An Unusual Lister D

At the recent Scottish Lister D celebration rally which took place on 16th October, a Lister D with a difference made its rally debut. Gordon Muir of Aberdeen brought along his gleaming D type serial 1/19955 Spec 28DH. The engine drew a great deal of attention with Gordon’s usual high standard of restoration and the imposing spoked flywheel; however on closer inspection all was not as it seemed.

- David McCreath

This D type was in fact a dual-fuel hit and miss D type which was running on butane gas at the rally. Watching the engine run for a few minutes it was clear the engine was running on the hit and miss principle with a clever arrangement based on the original governor operating an exhaust valve latch mechanism mounted on the cylinder head. The arm which could be seen operating the latch mechanism looks like something that the Lister factory could have produced, but Gordon advises it was in fact retrieved from his scrap bin.

The flywheel, which at first glance looks like a Bruston type flywheel, is in fact a Lister A flywheel which has been fitted to improve the hit and miss running due to the greater momentum provided.