I had a 2 cylinder Lister (ST2) direct-coupled to an 8.5 kVA generator on my farm (engine gave 12 hp at 1500 RPM). I bought it more or less as scrap, and spent time making a set of manifolds, crank-handle, time-delay for the decompressor, etc, and de-rusting the cylinder sleeves so it could rotate. It was a lovely engine in some ways - it handled running my 220 amp stick-welder at maximum current completely comfortably, not sagging noticeably when I struck the arc - but the engine was way too hard to start in cool or cold weather, and far too noisy (air-cooled direct injection diesel). On the other hand as long as you didn't run it for long periods without load, it would last forever with total reliability. It was really interesting to see it running at full load, then stop in about one revolution when I accidentally shorted the generator output. Most have been considerable current through the carbon brushes for a while there.
Not having a use for a generator afterwards, I just left it installed when I sold the farm. I hope the new owner appreciated it, but he probably didn't.
If your engine was 1980s, I'm guessing it would be an ST1. It was replaced by the TS1, but I don't recall exactly when that happened. The STs were 625 cc per cylinder.
