Posted by David Sherman on Friday, February 11, 2005 at 1:16PM :
I was just given an old Lincoln welder, and I'd like to say I'll get it running, but there are plenty of other projects higher up on the list. Nevertheless, it appears to be intact and might be restorable so I thought I'd ask you guys what you'd do if it was yours -- fix it, part it out, put a different motor in it, or decorate the yard with it.
It's on a trailer and tows okay on the highway. It has a 6-cyl continental flathead motor with an updraft carb and a Fairbanks magneto. The generator nameplate says 300 amps, which is certainly beefy enough, and wants to turn at 1400 RPM. The welding controls turn smoothly and none of the electrics looks burned up or cannibalized. There are no electrical gages on it. The air cleaner is missing. The exhaust and muffler are not rusted out, which tells me it was run fairly recently and water had not gone down in the cylinders.
The big problem is the freeze plugs are all rusted completely out, and there is a welded crack in the block about a foot long just above the freeze plug holes. The lower radiator hose is missing, but obviously it was removed too late to keep the block from freezing. The dipstick shows clean oil up to the full mark.
The guy who had it wanted it out of his yard, and I couldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, so I gladly took it. It probably wouldn't be too hard to replace the freeze plugs, put some water in it and see if it will run and make electricity, but beyond that, how much work is it worth putting into it? What are the odds that an engine that froze is still okay inside? Even if I get it running, will it suck so much gas I'd be better off using my Onan diesel generator and an AC-powered welder? Is there a modern engine that can easily be swapped in? Anybody want to trade a PW school bus for an antique Lincoln welder with a cracked block?
Thanks for any ideas!
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