A few photos of my engines

Inspired by 'Mo3mini's photos of his engines I thought I'd post a few photos of mine too, so here are a couple of 'before and after' photos of my Lister A28s engine. It was first supplied in July 1940 to Zwicky & Co of Slough to be fitted to an airfield fuel bowser as part of a WW2 Air Ministry contract. After the war it was returned to Lister for reconditioning and resale and is believed to have been used to drive a saw bench on a farm afterwards. It was in poor condition and a non-runner when I bought it and needed a new fuel tank, piston rings, big end bearing, valve springs, exhaust, fuel and water taps, etc. It took me a few years to find all the parts I needed and to restore it, but I'm quite pleased with the end result and the engine now runs well.

Before:





After:



Here's a photo of my first stationary engine, a 1940 Lister D that I bought when I was 18. I've had this engine so long it needed a second refurbishment 5 years ago, this photo was taken just afterwards... it is now fitted with the correct black rubber HT lead. I also have a Bentall Mk J corn mill (restored), and have a couple of other restoration projects on the go (an H2 pump and a 12v dynamo), so plenty of jobs to keep me out of trouble! Thanks for reading this thread.

1940 Lister D:

Wow Jules you do an excellant job of restoring your engines. The Lister A has been brought back from scrap twice so to speak (although I don't think it would be that worn out when the MOD finished with it.) Your engines are something to be proud of all the hours and hours of work that must have gone into them.
If you want to put a thread up about your other restorations, maybe as you do them it would be very welcome.

Stu.

Thanks for the comments Stu, that Lister A restoration was a bit of a long-term project! I couldn't rush it as it took me a couple of years to find a good second-hand big end bearing, the original one was worn down almost to the locating peg. I also had a couple of house moves while restoring it, so in the end it took me about 5 years to complete it. I'll post a thread about my Lister H2 pump restoration as suggested (just waiting for some warmer weather so I can start repainting it!). Cheers.

I think there's a few on here sitting with long restorations because they can't source the parts or there that expensive it takes a while to buy in everything they need. Good to see you never gave up and continued with it a true labour of love.

Stu.

some nice engines there. for future reference with big end bearings. you can't get new ones poured into your rod. There is a company called JEL bearings that do it. nevertheless a wonderfully engine.

Matt

really nice engines

nice A lister, nice finish on the paint work did you spray them ?

ray wrote:nice A lister, nice finish on the paint work did you spray them ?

my exact first thoughts.

Thanks for the comments chaps. No, both engines were brush painted; the Lister A was more difficult to do than the D though. The hopper and fuel tank were the most difficult bits for me to paint due to the smooth flat surfaces, I kept getting paint runs and 'curtains', so it took me several attempts to get them looking right! I also had problems trying to stop small 'pin head' rust bubbles forming on part of the hopper, despite using 'rust killer' and anti-rust primer. The finish isn't perfect, there are one or two brush marks here and there, which you can't see in the photos. It still looks a little bit too shiny, but the paint should tone down with age. Here's a photo taken during the restoration:

Jules I'd want that finish to stay not fade, it looks as if a lot of time and effort went into getting such a good paint finish.

Stu.

stationary stu wrote:Jules I'd want that finish to stay not fade, it looks as if a lot of time and effort went into getting such a good paint finish.

Stu.

I'd say

Nice engines Jules.

Can I ask, where did you get the Zwicky badge for the Lister trolley? My brother has a Stuart Turner P5XC (originally made by Stuart exclusively for use on Zwicky military fuel bowsers) which I am currently helping him restore back to it's original rad cooling, a Zwicky badge like that would look great on the radiator top tank.

I'm guessing it's just a case of waiting to see what comes along, but I would be very interested to know if there's reproduction ones available, or even if Zwicky are still going???

I bought the Zwicky sign on ebay a few years ago, luckily no one else seemed to want it so I didn't have to pay much for it (a very limited market I suppose!). It's cast aluminium with raised letters and border. I don't know if Zwicky are still in business or not, I'll have to do some research when I get chance. I've found a few WW2 photos of Zwicky bowsers on the internet, including a nice colour one on the Imperial War Museum website: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205207807 (interesting website too, well worth a look round), but they've been ones fitted with the Lister A engine. As you say, Stuart also provided engines for Zwicky bowsers though. Best of luck with the restoration.

Thanks for the response Jules, I will just have to keep my eyes open I guess.

BTW, the level of finish on that Lister A really is one of the best I've ever seen. You could've taught Lister a thing or two with an engine looking that good

Weather people like shiny engines or not, you really can't deny the amount of work & patience which goes into a job like that. It's a real credit to you.

(personally I quite like shiny engines, & I like rusty engines. In fact, I just like engines )

Just catching up on posts I have looked at yet.
Glad I did and saw the pictures of your Listers.
All these great looking engines are getting my motivation up for spending Saturday on the rusty Ruston that I've looked at for a while but haven't got into.
Regards

glowes3 wrote:Just catching up on posts I have looked at yet.
Glad I did and saw the pictures of your Listers.
All these great looking engines are getting my motivation up for spending Saturday on the rusty Ruston that I've looked at for a while but haven't got into.
Regards

That's what I do or look at engines running on You Tube, it gives me inspiration to do something.

Stu.