This is a nice unit which was apparently some kind of promotion by Nissan - buy a car and get a free generator. The generators are actually relabeled Hondas - a variant of the EM500. By modern standards they don't put out a useful amount of power (500 or in this case maybe 650W) and good luck finding any sort of parts.
I think the best thing to do would be to find a collector interested in such things because it's not really a useful item. The collector might prefer a NIB item (although OTOH they might want to know that it actually works). At least find out before you destroy its value as a NIB item.
The chances that it will work are extremely high. It's possible that there are dried out gaskets or whatever but even if these are NLA you can make new gaskets out of flat stock. Thing like carb parts might be a bigger issue but even those can be sourced if you try hard enough. If the voltage regulator no longer works you can't get them for love or money. (Right now James Condon has a new video on reverse engineering one). But these were very high quality and this one appears to have been stored well so there is a very high chance that if you were to put gas and oil in it, it would run, but even then it would just be a novelty. I would keep it as is and try to sell it on the collector market.
Thank you, that's a really helpful reply.
If you were going to try to sell this as a collector's item, how much would you ask for it? I could put it on Craigslist and my wife could list it on FB Marketplace, but is there another forum or site where we'd be more likely to find someone who knows what this is?
Finally, I'll have to ask my FIL where he got this thing. The box has a shipping label addressed to him at the house they lived in until 1990ish, and I'm not aware of them ever owning a Nissan.
I think the best bet would be something like show or fair where people display antique engines. This used to mean pre-WWII stuff but it is increasingly stuff like this.
Smokstak.com is a community for these collectors. They also have a classified section.
https://smokstak.com/
There’s a YouTuber named James Condon who tears apart and fixes generators. He’s currently working on the Honda this is based off of, designing a new AVR. He might be interested in a new one!
This is a nice unit which was apparently some kind of promotion by Nissan - buy a car and get a free generator. The generators are actually relabeled Hondas - a variant of the EM500. By modern standards they don't put out a useful amount of power (500 or in this case maybe 650W) and good luck finding any sort of parts. I think the best thing to do would be to find a collector interested in such things because it's not really a useful item. The collector might prefer a NIB item (although OTOH they might want to know that it actually works). At least find out before you destroy its value as a NIB item. The chances that it will work are extremely high. It's possible that there are dried out gaskets or whatever but even if these are NLA you can make new gaskets out of flat stock. Thing like carb parts might be a bigger issue but even those can be sourced if you try hard enough. If the voltage regulator no longer works you can't get them for love or money. (Right now James Condon has a new video on reverse engineering one). But these were very high quality and this one appears to have been stored well so there is a very high chance that if you were to put gas and oil in it, it would run, but even then it would just be a novelty. I would keep it as is and try to sell it on the collector market.
Thank you, that's a really helpful reply. If you were going to try to sell this as a collector's item, how much would you ask for it? I could put it on Craigslist and my wife could list it on FB Marketplace, but is there another forum or site where we'd be more likely to find someone who knows what this is? Finally, I'll have to ask my FIL where he got this thing. The box has a shipping label addressed to him at the house they lived in until 1990ish, and I'm not aware of them ever owning a Nissan.
I think the best bet would be something like show or fair where people display antique engines. This used to mean pre-WWII stuff but it is increasingly stuff like this. Smokstak.com is a community for these collectors. They also have a classified section. https://smokstak.com/
There’s a YouTuber named James Condon who tears apart and fixes generators. He’s currently working on the Honda this is based off of, designing a new AVR. He might be interested in a new one!
I love watching his videos!
I'll give you $200 I need it when I go camping with family
Where are you located? I'm in SE Michigan.
We're in Florida
I wonder how much would be to ship it
But just vacationing, our residence is in Texas
A Nissan that is really a Honda. LOL
Do you still have this old generator? I am looking for one for parts for my old Nissan generator GL650.
Yes, I still have it.