Jim Clark Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 (edited) I just bought a very nice WW2 Onan PE-95-C generator, its been stood in a barn in France for about 25 years and was rebuilt by the French army in 1952. Fortunatlly the original US data plates and name plates are still on which is nice as they are normally changed for French ones. It has a Ford GP engine not the normal GPW engine which is also rare, The engine turns over ok with good compression so no stuck valves. It was still sealed with all openings taped up and silica gell plugs screwed in the plug holes, I found the spark plugs wrapped in grease paper in the spares box with other parts along with the check sheet dated 1959 the last time it was checked for long term storage. Its almost a shame to unseal it and run it up as its so nice as it is. Here are a few pics taken to day when it arrived back at our workshop, enjoy. Jim. Edited May 9, 2009 by Jim Clark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Degsy Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 Good find Jim, you lucky b----r:-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Clark Posted May 9, 2009 Author Share Posted May 9, 2009 Thanks Degsy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 Like how do does one 'find' one of those in France??!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Clark Posted May 10, 2009 Author Share Posted May 10, 2009 Doh, its in the title Jack "barn find" means it was found in a barn. So you look in barns,not new used ones but the old unkept, tumble down type , easy innit. Jim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Barrell Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 The Jeep engined generators are the PE-95-G which is quite a bit different to yours Jim. Nice find! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joris Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 Wow what a great find! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 Are you going to fire it up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 Doh, its in the title Jack "barn find" means it was found in a barn. So you look in barns,not new used ones but the old unkept, tumble down type , easy innit.Jim. Right - I am gonna to for some barns next month whilst in Normandy. If I don't find one then I will be asking for my money back and I will come looking for you!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Clark Posted May 10, 2009 Author Share Posted May 10, 2009 The Jeep engined generators are the PE-95-G which is quite a bit different to yours Jim. Nice find! Hi Adrian, I think you are right there. I dont know much about these gennys but from what I have found out the PE-95- A,B and C were all Ford ONY engine (basically Ford GP engine) driven and had updraught carbs, magneto ignition systems and produced 110 volts.The later Pe-95-F,G,H to K had GPW/MB engines with the normal battery/ coil/distributor ignition system and down draught carbs with an output of 240 volts If anyone knows any more please let me know. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Clark Posted May 10, 2009 Author Share Posted May 10, 2009 Are you going to fire it up? Tony, I think I will, I like to see things being used not just sat there like museum pieces. Jim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swill1952xs Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 Tony, I think I will, I like to see things being used not just sat there like museum pieces.Jim. Er .................... can ya video it please.......... bought some speakers for me old 'puter today, and I can hear things at last. Been watching and listening to Scammell videos most of the afternoon. :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clifford Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 jim , i broke up one of those for the engine, it was the same as yours and in a state of long term storage..all parts sealed up...loverly engine.........Cliff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.O.S. Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 That's a coincidence - I recently acquired a PE-143-E Power Unit just for the Continental engine! It is very slightly smaller than this GP one. The rest is in fair order so I'm hoping to slot in a spare 3cyl Yanmar diesel to make a nice ecomical dc welder. I'm having a problem finding a manual for this particular model despite having found several web resources listing manuals for a whole multitude of other WW2 power units. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HWade Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Hi N.O.S I have a manual for one of these, my genny shares the same cabinet as Jims but mine is powered by a Y91 Continental Engine,The generator part is Onan. my genny to was a barn find, dont think it had been run, it had stood so long that I had to fit new valves and valve guides as the originals had dried in solid. It now runs really well and is not very noisy when running. Howard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shane.c Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Nice find,:-D:-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Cubed Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Really nice bit of preserved history you have there, like you say its almost a shame to run it up, good to see some pics of it as it was found. Surely there cant be many more "barn finds" left out there..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N.O.S. Posted March 19, 2012 Share Posted March 19, 2012 Hi N.O.S I have a manual for one of these, my genny shares the same cabinet as Jims but mine is powered by a Y91 Continental Engine,The generator part is Onan.... Howard. If the manual is for a PE-143-E then I'd really like to borrow it to copy, H! I assume yours can be used as a welder set too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robin craig Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Howdy NOS, I think you should change your forum name to Jammy Git, more suitable after finding that! What a find, you must be darn chuffed with that! Looking at it a few thoughts come to mind from a practical point of view. I see there is no hoisting point or structure to support one on the top, only four corner holes. It was made before the days of pallet forks. How will you display this? Will you trailer mount it? Was there a "kit" to do that? What was the proper trailer? In some ways it looks as if it was designed with a skid base because of the upturns at each end. R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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