different resto project

Jim C

Jim C

Oldtimer
so i havent posted a new thread in forever so i figure i would show you guys something i have been working on. this is for myself this time. this is a mep-003a 14kw military diesel generator. so i bought this thing from a guy who got it from govt liquidation. he really didnt know what he was doing so he never really got it running right. these are really pretty basic and simple like older cars i guess. i have a real problem trusting anyone elses work so i ended up tearing it down to every nut bolt and washer. restoring every piece and i either painted, ceramic or powdercoated all the parts. reassembled with mostly all stainless hardware wherever i could. kinda a little overboard for a generator but there is something really cool about these things and everyone that comes over cant stop talking about it. so ill post some pictures starting with when i had it half torn down all the way to final assembly.
 
hmm for some reason my pics wont show up in the thread. ill correct it in a bit so you guys can see
 
ok maybe i just had too many pics in one thread

ok so here we go. this is after i started tearing it down and so on.

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pulled the generator head apart. rotor came out. cleaned up all the rust inside and out. finally found a use for por15. works good on the inside of the gen head.

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ok i ceramic coated the heads, intake and exhaust in black and the valve covers and pushrod tubes in a matte silver. epoxy coated all the parts i painted with spi epoxy then semi flat od green single stage to match the powdercoat on the skid and frame.

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That is a unique restoration. That would be perfect to take to shows in the back of an old military truck. People would flock towards it.
 
some more

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skippin around a bit here. i glassbeaded the heads. the exhaust pots were really clogged with carbon. looked brand new once i was done with that. lapped the valves.

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ok now completed and put all back together. this is just a quick run though to give you guys an idea. total it was about a 2 month project. more my speed. cars take too darn long and i could never do one for myself. definately a cool project though. i liked doing so much i drove all last weekend hunting down 2 more these. i think i have them both sold already and havent even started them.

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i remade all the data plates on the computer and sent the files off to a friend to have them printed on vinyl.
 
strum, i am on a forum called steel soldiers. all military vehicles, stuff like that. in the generator section, those guys all thought i had lost it. different crowd i guess. most of those guys idea of a paint job is a rattle can and at the same time i have a friend who does high end car resto and hot rod work come over and gave me a bunch of $hit because i didn't polish and clearcoat the copper fuel return lines. lol. i cant win. one extreme or another i guess. the guys on the other forum really appreciated it when it was done though. i dont think anyone has ever done anything like that.
 
Thanks for sharing that site, Jim - awesome stuff. That's a darn nice job on that generator (even if the copper lines aren't cleared). LOL Did Hurricane Sandy influence your decision to restore such a powerful generator? I bet all your neighbors will be extra friendly when the power goes out next time.
 
I think you need to get ahold of the White House and offer to label the fuel fill on the Prez's Limo :playful:
 
strum, actually i didnt have too much of an issue with sandy. lost power for less than a day i think. i always borrowed my dad's little 4kw gas one and now he is taking that one to his cabin in west va. it was way too small for me. i needed to get a gen and i knew i wanted a diesel becuase i always have a few hundred gal around here. dont want to have to go hunt for gas every day during a disaster. another thing is they use only about 1/3 of the fuel a gas one does and this is a prime power generator. its meant to start and run 24/7 for days, weeks or months without ever being shut down and at the same time putting out 125% of its rated cap. they have a 20-30k hr rebuild time compared to a gasoline or propane standyby which you can throw in the trash after 1000-1500hr. these basically run forever. 14kw is enough to power my house and air like the power was never out or at my shop it will run my compressor and one set of lights. just enough for me to do something there.
 
Jim, I know someone with a generator a lot bigger than that for sale. A friend of mine purchased it from a university that never used it although one of the iron mines borrowed it for a short time during an outage. It's big. If you're interested let me know and I'll give you contact info.
 
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