Odd ball Lauson

[Scott Wenrich]

Hi Guys.Here's another odd lauson that i have had for a few years.It's a genset used by the US Navy probably to run a radio out in the bush.It's an all aluminum block which i find quite odd.The whole unit only weighs about 35lbs so it's a cinch to move around.I have never seen another one like it.

[Scott Wenrich]

Here's a couple more pics:

[CJBennett]

Does that Lauson have a Briggs carb on it?

[bill chasser]

It nice to see more vintage lausons coming out to play. Im not as knowledgable as Mr Newman and DeShong on most of these but I find yours to be interesting as there is clearly an unmachined spot on a corner of the block to accept what would have been a fuel pump or other accessory. Of the Alloy engines ive seen thus far the acessory flange was centered on the block. Could have benn A TLC thing as they were a larger eng? I would be interested in knowing what model it is and what the military tag reads on the shroud. excellent find and have fun with it.

Since Im writing about a fuel pump does anyone out there have an acessory fuel pump for the TLC MIL spec engs that they wish to part with at a reasonable price? I would sure like to find one before I decide to part out my alloy TLC for the crank rod and piston. Any ony one have and angle plug head for an early TLC?

[Sky]

Someone did a good job on the homemade intake system and a good switcheroo on the carb.

[Scott Wenrich]

Cj and Sky.I hate to burst your bubbles but i have no reason to believe that carb is not original.It's a tilly YA2A,which is the same carb on my lmc-149.There is no link between the gov and the thottle,the arm has a hole in which a stub on the thottle fits into.The intake elbow itself is WAY smaller in diameter than the b&s elbow and the mounting screws are horizontal rather than diagonal like the briggs.I'll try to get a close up pick of it soon.Granted the tank is definitely home brew,probably from a wisconsin engine.

Bill,both me and Craig believe the engine is a lmc.It's very small.There is no model stamped on the id tag,just the serial# 7-57915 but it does state it was made by the lauson corp. It's very possible that this engine was made for the military only and not for the general public which is probably why the model is omitted.If you want,i'll send you a pm with what the tag reads.It's basically the operating insts,oiling,weather proofing and storage inst.There is a tag on the power head itself.I'll try to get a good pic of that too.
It's turning out to be real eye catcher,even though it's not in the best of shape.And it does run although the power head is dead.

Scott

[Craig DeShong]

What I find really fascinating about this engine is that it appears to be a non commercial model, using some LMC parts, that I’m assuming Lauson built exclusively for the military. I suspect that it does not have a model number because Lauson did not assign one. If John Newman Jr.s method for dating Lausons is correct, and I have every reason to believe it to be, it would have a built date of 1947; well after the war was over. This would imply that even after the war, Lauson was biding on government contracts, winning at least some of them, and then designing and building “specialty” engines for the military; engines variations that did not find their way into commercial use. It also supports what we have already seen from other posts and other Lauson military examples; that is that Lauson had considerable experience in building aluminum block engines. Given this, I can not fathom why Lauson did not use their experience of building aluminum block engines and apply this to commercial use in the early and mid 1950’s when the competition was literally “eating their lunch” in this area. I have already speculated that the stagnation of the Lauson design, that remained unchanged for nearly twenty years led to their downfall; but with this example, we see the enginering know-how and innnovation that might well have saved the company if it had been applied to commercial use.

[bill chasser]

Scott thanks for your response. As with what Craig has said it is sorrrowful that Lauson waited so long to develop their alloy technologies into their components and remain competitive in a changing market. As for the scooter industries of the war and prewar eras weight savings by any means would had equalled performance gains in other areas. Maybe Lauson was being more conservative early on to see how the alloy engines performed for their competitors. As Craig, I and others will attest...Lauson produced a well built and easily maintainable powerplant which made it so popualar in many ,many market places. I dare say Lauson of the 30-40's were the Hondas of today. Okay maybe not the best analogy but Lausons were one tough and rugged engine that would start and run flawlessly for hours on end with little maintainance.

The military may well have been the proving grounds for Lausons alloy enterprises. Afterall the military dictates the spec not the supplier. If in fact Lauson wanted to be a player in as large a market as the military, then they had to build what the military wanted. Alloys came in to play to reduce cargo loads for airlifts, and other transportation considerations whether being trucked or walked into their areas of need. For every pound saved it allowed for a pound of ammunition or rations etc.

Though we may never know the whole story or get a true and accurate history of a once strong American Co., as we each find a little bit of its history we are able to fill in some of the blanks with fact and be contemplative in the areas of gray. The biggest shame is that companies don't always or ever secure their archives for history's sake. I am finding the Lauson story to be as unique as finding information on the early years of the Salsbury Corp that started using Evinrudes, then Johnson Ironhorses, then Lausons and eventually their own designs. But it was an old barn find scooter that got me searching for Lausons that have me hooked into two hobbies now.

Someone mentioned the intake and carb setup. Im not familiar with your LMC but for each TLC I've come across thus far each has had its own intake design.

Hopefully you will be able to get the generator working again and be able to use it just for the fun of having something unique to own. Best of luck to you.

Bill

[Sky]

ok...i can see that carb now. I was to quick to talk. intake manifold sure looks homemade though but it aswell could be "original"

[John Newman, Jr.]

I would agree that this looks like a military version of the LMC or LMH.
LMC should have a 1-5/8" bore and the LMH is 1-3/4".
The carb is a lot like a Briggs small Flo-Jet, but the air intake is straight down on the bottom - Not the side entry that Flo-Jets have. Apparently a pretty universal little up-draft float carb for everybody that wasn't Briggs & Stratton. I've seen them on Cunningham, Lauson twin outboard & others. There are several configurations regarding fuel inlet, throttle & needle valve orientation.
I don't know if the dating theory holds on all Lauson models.

[Scott Wenrich]

Got some more pics;

[Scott Wenrich]

Thanks for the feed back,John,Craig and Bill.I am sort of new to collecting lausons and i find the info you are providing VERY interesting and it's fueling me for more.
Bill,i hope you can make out the tag,i took the best possible pic of it.

Scott

[CJBennett]

From that first post I thought it looked like a backwards Briggs carb. Now I see it's a lot different. That's a fast running motor at 4200 RPM's. Good find !

[bill chasser]

Scott

Thanks for the pics. interesting tags that I have not seen before. Looks like it will be a fun one to get functioning. Keep us up to date. I think we all learn something new each time there is new interest on this site.

[Craig DeShong]

and of course, wouldn't you know. In concert with this thread, one of these appears on eBay. item 320233774347

[Scott Wenrich]

Great!Guess mine is not one of kind no more!LOL! At least i can see what the tank is supposed to look like.I was wondering how it was set up originally.