mep-003a teardown and refurb

[johnray13]

I think I am going to have to go in on these too. The only negative side to this is now I am going to have to paint it. And to be perfectly honest with you, after seeing the progress of this thread, I can't wait to get started.

Btw, when you get all done, you should post some before and after shots from all sides. This has been a very impressive project.

John

 

[Jimc]

i certainly will john. i really enjoyed doing the project. i love restoring old stuff. even though this gen is only from 86 and isnt that old, it still comes off as being old. i picked a color od green that is more similar to the real old color the army used to use way back to give the impression its older than it really is. i am finding myself kinda bored now. i am on the hunt for one or two more now. my dad is ex army and a diesel nut so he wants one real bad. think i may try to find one for myself just to redo and maybe sell.

 

[johnray13]

I know exactly what you mean. These MEP's have quickly become all consuming to me. It's like crack. I can't stop tinkering with it and searching for another one at the next auction. My wife is stating to get a little annoyed too.

I went through this a few years ago with 4k, 6.5k and 7k gas rv gensets. I got 3 non working sets running nicely that had been destined for the dump (The best part was that I got them for free) But they were no where near as much fun as my MEP. These things have a hard to explain coolness about them.

That's the best part about this forum. To know that your not alone in your obsession.

What did people with this kind of OCD do before the internet?

 

[edgephoto]

I know exactly what you mean. These MEP's have quickly become all consuming to me. It's like crack. I can't stop tinkering with it and searching for another one at the next auction. My wife is stating to get a little annoyed too.

I went through this a few years ago with 4k, 6.5k and 7k gas rv gensets. I got 3 non working sets running nicely that had been destined for the dump (The best part was that I got them for free) But they were no where near as much fun as my MEP. These things have a hard to explain coolness about them.

That's the best part about this forum. To know that your not alone in your obsession.

What did people with this kind of OCD do before the internet?

I am always one who gets a hobby and becomes obsessed. I read everything, buy all the tools/equipment an have box after box delivered. Drives my wife nuts. But when I am done with a hobby I sell everything to fund the next obsession.

Bafore the internet I subscribed to tons of magazines and belonged to a few clubs. I would go to meetings regularly to talk with other nuts like me. Now we can "chat" on these forums.

 

[Jimc]

ok guys i got the data plate logos all back and installed a set on my gen for you to see and here are the final pics of my machine. my hardy diesel hz meter showed up today. i ran over to radio shack and got a small electronics enclosure and mounted it to the back of the power box, under the control cabinet. easy to see and read, out of the weather and out of sight so it doesnt detract from the original look of the military machine.

 

[Jimc]

for the data plate and control panel kit. here is a pic for those interested. i had them laminated using a matte/anti glare overlaminate so they are not really super glossy. just a slight sheen. i will continue this post over in the classifieds

 

[Grega]

Good idea on locating the hardy hertz meter in an out of the way location. I will have to do that along with the wire harness covers.

 

[Jimc]

Yeah those gauges arent weather resistant at all even in a box. The face isnt sealed so they need to be out of the elements. Plus it made it easy to run the wires. Dill a small hole through the plastic box and through the power box

 

[Uloadit]

where did you get the trailer? nice I like to do the same thing wit that trailer! verry nice job!!!!

 

[Jimc]

The trailer is from northern. Its a little overloaded but does hold the weight ok. I think it was $260 delivered to my door. I think the trailer is rated for 1100lbs but its just for me to move it around my property. I would not haul it any distance or go more than a few miles at slow speed with it.

 

[Grega]

I just received my trailer for my mep 002a from harbor frieght. I paid around $150 for it. Its probably from the same manufacturer as it looks identical as Jimc. But its the next size smaller as its rated for around 900 lbs and has 8in. tires. The dry weight on the 002's name plate says 960 lbs so its maxed out also. Might mount it directly to the frame without the plywood. Like Jimc, I will use to move around the shop and propety. Havnt put it all together yet so will see how it works. But it has to be better than the car dollys im using now

 

[Jimc]

Yeah by the time you put fuel and batteries youll be nicely overweight like me. I put 2 layers of 3/4" ply down and glued it together to make it more ridgid. With out the deck its a bit floppy. I think it needs the deck for the strength. With the ply on it and yhe gen all bolted to it i found the deck to be nice and strong. The springs are fine too. What is a little weak is the tongue and the axel has a slight bow to it but not too bad. The fenders need to be moved up. I am going to unbolt them and weld them where they need to be. Only about 3/8" clearance between tire and fender. Set your gen up on the trailer so there is only maybe 75 lbs tongue weight.

 

[Grega]

Anything to make the trailer more ridgid would help. Will see about some plywood or maybe some steel or aluminum, as my brother rebuilds rail cars and maybe he could round something up out of the scrap pile. By the way, what is the # for the fuel filter adapters. Are they from fleet filter?

 

[Jimc]

Yeah i ordered all my stuff from fleet filter. You can get the filter adapters right from napa but fleet has a far better price. The wix # is 24770 and napa is 4770.

 

[Jimc]

just a couple quick additions... rather than coiling the power cord up and laying it across the gen i welded up a cord hook and bolted it down to the deck of the trailer. was a quick 30 min job and i wont have to fumble with that piece of 6/4. also concerning the trailer, i unbolted the fenders that were just about rubbing the tires, i raised and just welded them into place.


also i found that just sitting still and running that the batteries vibrate and move all around in the battery tray. i had some 3/4"corian scraps lying around. its nice and heavy plastic, kinda like stone. i made some blocks to drop in on each side of the battery tray to keep each battery centered in place. i bevel cut the one edge so the tabs on the sides of the battery fit underneath. now if i want to i can just get some 12" black rubber bungee cords and strap the batteries in place using the holes in the tray from the original j-hooks.

 

[LMT19]

I have read all of those. Great job! I wish I can have one from you after you make another to your Dad.
Larry

 

[storeman]

Jim,
What a show machine! And to think it works also.
Jerry

 

[Jimc]

thanks jerry and ltm. i had a good time doing the project. a bunch of 003's ended at auction today. a few near me too but they just got up there in price a little too much so i didnt win any of the auctions. sure would like to do another sometime soon. just gotta get my hands on one.

 

[Jimc]

so it was a nice day today. figured i would open up the doors on the shop, hook up the gen and give it a few more hrs use and do some testing. as usual she fired right up and ran fantastic, no problem. ran it a couple hrs at about 35% load which is just the lights in my shop. i did some small tweaks to the governor adjustments as per the manual since i only originally did the preliminary setup. toward the end of the day i figured i would do some more tests on starting up my compressor which is an industrial, true 7.5 hp. starting, that motor is supposed to need around 56 amps or so then 38 running i believe. the gen did a fine job with it but i can tell its at its limit. the compressor takes about 3 sec or so it kick in and get up to a running speed but it does it and that with one set of shop lights on (6amps). as the pressure builds the draw becomes more and more. when it gets up close to when its time to shut off the gen is at 110% according to the gauge. just for the heck of it i turned another set of lights on and managed 120 for a few seconds before the comp turned off. the gen was pumpin some black smoke out the exhaust on that one. now for the interesting part, i decided to try it out on my spray booth fan which is a 34" tubiaxial fan with a 3hp motor. can you believe the gen would not start that. i tried about 10 times. the motor would whine and vibrate making all kinds of noise but would not fully kick on and run smooth. i turned everything in the shop that is drawing power off and tried again. it just made it and started going. while running it only used about 20% of the load according to the gauge. the startup on it is crazy though and obviously difficult for some reason. if i turned one set of lights on it wouldnt get that thing goin. weird it would fire up a 7.5hp under a load and not a 3hp. i guess its just in the motor design and what its powering rather than the gen. with all that said though this thing runs fantastic and starts super easy everytime even in cold. i was actually suprised. i thought these generators would be a little harder starting being an old school diesel but this starts about as easy as my kubota that is only 8mos old.

 

[gimpyrobb]

If your worried about that paint booth fan, there is some kind of start capacitor you could put on there to ease the in-flux of current.