New to me generator (It lives!)

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - New to me generator (It lives!)

Posted: 5/10/2020 9:07:20 PM EDT

ETA sorry for all the pics being sideways

Picked up a generator a couple years ago that needed a bit of work. Haven’t really had time to work on it until recently.

1943 US Army Signal Corps 1500 W Kohler generator 1 M21-A

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Posted: 5/10/2020 9:15:10 PM EDT

[#1]

It hadn’t run in years, maybe decades and needed to be totally torn down.

4 cylinder with 2” bore and 3” stroke

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The valves look horrible in this picture but actually cleaned up pretty nice and seal well

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Looking up at the crank/cam shafts

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The oil sump was full of sludge

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Top of the head. Looks pretty ugly.

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Posted: 5/10/2020 9:16:52 PM EDT

[#2]

Very cool.

I want another project, that one looks fun.

Posted: 5/10/2020 9:26:39 PM EDT

[#3]

A little time in the parts washer and sand blaster makes a huge difference in appearance.

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Oil pump in the back corner.

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Mounted onto its new transportation

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This oil Pan is filled by a line from the oil pump and the crank bearings dip into the grooves as they spin. The main bearings are pressure lubed and the oil lines feed the rockers, cam/crank gears, and governor

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They cleaned head ready for valves etc. 9/16” wrench fire scale.

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Posted: 5/10/2020 9:35:40 PM EDT

[#4]

This to me is the coolest part of the whole project. Cast into the inside of the flywheel housing is the date. This was made during the height of WW2 and the people making this new it was destined for war and this comms generator was their part in the war effort.

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A fresh coat of paint.

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Fuel pump cleaned and painted

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Cylinders cleaned and deglazed. They were surprisingly in very good shape.

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Pistons almost ready to reload. Broke two rings and had to find rings. Not an easy task. Found some NOS refrigeration compressor rings that were the same size. Also found a gasket set That was NOS.

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Posted: 5/10/2020 9:44:34 PM EDT

[#5]

The gasket set had one broken gasket (for the governor cover) so I improvised. It should be fine. It was a paper gasket anyway.

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This is the oil pump suction screen. Pull the plug and the oil drains and the screen comes out the be cleaned. Unit holds 7 qts of oil.

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Putting things back together. My son in law is very talented when it comes to engines of every type. He really loves old engines and we have fun on our projects.

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This is where we’re at right now. I’ve got a bunch of other pieces cleaned and painted and will be putting more together this week and hopefully have it running soon.

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Posted: 5/10/2020 9:48:11 PM EDT

[#6]

I’m going to get an electrician buddy to look at the generator end and see what I need to do to get it running.

Posted: 5/10/2020 10:33:38 PM EDT

[#7]

Looks nice.

Posted: 5/11/2020 6:28:52 AM EDT

[#8]

Looks great. I can appreciate the amount of work you have put in it.

Posted: 5/11/2020 8:54:28 AM EDT

[#9]

https://www.smokstak.com/forum/forums/kohler-generators.25/

Posted: 5/11/2020 10:00:25 AM EDT

[#10]

Yeah, I’ve been there and joined. Just haven’t posted any questions yet but I’m sure I’ll have some soon

Posted: 5/15/2020 6:39:02 AM EDT

[#11]

Getting closer to running

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Posted: 5/15/2020 7:01:23 AM EDT

[#12]

Pretty cool.

Amazing though that we have generators the size of a couple loaves of bread that will put out the same output now though.

And plugs haven't changed much through the years..................

The rings are interesting.

Posted: 5/15/2020 9:53:28 PM EDT

[#13]

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Flywheel, fan and rotor installed

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Tag on the windings.

Posted: 5/16/2020 3:52:39 AM EDT

[#14]

In 1943, an OHV generator engine must have been pretty high-tech stuff.

With a commutator and brushes carrying the generator's full output current, I'll bet the resulting AC waveform is...distinctive.

Posted: 5/16/2020 8:03:08 AM EDT

[#15]

When I get it running I’ll get an O scope and see. Hadn’t really thought that far ahead yet. The wires need to be replaced where they come out of the stator and I’m not really sure how to connect them yet. The original connection is some kind of cloth tape and I’m assuming a solder connection.

Posted: 5/25/2020 8:11:55 PM EDT

[#16]

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Getting close to firing it up. Need to finish mounting the magneto and run the wires. The radiator is the only major component left to get cleaned up and mounted.

The generator end won’t be producing power right away. I need to figure out how to wire everything so I just pulled all the brushes and holders.

If anyone can tell me how to get the pictures to not load sideways please let me know. It’s kind of frustrating

Posted: 5/28/2020 10:55:00 PM EDT

[#17]

I hope you post a video of it running on youtube as I like to hear the sound of those old engines

Posted: 5/28/2020 11:03:57 PM EDT

[#18]

Well done.

Posted: 5/29/2020 3:44:56 PM EDT

[#19]

This is one of the coolest DIY threads I've seen in awhile. Thanks for sharing!

Posted: 5/30/2020 8:30:38 PM EDT

[#20]

Finished the radiator today. The sides are steel and needed to be removed and sandblasted. It was soldered on so i desoldered it and cleaned and painted it. Reattaching was a pain. Had to solder the top of the shield to the radiator, bolt the base and pipes together and solder the bottom in place.

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Tried to start it yesterday but haven’t got the timing just right. Got it to puff a couple of times but no bang bang

It was missing the air cleaner/intake/choke assembly so I cut and drilled a piece of 1/2” steel to match the valve cover and silver soldered some 3/4” copper into it. Then I just soldered some copper together for the manifold. I need to get an air breather. Not sure what I’m going to do for a choke yet. It would be nice to have an original piece there but I’ve been unable to find one yet.