1929 lister d candidate for restoration

Hello! i'm new to the forum and looking for some advice.

I'm looking for a lister d restoration project here in canada. ive found one, but its too far to go check it out in person.

it's missing the fuel tank i believe (waiting to be confirmed from seller) and he believes he does still have the magneto (he got it from an old boy friend and thinks the mag is somewhere in his shed)

my biggest concern is the water tap. i want to do a complete factory fresh restoration, and im struggling to decide if the fuel tap has been wrecked and had a bigger pipe rethreaded into the side of the main engine casing.

so, any opinions about the general condition of this engine as a potential for a full restore?



thanks

Well worth doing mate plus by the looks of it has a Ricardo head on it too nice little bonus, dont worry too much about the tap as if it has been enlarged can always be bushed back down to orignal size, is it a shaft driven one too as cant make out, though it has got the low slung tank with the cast brackets and the general condition is far beyond a basket case, my opinion a very nice little D and well worth the time and effort, just out of interest whats the serial number

the serial is 81727.. so i actually think its a lot earlier than 1929 based on someone else on this forum resoring the one with 81738 so only 11 engines later and he thinks its a 1926...

i just hope he can find the magneto. ive got a few more pics, but im at work right now and its a pain to post them.

if he cant find the magneto, is it going to be possible to ever find another shaft drive one?

looks to be in great shape - the case hasnt been enlarged they have just put a bigger tap on so i think an original tap would still thread in, looks like it was looked after during its life. lets hope he finds the mag if not they come up on ebay often although you can somtimes get the full engine for the cost of a mag.

strange looking little plug it has?

Yer not 1929 id go for 1926/27 will email David Edington for you to get a precise date and history if he has any, not that its much help but funny enough have an orignal mag for one of these sat on my work bench

The engine dates from July 1927. My 1930 D has the large drain plug fitted, a nice project with Ricardo head and original exhaust plus the one piece top cover.

Pete.

ok, i think even without the mag ill get it if i can buy it for a reasonable price..
just have to sort out shipping it across canada.
what is the significance of the ricardo head?
the brass plate on the top looks nice and from what i can see in the pic shows it was an official canadian import..

thanks for the pointers so far guys..
i wish i'd bought a few when i lived in england before i emigrated here and shipped them over with the rest of my stuff..

Foden wrote:The engine dates from July 1927. My 1930 D has the large drain plug fitted, a nice project with Ricardo head and original exhaust plus the one piece top cover.

Pete.

is your drain tap the same as this one? or is this something fitted later a repair?

crunchiespg wrote:

Foden wrote:The engine dates from July 1927. My 1930 D has the large drain plug fitted, a nice project with Ricardo head and original exhaust plus the one piece top cover.

Pete.

is your drain tap the same as this one? or is this something fitted later a repair?

No mine is a square brass plug but it works! I guess that one of yours has been added at some time in the past 80 or so years, it shouldn't be a problem to fit a BSP threaded tap of some description in there.

Pete.

I'm wondering with the numbers being so close to John's D could this have been part of one big order shipped from Lister to show those over the pond that you don't need to have a complicated hit n miss engine to work your tools and equipment, a simple to maintain and operate D is what you need. Sorry I might just be day dreamin

Stu.

stationary stu wrote:I'm wondering with the numbers being so close to John's D could this have been part of one big order shipped from Lister to show those over the pond that you don't need to have a complicated hit n miss engine to work your tools and equipment, a simple to maintain and operate D is what you need. Sorry I might just be day dreamin

Stu.

im thinking the answer is even simpler. in 1920's the majority of people coming to canada were from europe, a lot from england... and as its so big and empty here there was no electricty in the new rural areas that people were settling in.. so im guessing they bought engines from back home with them.. and then liked to continue buying stuff they knew well, so lister set up a canadian distribution..

the brass plate on the one im looking at says "sold by R.a lister & co canada ltd" so it looks pretty offical that it was sold here.

also, can anyone tell me what the deal is with the round vent on the head cover? what's its function? and why did the later ones change to a completely closed top?

crunchiespg wrote:also, can anyone tell me what the deal is with the round vent on the head cover? what's its function? and why did the later ones change to a completely closed top?

from memory it acts as a crank case breather, and they didn't, the closed top type have gaps/vents on the sides

Hi mate have had a reply back from David Edington info is as follows hope its of some help

"15/8/27 and 11D2, records say it went to Lister's Toronto branch"

Abes wrote:Hi mate have had a reply back from David Edington info is as follows hope its of some help

"15/8/27 and 11D2, records say it went to Lister's Toronto branch"

Thank you. That's good information to know.

crunchiespg wrote:also, can anyone tell me what the deal is with the round vent on the head cover? what's its function? and why did the later ones change to a completely closed top?

The very first D's had a push in rubber breather which apparently dropped out in use, your one is the second 'domed' type. Then in 1930 (spec 12) they had a sprungloaded valve which they used for 10 months until they returned to the domed one for cheapness. In the War they used the slotted gap type cover, again to reduce cost and materials, they also fitted a cheaper type of water drain tap.

Pete.