Excuse me while i crack one off ...

[SB118]

... as the headbolt threads are full of crap and need cleaning.

Yup, i've got my new toy, and it's HUGE

Here's Dave ...

do you see how he fits behind one of the back seats?

now compare it to "Red" (no prizes for guessing how it gots it's name )

Loads more pics here

Month or so to restore it (put it back together basically) and then i can play.

Mucho happy bunny (but the wife is going to go spare when she sees the size of it )

 

[SB118]

heh, she's just got home from work and seen the photos, she was, umm, impressed, yes that's the word impressed.

That or "foaming"

 

[SB118]

but your naming theory seems to have gone kaput considering the first one was red and the second was/is green..

qui?

1st engine was the SR1 (green) called Dave (Lister)
2nd engine is a CS 6/1 (red) called Red (my imagination knows no start)

 

[SB118]

You seem to be very excited about it all, so good for you, but this all raises a from me. Whats the point in it.

It'll run on used (and filtered!) vegetable or motor oil. And when coupled to an alternator will produce enough electricity to run my flat during the day. For nothing. And provide hotwater for a basic heating system. For nothing.

I saw a Lister engine lying under a load of tat in a scrap yard the other day, are they worth much?

Depending on the condition, lots. If it was in a scrap yard it must have been a total write off, scrap dealers aren't daft, they know what quality old iron can be sold for, if they were scraping it and not selling it, it's a dead'un.

I picked up this pile of bits for a fart over 100 quid. I missed out on a fully operational (and smaller) engine the week before on eBay, it sold for just under 400 pounds.

People often equate old for worn out. With modern production methods, that is true, but these things were built in a time when build quality meant more than "no sharp edges", my latest addition must be at least 30 years old, it wouldn't surprise me if that was nearer to 40-45 tbh. Over engineered, heavy duty and slow, all things that give an engine an incredibly long working life.

 

[SB118]

Won't the neighbours be a little annoyed at the new noise?

Look at the other photos on the gallery to see the soundproofing i've done to the engine room.

So you're going to have a noisy, dirty engine running inside your flat? Just to save a few quid on your electric bill? Hmm. What do the neighbours and your landlord think about that?

Noisey? Nope. Dirty? Nope. Inside the flat? Nope. Few quid off the leccy bill? Nope. EVERYTHING off the leccy bill.

Any other questions?

 

[SB118]

SB118 - Did you ever catch the little scrote that broke into your shop on Christmas?

I noticed you got a pretty good image of his face on the camera.....

Nope, it was a friends offy, i just fit the cctv (doing a kebab shop opposite this week, if they ever bleedin show up to let me in!)

Even the guy whole busted the window hasn't been caught.

 

[SB118]

Quicky update, finally got the begger out of the van, gained about 4 inches of travel on the suspension into the game!

Stripped the head, think the valves "might" need grinding into though ...

Loads more pics added to the site. Wife went ape**** when she saw that i'd got most of the crud from the engine all over the digicam. Oops!

 

[SB118]

I'm not cutting or drilling it so there's no free dust or fibres. More danger of it falling on me tbh

 

[SB118]

Even if he was saving £100 a month it's better in his pocket than the electric boards and there's the threat of power outages in the future.

Bingo, somebody else has seen the light, i'd rather i kept my money if i have the skills to do so. Also i can heat the flat using a heat exchanger on the exhaust, how does central heating for free grab you? Ending our reliance on bottled gas (and the dreadful condensation it causes meaning we run two dehumidifiers 24/7). Saving even more money....

 

[SB118]

Look at utterpower.com for a great lister/genset referance and the wastewatts group of yahoo groups is good for energy creation/saving. Got some more somewhere, give me a mo to find them.

Not considered ex-rental static caravans? Already insulated, plumbed and probaly cheaper than a shipping box too....

 

[SB118]

Stackable, good point.

Gonna cost you a bomb on the gas axe though

 

[SB118]

Pics tbh.

Already on the site in the link, but for those who find it too technical ....





Ouch!

 

[SB118]

I went there looking for listers, not legs .

That's not what you said at the last lodge meeting

 

[SB118]

how do you actually go about plugging an alternator into your house ? Are you going to dig up the wires ? Isnt that dangerous ? Im sorry I have no idea its something have never even thought about. Also when you say it costs nothing there must be maintenance costs and the fuel isnt free? It all seems a bit risky if the thing goes **** up your going to be completely blacked out until you can find another antique engine ?

I can either run a complete fresh mains circuit aroud the flat, or just disconnect the grid connection and join up the alternator feed. I'm also considering a battery bank for overnight running (telly, fridge and lighting, nothing else runs in the evenings) The fuel is free (veg oil) and the maintenance on these things is negligable. I've just restored the injector pump using a shifting spanner, mole grips and a flat blade screwdriver! These things were designed to run 24/7 indefinately, and i'm only going to put 10-12 hours a day on it.

I understand you're going to run this from used veggie oil. How is that amount of oil accumulated? Have you been collecting or having neighbours collect for you? I understand some people even go to restaurants and take it from their bins. Please explain more.

I collect from 3 takeaways and i've got more oil than i can use right now.

 

[SB118]

Obviously you won't be burning the oil straight-up, will you? It will have to be filtered and refined somewhat. If you have the time, can you give us more details?

This is fun!

I filter the oil down to 5 microns before it goes near my fuel tanks

Probably wrong but.....

Even though you are obviously recycling used oil is there not some law which means you now have to pay vast amounts of tax as its now being used as a fuel?

I'm sure I've read about folk using old oil in deisel cars and being stung by the Customs and Excise people.

Would be interested to know what you think?


Rgds

D.

You only need to pay fuel duty if it is used as road fuel, fuel used in stationary engines is duty free, i can run red diesel if i get desparate.

And i'm already a registered fuel producer so Customs are getting plenty of money out of me

 

[SB118]

On your original thread last year I thought you were a real man but all these months on and Dave isn't working yet - you don't deserve him.
I expect your excuse is "Well its been a bit cold to work on him".
I don't know how you're going to get out of this unless you've got a picture of yourself with a really big drill.

Lies! Dave has gone to a better place (to run a saw bench actually), i've used the more tried and tested method of buying a bigger one

I had planned a shortcut to cleaning things up, but unfortunately the wife read my mind and warned me not to put the head in the dishwasher