Billings Cooke
Now that the Busy steam car season is coming to a close, at least up here in chilly Vermont,serious work will Once Again Begin on Tilly, our 03 grout. Before my dad had passed away we had started fitting a 16-inch boiler to replace the original size 14 in boiler. With this in mind we also needed to increase the burner size to match the larger size of the boiler. Don Bourdon of Bourdon boiler works is making an appropriate sized burner to fit. Rather than using a single fuel, gasoline, to operate both main burner and pilot, Tilly will have a separate fuel system for the pilot, running Coleman fuel. This morning I picked up the new tank for the pilot fuel. It's a stainless steel tank that will be mounted underneath the passenger seat. It was pressure checked to 100 PSI so no problem should be seen at running 20 to 30 PSI to fire the pilot. We will be traveling to Hershey next week show installation we'll have to wait. Before our trip to Hershey I must get the rear axle out of the Stanley as it needs a rebuild. I've talked with Bill Barnes about doing the work for us so we will take it to Hershey and transfer it to him there for the work to be done at his shop. I do not believe the actual has had any work done to it from new, 1912 ish. first ever sat nav for a steam car10/2/2019 Jay B Rhodes was inventor of the 1910 Rhodes Pathfinder mechanical auto guide. Very little is known about this prolific inventor who acquired over 230 patents and earned titles as “Patent King” and “Kalamazoo’s Edison.” Little did he know he was way ahead of his time.
New stanley steam car engine pistons10/1/2019 BILL BARNES New pistons tighten together 250 foot pounds Tapered pin Holds them together , thread locked Special jig to get the length right .. Machined on the rods. With ring grooves September 21st, 20199/21/2019 Album 2019 steam team Cooke Sarah Moon Blow down banquet. The museum members in attendance who have been members for over 25 years were recognized. We "won" the questionable route award and 5 future tours were announced! Joe Shukay Well today i pulled the Super Heater and steam line to the engine all in one piece off the 71. This because the compression union holding them together was so rusted from extreme heat over the years of use. Could not budge it with the big wrench, even soaked it for 2 days with Kroil. So this involved taking a lot of tubing off the car and disconnecting the steering arm so it would all clear. Usual type thing. On the bench i had to use long pipes on the wrenches to break it loose. It was rusted good on the threads, probably why it never leaked, LOL. The anti seize didn't hold up for all those years. I'll redo most of the pipe insulation and clean it all up and on to getting the super heater aligned better. Monday i should be getting back to pressure testing again for leaks, but i can see from the pictures what areas look like have been wet. Stanley Steam car wheels9/18/2019 Joe Shukay Well after getting the rear tire off the rim, i realized i have more paint work than i originally hoped. Oh well. Need to set up the wheel balancer rigged up to accept the rear hubs too New Forest steam car tour9/12/2019 Some of the cars on the New Forest Steam Car Tour 2019. the tour was run by the Hounslow Family. Thank you Peter Sarah and George for running a fantastic tour from all who attended. Thanks also to all the sponsors who continue to support the steam car events. White steam car crankshaft update9/5/2019 GMA Engineering Ramsey, Isle Of Man · White crankshaft update now finished. Once all the tapered sections were fitted and aligned properly, a final squeeze together in the press before having the taper pins fitted. steam car tour banner8/29/2019 Banner for the steam car tour. September 8th to 13th inclusive. See details in the events section ot the site.
Thank you to all the sponsors of the tour. New White steam car cylinder blocks8/29/2019 GMA Engineering
Ramsey, Isle of Man New White steam car cylinder blocks arrived today for model C,D,E and F. Quality of the castings are fantastic. Will post updates as machining progresses. steam car steering arm repair8/21/2019 Billy Barnes Broken steering arm repair 1913 mountain wagon .. Stanley Steamer New one 4130 steel With big radius in corners Needs finished welded . Bottom one broke . Made a jig to keep it right . VICTOR Steam compressor wanted8/20/2019 Gunnar Modig gunnar.modig@omniprocess.se Wanted VICTOR Steam compressor I have now started renovating my Locosurrey, I have encountered problems with the steam driven air pump (compressor) with which the car is equipped. It turns out that the steam cylinder that drives the pump is cracked, probably the car has been left in cold space and the remaining condensate has then frozen with the crack as a result. Now I'm looking for spare parts for the compressor, either a loose cylinder or if there should be someone who has a complete pump that he doesn't need. The steam-powered compressor is called "VICTOR" see attached photos Whistling Billy and I did a day at St Buryan Show but the second day I did not go as the weather was very poor and one day is enough for my health at present. The following Sunday Billy and I went to Ruin Minor down on the Lizard peninsular. They have a very enjoyable little rally and Billy won a salver for “Best in Show”! We did a few laps around the ring and steaming went well but we were not going fast enough for the burners to come in. I had to keep stopping to rebuild the steam. This was probably caused by the bottom water pump leaking. The following Tuesday was “Morvah Pasty Day”. Morvah is a very small village about 5 miles from us. This is a delightful little day out where pasties, tea, scones etc. are sold in the old church. There is live music staged on an old horse trailer and quite a few stalls. I have a place reserved for me to park a steam car in the centre of the action. Last year I took the 1903 White. This year I hoped to take the 1908 White but I am trying to get it running on kerosene. I have about 80% kerosene in petrol at present but I still have an 8 inch vaporizer with rods in the car as I do not have a second 6 inch one (Billy has that one) which is what it needs. I have made a pattern and am going to have some cast. The car steamed quickly but I could not stop it blowing back. This is not very logical and I am going to take another look at the flowmotor and its fuel needle as it was not cutting off sharply enough. Anyway, I put it away and got out the 1903 White Model “C”. It steamed easily but as I was warming it up there was a "bang and a woosh” from the generator area; something in it had let go. I have not done anything inside the generator since I had the car but have spent many hours on the engine and the pipework from the generator to the engine. I think that a pipe has just cracked but stainless steel was used and not the proper steel.
I put this car away and steamed the 1902 White Model “B” Surrey. It steamed as easily as ever and Claude, Joseph and I went off, climbing our hill for the first quarter mile quite slowly but as soon as it was up on the more level ground and warmed up we went along to the usual 30 mph. She really behaved very well with no problems and grand-daughter Emma rode on the rear seat for the return trip. After the trip my son Michael came over to collect Joe and Emma. He looked into the engine compartment and spotted a silver plated half-pint mug in the pipework. The next day I took it out. I had evidently put it in there with a bit of wire on the handle to keep it steady, to hold in the insulation on the pipe while some fire cement hardened--- and forgot to remove it. This must have been there for a long time and put there when I was not in the workshop but in my trailer, perhaps in the Isle of Man last year. It could not escape from its position. It has now been removed and polished up again. My wife’s father won the cup for runner-up at the Wimbledon Open Squash Tournament 1946 – 47 and it has done many years of service as a drinking vessel in the trailer where it will no doubt continue its function. I hope that I have now sorted the 1908 White blowback problem. I found that the thread on the fuel needle (0.094 inch) was not clean inside its tubular fitting and I had not threaded it into its proper position. I think that it will be alright now as the needle seals the fuel completely hopefully making blowbacks impossible. Yesterday I took Whistling Billy to The West of England Steam and Vintage Rally at Stithians. The car worked alright but I still have a problem with the bottom water pump not working properly. The hemp water pump packing in what looks like a mustard source that I used is too old and hard with the “source” dried. I need to get some fresh packing. This packing was too hard when I purchased it! Billy running at up to 800 psi will not tolerate poor packing anywhere. I would like to find some steam packing like I had from my father’s kit which had copper within it. That worked well on the valve stems which are always difficult to keep in on this car. I have never seen it for sale and only had a short length. Has anyone seen it for sale? The West of England Rally is a three day show. I left Billy up there where it will be on display today and I will be back up there tomorrow steaming. I will have to clean out the pilot light as it was getting very congested with carbon after sitting still for too long and using the kerosene which is still a bit smoky while I am adjusting the parts for this fuel which is new to the car. Billy has always suffered from sitting around too long and is much happier going around a track where there is more cooling to the pilot light area. Bob Dyke Barn Find Steam Car8/9/2019 Barn Find (FS) from SACA FORUM J OK I put up a bunch of pictures that are high resolution. It's a 1961 Corvair Van with a 4 cylinder STEAM engine in it. It was built by Charles Reynolds in southern California. The van is located in southern Oregon and ready to be sold, open to offers because I know it's not worth what it cost to build. The engine look completely custom. [www.jjsmusclecars.com] 541-890-5564 Stanley steamer mountain wagon restoration has started at Bourdon boiler works. Billy Barns working on Stanley Steam car engine. Advice needed about a Steam Car8/6/2019 George Howard Phone Number 00823557455 howarget@yahoo.com Dear Sir I have been following Rolly Evens' an his website. I am interested in reproducing The 1907 Stanley Steam car. My Question is: Is it legal At what Price tag will The Stanley steamer sell. Kind regards George Howard More updates on the steam car crankshafts. All 3 webs now complete. Just started the dry assembly. |
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