather's brace and bit) and made a lifting plate that attatched to the head studs.  I happened to have some casters from a portable dishwasher that fit through a hole.  I stuck them through the bolting holes in the base to make a portable listeroid crankcase and flywheels.  It's rolled into the corner and covered until I get its mounting frame constructed.  Total injuries in the process: one thumb mashed when the pry bar gave way suddenly when uncrating.

Now I have to decide how to approach gib key removal...

[Rtqii]

http://listerengine.com/coppermine/displayimage.php?album=random&cat=10047&pos=-247

Geno used a nice puller

http://listerengine.com/smf/index.php?topic=897.0

^^^ More gib key pullers & info

[anitel]

I also have a new lovson 12/2 from MagnoliaJack.   I found out the hard way that the valve lash was wrong on the exhaust valves.   
It was running great cold and started right up but then I got my thermo tank setup and ran the engine up to 190F today.... oops not good I noticed one cylinder was running pretty cold and shut it down.   Then it wouldn't start again and the fuel was fine.   
I pulled both heads and I've got contact between the exhaust valves and the cylinders.... more so on one cylinder than the other but it is on both.   

Moral of the story:   Check for sand (I haven't found a single grain anywhere) but also check valves :-)

BTW: The heads and cylinders look good and and the head gasket is copper or something similar on both sides with paper in the middle.

Thomas

[hotater]

Anitel---

That's not a valve adjustment problem....or at least it doesn't sound like it.   The valve clearance to the top of the piston is set by spacers between the deck and the cylinder(s).
  I don't know about your engine, but most will clear at about .052" but between .060 and .065 is 'standard'.

George's CD has the process.  Fishing split shot is a great source for pure (soft) lead in handy sizes in cute boxes.   

[aqmxv]

  I don't know about your engine, but most will clear at about .052" but between .060 and .065 is 'standard'.

George's CD has the process.  Fishing split shot is a great source for pure (soft) lead in handy sizes in cute boxes.   

And that's why I read this board.  I've done deck heights on quite a few different kinds of engines over the years.  Sometimes with micrometers (fussy and expensive).  Sometimes with modeling clay or putty (messy, hard to get an accurate reading).  I used large diameter monofilament nylon once, but worried about its elasticity.  Soft lead should be just about perfect, and split shot is just the right size, dirt cheap, malleable, soft, not too soft, and available everywhere.  I'm guessing that it's soft enough that it would work with aluminum cylinder heads or pistons, too...  Maybe solid-core solder for smaller deck heights...

[hotater]

  Look out!  Solder is usually 50/50 tin lead and is about four times harder than split shot.

 Go to a fly shop for a selection of pure lead split shot, all in one box, down to .015" (!!)

[aqmxv]

  Look out!  Solder is usually 50/50 tin lead and is about four times harder than split shot.

 Go to a fly shop for a selection of pure lead split shot, all in one box, down to .015" (!!)

You rock!  It didn't even dawn on me that fly fishermen use the stuff too.  I only need something that'll mash easily to about .030" for checking squish height on...well nearly anything small I have - will be building a new Corvair engine for the van this winter.  I was thinking of the split shot I've seen, which was all in the range of 1/8" diameter, and would be a lot of lead to squish down to .035" between two pieces of aluminum.