Steam Car Blog

Joe Fedullo has now produced a batch of new style Jets for Stanley type vapourising burners, which he describes below:

I have been playing with Jet designs and think I came up with something that might be better than what is currently available commercially.  Take a look and let me know what you think.  

Changes to the exit tip:  

     On the outside, the simple 3/8" hex is replaced with a smaller 5/16" hex that has a smooth taper down to the nozzle exit.  The idea of the transition is to smooth flow of the entrained.  Herb de la Porte has observed eddy currents around standard jets at the nozzle and this seems like a way to help rectify that.  He also has a set of old jets he found somewhere that have a similar design.  He lent me one I used to copy the head.


     On the inside, I added a 5 degree taper at the exit of the inner hole to create a diverging nozzle.  Since the flow is sonic and therefore choked, the diverging nozzle should allow further acceleration of the fuel flow and hopefully more air entrainment.  I used about a 2:1 area ratio for the diverging nozzle assuming a #56 jet.  With smaller jets, it will be a expanded a little more.  I then added a 1/8" radius right at the exit after the taper to help the "pricker" find the hole, but hopefully these don't need to be pricked very often due to the changes in the backside of the jet 

Backside:

   Even though I use the multi port jets from Vintage Steam, I have noticed when the rearward centre hole clogs, the flow goes way down even though there are 12 other holes for it to go through.  A simple prick usually opens things right back up and I have never seen the radial holes clog when I remove the jets.  I took some measurements and the diameter of the holy section of the current multiport jets is 0.196" and the drill for a 1/4-28 hole is 0.213 so there is only 0.0085" radial clearance for fuel flow.  That gives about 0.0055 sq inch of area which is almost 4 times my # 57 jet area, (# 57 = 0.0015 sq inch) but empirically it doesn't flow when the back hole gets plugged.  Maybe there is a boundary layer issue with such small clearances, or maybe carbon dust plugs up the circumference.

     To help, I made several changes to the backside of the jet.  First I reduced the minor diameter to 0.175".  This should allow much more flow to get to the radial holes perpendicular to the main flow axis.  The other big change was the addition of 6 holes on the tapered surface around the main rear hole.  These holes are perpendicular to the chamfer pass through the axial hole and also open to the cylindrical surface.  I would think these holes eliminate the need for the radial holes, but I started thinking they all converge at a single point which was a potential area for a blockage so I added a dozen radial holes as well.   The back of this jet is now Swiss cheese...

It looks like a pretty tricky part to make, but my first preliminary quote came back at $10.06 each in a quantity of 100.  Before I get deeper into the quoting process, I wanted to get feedback / see if you guys have any design change ideas.  Also if anyone is interested in splitting up the order I can keep you posted as I work through the quote process.  

I've made a couple of changes based on some great feedback, which I really appreciate. I will wait a couple more days for further feedback then send them out for production:

1) I've increased the length of the bullet shaped outer tip per feedback from Howard.

2) Changed the spacing of the holes perpendicular to the chamber at the fuel inlet, such that they all do not intersect at the same point giving a potential clog point.  They are now in 2 arrays of 3 giving 2 intersection points.

3) All holes are now #66 which was the smallest size anyone I know uses.  They can easily be drilled out to any larger size needed.

​This weekend's progress. Because it's my first attempt, I didn't get everflex/bison vinyl and opted for a UV treated vinyl on sale instead. It is much softer and super stretchy in comparison. And I recommend just getting the good stuff cause I have to compensate on a few things. I used a multipurpose adhesive spray to attach the lining material- I can now forget about securing the layers for the rest of the project. On the parts that were used as bracing or interfacing, I will be adding a layer of a heavy interfacing to combat the vinyl stretch. The back's 3 panels are complete minus hardware.

Burt Hermey writes:

Yesterday the Stanley's engine/rear axle assembly came home from the brake shop. It's now sporting two new disc brakes in place of the old band brakes.
Today begins the process of reinstalling it. Lots of little things to remember along the way!
Once in the car the engine will get a bath of Gunk, then the crankcase cover will be installed (with new gasket, of course!)

​Steam Car Enthusiasts,
I wanted to reach out and announce the 2021 Midwest Steam Car Tour.  We are shifting the tour days slightly from past tours.  We will be touring starting on Saturday September 11th and the final tour day is Thursday September 16th 2021.  The tour is based out of Cedar Rapids, IA and the host hotel is The Hotel at Kirkwood.  You can book your stay at the hotel by calling 319-848-8700 or toll free at 877-751-5111 and ask for the Midwest Steam Car Tour block.  The hotel only has a little over 70 rooms but has a very large parking lot for trailers.  We hope you will join us for a nice roads tour.  More details to follow.  We are excited to see everyone out touring again. 


If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me by email or phone below.


Thank you,


Mark Culver
319-981-2799
[email protected]

The 2021 Eastern Steam Car tour is underway, with the first two days having taken place. Photos courtesy of Billings Cooke, Sarah Moon, Herb de la Porte, Steve Bragg, and Mark Turner.

​Well after an eventful start to the weekend with the Range Rover developing a boost leak and the trailer getting a flat tyre, I finally got to George Hounslow's house for some work on the Nelson!
Ever since I have owned the car, it hasn't steamed well. It has been very lazy raising steam and once running it was very unreliable at re-lighting often causing blowbacks and fires the wrong side of the burner plate.
George and Peter worked all weekend to clear the fuel system and generally check over the whole car. I am chuffed to say it is now running incredibly well and looks like it generates steam very well. Next job is to get a steam test and I can take it for some proper test drives on the road.
I had previously cleaned out the fuel tank (Thinking this was the cause of the issue) but had overlooked the fuel pressure vessel! Turns out this was full of rusty, sludgy gunk! It was this gunk that kept blocking the entire system.
I cannot thank George and his family enough (Peter Hounslow & Sarah Hounslow) for making me feel so welcome and being so generous with their help, guidance, time & delicious food haha. I have learnt so much this weekend and look forward to many more weekends like it. This is what being part of the Steam Community is all about.

Check out this video of Bill Lloyd talking through and firing up his 1924 Doble E11 Steam Car.

Thank you to Ian Larcher for providing us with these fascinating pieces of Literature on White, Locomobile, American, Crossland and Vapomobile Steam Cars. 

Billy Barnes has almost finished this 1910 Stanley Model 60, just awaiting paint. 

Jim Trotta writes:
My new water pre-heater which uses exhaust steam thru heat exchange. The water side has water from the water pumps to boiler. This is so you can use heat from the exhaust steam to heat the incoming water. This helps greatly as your not putting cold water into the boiler.

Photos and Videos courtesy of Jan Kuhlmann.

The Hood Steam Car, produced in Massachusetts by the Simplex Motor Vehicle Company between 1900 and 1901. It featured a single-acting, four cylinder engine with a magnetic admission valve, with the exhaust ports being opened by the pistons. The intake valves were operated by three small electric batteries, and superheated steam was produced in a flash boiler. 

Little more is known of this make of Steam Car, if you have any further information please contact us. Anthony Theriault is looking for more information on the marque, and provided the photos of a survivor below. 

Here are some photos of the cars Bill Barnes has recently been working on.  A Stanley 740 tourer, 731 Roadster, SV Sedan, 1914 Stanley 606, and a 1923 Stanley 740 Roadster. 

Steam Dreams writes:
​
I’m rebuilding a 20 HP Stanley engine. The block was apparently operated with too
little steam oil and the valve seats were damaged as well as a bronze repair was attempted with poor results.
This repair of the worn valve seats uses a machined steel plate and high temperature silver solder - very pleased with the results. Gilbert Hall and Rempco did the work. My crank gear also had a broken tooth, I had a NOS gear that was pressed on.

Mark Herman writes:

Amelia Island 2020, 1st in class, 1902 Grout Brothers Steam Car Model K Prototype. Bill and Barbara Parfet, Hickory Corners, Michigan.

Congratulations to the Parfets, Mark Iles, and the M S Herman & Co crew:
Peter Kruger
Fran Gozzi
Al Romano
Scot Sanford
Tom Kokenchak
The best team ever.

Billings Cooke continues to work on his Grout Steam Car Tilly:
"From what we can gather from photos of other Grouts, Tilly originally had 1 brake on the differential hub. Dad put a cable pulley system on Tilly when he added the second shoe. It's a tight fit, because the brake linkage has to pass through the engine. Took me a bit, but we're upgraded to rods."

Tom Attwood writes:
This weekend just past, saw the first steaming of the year for my Stanley 726 that I was lucky enough to acquire just a few months ago. Greatly encouraged in the purchase by George Hounslow having spent the New Forest Tour navigating for him on his Porter Steam Car. I am incredibly grateful to George and his parents for then leading the recommission of the car, sorting out a number of jobs associated with wear and tear, as well as preparation and arranging a hydraulic and steam boiler test. A number of safety improvements/replacement parts, not to mention extremely good tuition in maintenance, management and driving! After many weekends work from myself but 10x more from George, we had a very successful 3 days cruising around Wiltshire in some pretty challenging terrain at times. The Stanley performed faultlessly and I really couldn't be happier with it! Here's to a busy 2020!
Unfortunately the weather has been rotten and the roads are filthy so the car got quite dirty, the photo below was taken Sunday morning. However, Sunday afternoon was spent in the garage cleaning for a few hours!

GMA engineering have produced these replacement burners for White Steam Cars built from 1906 onwards.

Billings Cooke has now fitted the Don Bourdon Burner to his Grout Steam Car, replacing the original burner, seen in the photos. 

Roel Rasker writes:
Today we ( Arnoud Carp and Roel Rasker ) assisted Philippe Mulders to get started with his model 60 Stanley in the city centre of Maastricht.
Philippe is new in steam but after a few hours he was able to start the car without any problems himself.
This now means there is a beautiful, unspoiled, original Stanley in the Fineautomobiles Collection in The Netherlands.

Hi, does anyone know anyone who designs and builds modern computer controlled steam engines for retrofitting into a standard modern car? Something which even someone with no technical knowledge could drive. 
Thank you.
Stephen Taylor

If you can help Stephen please email him [email protected].