Recoil starter for 1A08 and 2A016 standard engines

[Gunwriter]

Has anyone heard of a conversion kit to mount a recoil starter onto a military standard
1A08 and 2A016 engine?

I've seen one advertised, never heard of it and so ordered one to try. Figure what's the worst that could
happen.....if it works I'll mount it to one of my air compressors.

Didn't know if anyone had heard of such an animal. Once it arrives and I verify it does or does not work
then I will add more info and a link. Should be here in two days.......

 

[Recovry4x4]

That would be such a blessing for the little guys.

 

[Gunwriter]

agreed! a recoil starter and a float that actually floats and I would be happy!

 

[Guyfang]

All right! Stop the whining! The floats are that way, screwed up. Get over it!!

Man.

You have some floats on the way, and we need to see that also. Pictures.

I worked on army power generation almost 30 years. Never saw a recoil starter for these engines. Would have sold my first born for such a thing. So when you get it, put it on and take pictures! I got to see this. Failure to take good pictures will result in me calling a hit man I know in KS, and having him visit you.

Where have I seen the picture of your avatar? Someplace, cant remember. Kinda neat.

 

[Jericho]

HUmmm, I think, Guy Fang , jump in if you want, But I think the ONAN (Studebaker series) 2A 042 had a near twin used in some welders sold on the civilian market Lincoln and Miller come to mind, I have a basicly identical engine on my Lincoln gas powered, 24 volt 225 amp stick welder, Keep in mind there are some differences! carb, governor . But it has an optional recoil starter listed in an old manual I have . The gist of it is the removal of the pull start flange and replacement with the recoil sub assembly . Unfortunately my welder is a state away at the moment being used by my son, When it comes back ill look deeper into it , take a few measurements ect .

 

[Gunwriter]

Really appreciate all your input and knowledge!

I plan on taking side by side pics of the stock float with what I was told could be modified to work.

Plus I will take pics of the recoil starter. I think people will want to know about this stuff.
I mean....I can't be the only one into these classics....can I?

The Avatar is actually an Otto Dix work
It's called Stormtroopers Advancing Under Gas
and stems from his experiences in the trenches of WWI
I added a bit of color to it. The original can be seen at this
link
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Dix
much of his work was burned by the Nazis when they came to power.
I don't typically like this style of art, but for some reason this particular
piece struck my fancy.

 

[Guyfang]

I have seen Stormtroopers Advancing Under Gas, someplace in an exhibit, or museum here in Germany. And not all that long ago. Interesting work. My wife and I go to art museums when we are traveling here in Germany. Lots of intresting things to see. I normally blow through at the speed of light, until I see THE PICTURE. Then I need an hour to look at it. And this one caught my eye. Oh well, one of the benefits of getting old is everything seems to be new, every day!

What we would not have given for a recoil pull starter. Later on, when I started to try and make things easier, we used a heavy duty drill with a long extension for the 3 KW, 4A032 engines. Had to be fast pulling it back! But sometimes it was the only way to get the darn things running.

 

[Gunwriter]

OK, I received in the recoil starter today!

Here it is. It does not include the mounting screws but it does have the all important
crank bolt. Steel wire. Rubber handle. Will try to see if I can get it mounted tonight.

 

[Gunwriter]

I have seen Stormtroopers Advancing Under Gas, someplace in an exhibit, or museum here in Germany. And not all that long ago. Interesting work. My wife and I go to art museums when we are traveling here in Germany. Lots of intresting things to see. I normally blow through at the speed of light, until I see THE PICTURE. Then I need an hour to look at it. And this one caught my eye. Oh well, one of the benefits of getting old is everything seems to be new, every day!

What we would not have given for a recoil pull starter. Later on, when I started to try and make things easier, we used a heavy duty drill with a long extension for the 3 KW, 4A032 engines. Had to be fast pulling it back! But sometimes it was the only way to get the darn things running.

Really! You have actually seen that piece displayed. Very interesting. Love going to museums in Europe. The wife lived in Germany
as an Air Force brat and loves exploring. I haven't spent much time in Germany, but enjoyed the times I was there. Had to go to
the Carl Zeiss/Hensoldt plant once.

On the 4A032 engines..........am I correct that they can be a bit of a bear to start simply trying to get gasoline up to the carb?
Pull starting them can be a bit of a chore indeed....
I can see how a HD drill would make things easier........thanks again for sharing.

 

[Recovry4x4]

4A032 engines have electric start capabilities. Starters may be drying up but there is a Mazda retrofit that works.

 

[Guyfang]

The mod to put a starter on, we're very welcome indeed! And it works fine, as long as you have a slave cable and something to hook it to.

Often, we just took the spart plugs out, and pulled it over, unit fuel came out of the fuel line at the carb. Then put it back together to start it. Some sets just seemed to be pigs. Nothing for it, other then pull them over for what seemed like hours. Others, first, second pull. The solid state ignition made things LOTS better.

The engine itself is very robust. I had one gen set that was a pig. Hard to start, was always a jinx machine. It seemed to eat fuel pumps. The plugs needed to be changed all the time. The points never seemed to stay adjusted. It was a PITA. My boss told me, " Boy, make it go away". So we drained the oil, stared it up, and walked away. An hour later, it was still running. I just shut it off, filled it back up with oil and put it in a corner. It remained the bane of my life. In the end, we kept it for chairing batteries.

 

[Gunwriter]

the mod to put a starter on, we're very welcome indeed! And it works fine, as long as you have a slave cable and something to hook it to.

Often, we just took the spart plugs out, and pulled it over, unit fuel came out of the fuel line at the carb. Then put it back together to start it. Some sets just seemed to be pigs. Nothing for it, other then pull them over for what seemed like hours. Others, first, second pull. The solid state ignition made things lots better.

The engine itself is very robust. I had one gen set that was a pig. Hard to start, was always a jinx machine. It seemed to eat fuel pumps. The plugs needed to be changed all the time. The points never seemed to stay adjusted. It was a pita. My boss told me, " boy, make it go away". So we drained the oil, stared it up, and walked away. An hour later, it was still running. I just shut it off, filled it back up with oil and put it in a corner. It remained the bane of my life. In the end, we kept it for chairing batteries.

that is a great story!

 

[Gunwriter]

OK, Here is the tale of woe..........

It does not fit.

The bolt does not fit the crank, too big.
The unit will not fit onto the flywheel.

Its close but no cigar.

So what to do........it's close enough that might be able to
make it work. Now we have us a project! Will take a bit
but I'll post more info as the project progresses.....we have a plan!

 

[Gunwriter]

Here is how the box it arrived in was marked.
Maybe someone can figure out what it was actually intended for.

 

[Recovry4x4]

The mod to put a starter on, we're very welcome indeed! And it works fine, as long as you have a slave cable and something to hook it to.

Often, we just took the spart plugs out, and pulled it over, unit fuel came out of the fuel line at the carb. Then put it back together to start it. Some sets just seemed to be pigs. Nothing for it, other then pull them over for what seemed like hours. Others, first, second pull. The solid state ignition made things LOTS better.

The engine itself is very robust. I had one gen set that was a pig. Hard to start, was always a jinx machine. It seemed to eat fuel pumps. The plugs needed to be changed all the time. The points never seemed to stay adjusted. It was a PITA. My boss told me, " Boy, make it go away". So we drained the oil, stared it up, and walked away. An hour later, it was still running. I just shut it off, filled it back up with oil and put it in a corner. It remained the bane of my life. In the end, we kept it for chairing batteries.

This is so very true with all the military standard engines. I had a 28V unit that would start via the rope onthe second tug every time. It was so bloody dependable, I changed out the entire generating side to a 110/220 unit. That was 10 years ago. It's assigned to shower house duties running a 3 phase surplus shower unit in FL. The retrofit was crom a Mazda 626 IIRC. Would start off a jump box. Back to the shower unit, it had 2 AGM batts assigned but they croaked a couple of years ago. Still starts off the rope.

 

[Guyfang]

Here is how the box it arrived in was marked.
Maybe someone can figure out what it was actually intended for.

View attachment 696581

I show "Support Equipment":

Aircraft, F-4
Aircraft, C-130
Aircraft, E-3A
Aircraft, A-10
Aircraft, C-5
Aircraft, T-37
Aircraft, T-38
Aircraft, B-2

So its a Zoooomy part. Real men use a pull rope!

Probably for the ice cream maker, or blow dryer.

 

[Gunwriter]

probably for the ice cream maker, or blow dryer.

lol!!!

 

[Jericho]

Waiting with baited breath for the recoil result, Would beat hand coiling the rope that is always (or Was ) sunsoaked and had a piece of a tree limb in a knotted end for a handle, ALWAYS (seemingly) broke on the third pull. All good memories lol

 

[Gunwriter]

Has anyone here played with the 4.2KW DC gen sets powered by the 4A032 engine? You could plug a slave cable into it and use the DC head as a starting motor
for the engine. I have one of those in the pile I need to play with......you guys are going to inspire me to get a bunch of old projects done!

 

[Guyfang]

Yes, the Four Duce is a machine one can learn to love. But it takes time. And beer.