1952 PE-95K Gen Set Refurb

[coolpool]

This gen set was included with my purchase of a 1952 M38 Cdn Army jeep that I got in December of 2015. It's a US Army, O'Keefe & Merritt 10Kw AC, 28V DC model that was purchased by the Canadian Forces some time in the 50's. The only reason the PO bought it was that it has the same engine as the jeep (L-134 Willys flathead) and could be used as a spare if needed. I've seen a youtube video of it running and I actually fired it up myself on a temporary fuel tank. The waterpump was a known leaker (bad) so I only ran it for a few seconds with no coolant. As with everything in my barn, if it's going to occupy space it better look/run nice. I've sent the waterpump out for a rebuild and started tearing into this in depth. This engine sports a rebuild tag from the Royal Canadian Electrical Mechanical Engineers (RCEME) from July 1969 with '0' listed on all componebts meaning no oversizing on bearings, pistons, etc was needed. I sourced some period correct paint for the exterior and any motors touched by our rebuild facilities were adorned in Ford Grey. The faint numbers you can see is what's left of the Canadian Forces Registartion number which was buried under preservation grease. I was a little too rough with cleaning and now I don't know what it was:wondering My bad! I'll update this thread as I move along.

[fabiodriven]

Friggin eh Pete! That thing will crank some serious juice!

[El Camexican]

If I ever get up your way I'd love to take a peak in that barn of yours.

[ironchop]

Nice score!

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[Caminofeld]

That's awesome! And a Jeep motor too!

Crazy to see this because I just got a good running 10kw USMC diesel generator with 300 hrs on it for $3k and am pretty pumped; as it is obviously heavy duty and supposedly EMP-proof. I've got some friends who have me second-guessing my purchase with claims of their Generacs being a better product for less. Any thoughts?

Not trying for a thread hijack; just new to generators and excited to talk about them.

[fabiodriven]

Generacs!? And they're second guessing you? Haha! They're buying the equivalent of a shite Chinese quad in generator form. They're loud, shitey, cookie cutter garbage available at every Lowe's and Home Depot across the country, and they're trying to compare that with a 10kw USMC diesel generator? No comparison!

[atc007]

Really cool Pete. My Dad was powertrain commander in WW2. Those pics stopped me in my tracks.

[coolpool]

Camino, Fabio said it best, your purchase will outlive and out perform 100x longer and better than any off shore crap. The trick with Military stuff is to know how to work on it because it usually looks different than civilian equivalents; although most Military stuff thrives on abuse, lol. May I suggest the Steel Soldiers forum under "Auxiliary" Equipment.

Come on up El Cam, the door is always open!

[fabiodriven]

Steel Soldiers is great. I spent a lot of time on there when I had my deuce, still have an account there. Great group of guys.

[roostin atc]

At my work we refer generac as (genercrap). I would never buy or tell someone to buy one of those junks. Personally I have a 10k honda twin. With proper maintenance it has many more years of service. You all ways get the cool stuff. See you at Trikefest this year.

[Caminofeld]

Thanks guys! I'll be on the SS forum soon and am in the process of redoing the breaker box and installing a twist-lock plug on the side of the house (and a 220 out for a hot tub to soothe my aching body). Glad to hear I didn't get ripped off and I'll soon be purchasing the repair manual, spare/tune-up parts, and a 250 gallon oil tank for SHTF prep (my Wife will die if she can't use her blow-dryer:P).

Looking forward to seeing your build evolve Coolpool!

[plastikosmd]

Nice work!

[Caminofeld]

240561

240562

[coolpool]

Nice rigs Camino! Ford 8N or 9N? Love those old tractors. How much does your gen set weigh? Mine scales in at 1,500lbs.

[Caminofeld]

1951 8n with 12v conversion. Got it for $2k with brand new tires and a freshly rebuilt motor with all receipts. The guy who sold it was an old mechanic and said he put brand new brakes on it…and it still doesn't stop unless you're on level ground. My neighbor has a 90's Kubota diesel with loader and less than 1000 hours on it he wants $7500 for. Cosmetically not the best, but runs great and would be a better fit for my hilly property (although I plan on still keeping the 8n).

Glad to hear I made a good choice with the genset…plus having it on a trailer is nice for versatility. The guy I got it from says 1100#, but I haven't put it on a scale.

Somebody asked about the bike…it's a 1980 kz550 I got on ebay for free (seller BS'ed me that it ran and gave it to me when I called him out and threatened to give bad feedback). Put Hagon shocks in the rear and Racetech springs in the front. Enjoyed a year of zipping around the back roads of northern Baltimore County...Sent it to a shop for carb work and they held it for 6 months then sent it back in pieces; telling me they wouldn't charge me for labor for ruining my bike. Now it's a basket case and I have no time to put humpty-dumpty back together:(

If anybody wants it, I'll take a few hundred bucks and even deliver within reason...

[coolpool]

Got quite a bit done, drilled out a broken exhaust stud and re-tapped, welded and refitted the original exhaust back on, soldered up a cracked dipstick cap, welded and re-aligned the governor bracket and put the rebuilt waterpump on. The rest was mostly cleaning, prepping and painting. I'm just going to detail inside the electrical panel as it's pretty clean in there already. There's still a lot of parts to deal with yet but with any luck it'll be running by next weekend with hopefully no surprises. I thought I had a new idler puller assembly and governor bracket from a parts rig in Minnesota but they turned out to be different machines:wondering I'll just have to run with what I got.

[coolpool]

Really cool Pete. My Dad was powertrain commander in WW2. Those pics stopped me in my tracks.

This must be karma Bill, I was cleaning my waterpump bolts and one of them had the "F" from Ford Motor Company on the head. If you weren't aware, Ford wasn't allowed to brand the jeeps they built back in WW2 so they branded everything they could to advertise so to speak; so this is a true WW2 era bolt. The only one I've found on this rig.

[Caminofeld]

Looking great Coolpool! You've got some skills!

[coolpool]

Lots has happened since the last post! It's 95% done with a few things left to do like installing the top tray, front cover and fabbing up a battery hold down frame. I ended up having to replace a broken head stud and adjusted the valves after replacing the head gasket. I got around to cutting the cart up and making a flat bed out of it which was the original plan, I'm happy with the finished product. The bearings were all good, cleaned and re-packed and a full chassis lube done. There was a very large, weird shaped fuel tank under that thing that I gave away. I'm in the process of trying to "scrounge" up some good used matching 6.90 x 9.00 tires from the air base here since they want $180.00 a piece at the tire dealer; I can't justify that cost and I can't order new ones from the US for $45.00 each for some reason? Border BS I'm guessing. I've found out it produces AC power but haven't put a good load on it yet which I'll try soon with a space heater.

[ironchop]

Looks great!

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