1975 Honda E2500 Generator

1975 Honda E2500 K3 AVR 

I picked up this particularly neat 1975 Honda E2500 generator a few months back and have been meaning to immortallise it online for a while now. This is a belt driven generator which is very unconventional by today's standards and I don't believe there is anything like it on the market today. This unit must have spent the majority of its life packed away safe from harm to be in such great condition 47 odd years later. Fitted with an AVR it was quite advanced for its time. Lots of chrome with the Honda red and off white colour scheme really add to the charm of this old machine. 

It wasnt in running order when I first recieved it, however there was spark and very good compression so off came the carb and into the ultrasonic cleaner it went. With the carburettor cleaned and looking almost new I fueled her up and petrol came pouring out of the mouth of the carb.Somebody had fiddled with the float level and set it way too high. This may explain why it seems to have been left alone and in such good condition all these years. Maybe they just gave up on using it ?  

With the carb cleaned ,float adjusted and new engine oil filled, she fired up into life for what may have well been the first time in a few decades. Running at last, I decided to place her under load with my wifes 2100w hairdryer and test the power output. She bogged down initially and then recovered. This issue didnt persist for very long and I can only attribute this to some dirt still being stick somewhere in the carb.  I did make a video of her running smoothly and have posted it to YouTube here : 

https://youtu.be/acKbY426qPc

The only other cosmetic issue that was really bugging me and stopping this genny from being in great condition was someone at some point, had used the machine as a step to reach whatever it is they wanted to get to and had dented the fuel tank inwards in the process. With no way to really fix this and not being keen to re-spray the outlook was pretty bleak. I was very lucky to be browsing ebay one evening and a seller had listed a NOS E2500 fuel tank for sale. I managed to bargain them down by a fair amount and it eventually found its way to its new home. Once recieved, I transfered the aluminium front decal over to the new tank by getting underneath it with a dual edge razor blade and peeling it off. Luckily the adhesive came off with it and it was just a case of sticking it onto the new tank. As luck would have it the tank was actually intended for a later model of E2500 and as such the fuel outlet position had moved to the front. I didn't notice this when when purchasing. Luckily this didn't turn out to be a major issue as even though it is now on the front of the machine and quite close to the silencer, it does not get hot even with extended running. You just have to be careful when turning off the fuel tap if the silencer is still hot. A new fuel petcock , fuel cap,  gasket and strainer completed the "upgrade" and really finished off a beautiful example of Japanese engineering excellence. Made back in a time when machines were built to last ! 

As recieved. Note the buckled fuel tank. 

Fuel tap now sits between the muffler and the engine. Thankfully there is enough clearance around it so it doesnt get hot while the generator is in use. 

New tank fitted and looking good ! 

Going forward there are a few low priority maintenance tasks that I will get around to as time and money permit : 

• New coil as I suspect the current one is starting to break down due to age.
• Have the base plates re-plated in clear zinc as they are starting to rust.
• Find a NOS rear muffler heat shield as the original one has corrosion on it.   
• Replace the spark plug. 
• Replace the air filter. The original one had started to break down so it was removed before starting the engine.