Lister Stationary Engine

[PaulC7]

Picked up a Lister D for £70 fully working and working great just one or two bits missing or not original and very tiny leak from fuel tank but these are easily fixed.

As its not been used for sometime the plan is to clean it up and having running regularly to make sure all is ok while I get a few parts in.

Thinking about restoring it in a blue/red theme as the normal green is a bit plain.

 

[MattF]

That looks like a tidy engine. Bit of time and patience, and you should be able to get that looking lovely. Colour wise, I'd go with whatever you like. Originality is nice, but at the end of the day, it's what you personally like which matters.

 

[CKJDJK]

I've got a 1949 1 1/5 hp D type. Dismantled it found everything ok even able to reuse head gasket. Rebuilt and running great. Need to get standard tank and silencer for it. Repainted using Hamerite smooth green as very near original colour. You can still get all the transfers for them. Mine currently running a small compressor with a two litre tank. Will run all day once warmed up. They used to boil eggs in the coolant tank for bait time.

 

[Robotstar5]

I went to a vintage fair last weekend where they had over 60 stationary engines, I didn't realise how popular they were, good job my camera's digital or I don't know how many rolls of film I'd have used

 

[pedrobedro]

The wood yard I worked at as a lad used to use one for driving the stick chopper and saw, just swap the belt over and away. That sounds sweet I would leave it in as is condition even take the green paint off the tank it has a lovely patina just rub it down with a diesel rag and wipe it off after the worst grime is removed.

 

[PaulC7]

Had it running yesterday for 5 hours and after 20 minutes my worries of it breaking vanished and it ran fine, being at least 50 years old and not being ran for a while I am very impressed with it.

Small leak in tank nothing major just 2 or 3 table spoons leaked in that time.

Getting a clean and oil change today hen starting to make a steerable trolley as it was awkwardly heavy to lift by hand.

Looking to get a jigsaw and water pump at some point.

Will post pics as I go too.

 

[Rig Pig]

Very nice, I have an old one in the corner of my workshop awaiting attention sadly it's not as nice as yours, seized solid and cracked water jacket, a job for a quiet winters day.

 

[PaulC7]

Why wait till winter get it out on a nice day or the weekend you'll soon have it in bits and be happy you started restoring it.

 

[Rig Pig]

I would love to but I'm stacked out with other jobs at the moment, the workshop has taken nearly 2 years to compete fitting it in around everything else!

 

[Lawnmowerboy]

Very nice. I sold my reverse rotation d type when I started driving.

 

[PaulC7]

Yesterday I started to give it a clean but didn't want to strip it but had no choice in the end as it was awkward in aces.

Using paraffin and a wire wheel the surface rust came off great and revealed more blotches of mid brunswick green and part of the water level and flywheel stickers.

Just waiting to clean out the sump then I can refit everything but I will have a problem with the timing, there are no marks and I never marked it up before stripping.

Bought some wood to make a trolley which will only hold the engine, found a pulley I can use to make it steerable and that just leaves the wheels I'm not too keen on getting cast iron as there too expensive and weight wise will make shifting around that bit harder.

 

[Trev3635]

I had one of these until a month ago, it had metal wheels and a water pump on it sold it for £150. Also had an amanco twin flywheel slod that for £300 I only have a lister B, coburn, bamford, petter a little jap and a villiers left. I used to take them all over to shows they won quite a few prizes dont really have time for them now.

 

[CKJDJK]

I' ve got copy of Instruction book/parts list and the Tech spec for overhaul of the D and DK type engines. Bought them from The Stattionary Engine, Ledge wood farm, Hawkeridge,Weeetbury, Wlitshire, SA13 4LA. If they are still going you may be able to get more info from them. If no joy them pm me and I will scan them and email to you.

 

[CKJDJK]

Also got History and development of Lister Dtype by David Edgington I can email copy.

 

[Rig Pig]

That's handy thanks.

 

[MattF]

Bought some wood to make a trolley which will only hold the engine, found a pulley I can use to make it steerable and that just leaves the wheels I'm not too keen on getting cast iron as there too expensive and weight wise will make shifting around that bit harder.

Cast wheels don't make a notable difference to how hard it is to shift. If anything, they'd likely make it slightly easier as they won't grip like rubber will, so you can quite easily shunt/skid them sideways. Once you have that moving, the wheel weight is a negligible consideration. As you mention though, dropping on some at a decent price is a different matter entirely. They'd definitely be more in keeping with the machine though.

 

[PaulC7]

Just a little update...

When taking it apart for cleaning I never marked anything up so trying to get the timing right with no marks is proving a nightmare even following the recommended ways.

Apart from that its looking great got my parts ordered and its ready for a trolley.

Trolley made but badly a slight error when measuring meant holes were drilled in the wrong place then after test fitting I changed things slightly.

Then when drilling for the steering bolt I drilled a pilot then stupidly tried to use a forstner bit which obviously bounced round like a kangaroo.

But it's done and as they say practise makes perfect so once some wheels are found if there are no clearance issues I then have a template to make a new one.

 

[MattF]

Then when drilling for the steering bolt I drilled a pilot then stupidly tried to use a forstner bit which obviously bounced round like a kangaroo.

It's the best way of learning to keep pilot holes to less than 1/8" or so in width so that the tip will still centre. Been there, and ain't it a cow trying to get a forstner bit through afterwards if you're not using a pillar drill.

 

[ytre]

i got a nasty kick back when turning the handle years ago. anyone else get the same