A chance phone call back in July 2021 asking me to to pick something up for a fellow engine collector is all it took to stumble upon this early Lister. Having loaded the Hornsby fuel tank into the van, the usual question of “Have you got anything else for sale?” arose, and as usual, there is always something and after being shown a couple of Bruston Listers I was taken into the next shed.
Bruston Lister J type
Bruston Lister L type
Not being a huge Lister fanatic, the pair of Bruston engines didn’t really float my boat too much, however, even I could see the next one was a little different. With the cast exhaust and odd looking flywheel hub, a price was discussed and with a few photos in hand I left for home to do further investigation.
As it turned out, my suspicions were well founded, The engine was in fact a December 1910 built Lister 604, No.2847 otherwise known as the pre – N type which left the factory in January 1911. Sadly, no original purchaser information is held.
Above/Below – How I first saw it, Note the differences to the later N types.
Spec plate showing just horsepower and the 4-digit engine number.
After passing on the information on the two Bruston engines to Lee of Lee’s Listers SEE HERE a date was arranged for us to meet up and collect all 3 engines. As with all good ideas, nothing ever goes to plan and just 20 minutes in to the journey to Cambridgeshire I had a blow out on the rear of the van, ripping out all the brake pipes and sensors in the process. Rendering the van immobile and needing recovery.
Above/Below – showing the damage to the van.
Not to be defeated it was arranged for Lee to alter his course slightly so he could swing by me, pick up me and the engine crane and then carry on the journey to collect all three engines on his trailer. Despite this setback, all went well and we managed to squeeze all three engines and the engine crane onto his trailer for the return journey.
Above/Below – Tight squeeze, showing the scale of the 604.
Now getting rather late in the day, the 604 was dropped off along with myself for Lee to carry on his way. Having sheeted the engine over for another day. That day came far sooner than expected when only the following morning, I was alerted to an early Pre 1911 Lister trolley that had popped up on Facebook Marketplace with a Lister CS diesel on it. Some might say it is the wrong trolley being for the smaller engines, which it is, but the likelihood of finding the correct one are almost nil so this is as close as we’re going to get.
Only one problem, said trolley happened to be down in Malvern, I was without a van and it had to be collected today! So now the mad rush was to get the van fixed and get it collected which somehow all went to plan.
Above/Below – The trolley and CS diesel as collected.
Once back home, it became quite clear that the trolley itself was nowhere near big enough and the tool box wasn’t original so it was decided to just remove the axles and build a new trolley to suit.
Far from authentic but in-keeping enough.
The engine itself appeared to be in fantastic mechanical condition and although it had a full strip down and rebuild it really didn’t need too. That was until it came around to putting some fuel and water in and going for the first start. Disaster struck, with the cylinder cover left off, bubbles could be seen in the water jacket! With the 604 being of the blind cylinder type there really isn’t anywhere for the bubbles to be coming from, unless the cylinder is porous, rendering it scrap!! After fearing the worst, upon further investigation the problem was found to be the decompressor tap gallery where it passes through the water jacket. Unsure as to whether it was frost damage or had gone porous as it is inaccessible from the outside, we came up with a plan. Clean the hole out behind the tap and thread it the full length from the outside through to the combustion chamber, then fit a length of threaded pipe the full length secured with Loctite. Make or break for the engine and luckily it worked perfectly.
Showing the repair, the brass coupler being the only hint showing from the outside.
By now it was October and after that hurdle was sorted all that was left to do was build the cooling tank stand and line the tank itself as it had numerous leaks a slightly smaller tank was fitted inside the original Lister tank and then it was ready for its first outing at a friends open day in Lincolnshire.
Since then the engine has been exhibited at numerous events where it has performed faultlessly and will hopefully be out again in 2025, only this time belted up to a Lister Bruston dynamo.
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