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Steam Car Network
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- Maintenance log. This is the maintenance log I have kept since I acquired the car. 2013. We bought the vehicle from Phil Lewis in August 2013. This was my first exposure to steam and most of the year was spent just on learning. Met Robert Wilhelm, Mr Marshall and his steam museum in Maryland and towards the end of the year, while in Maine, I met the Stanley Steam team at the Museum there. I did not steam the car up for the first time until the end of the year. Installed replacement Burner Phil had acquired through Allen Blazik. Mapped plumbing. Converted Propane pilot back to hexane. Tried to fix leaky valves. 2014. 2014 was generally spent learning how to fix valves and pumps. I experimented alot with different packing material. Replaced packing in water pumps. Replaced Packing in fuel pumps. General cleaning and polishing. Many local rides. 2015. Machined water pumps for balls to run at 1/32” clearance. Replaced with Delrin Balls (7/16”). Replaced Packing again. Disassembled Oil system, cleaned and fixed oil tank where a screw was put through it, disassembled oil pump and reassembled to different specs. Disassembled oil pump again due to intermittent lack of pumping oil. Removed a check-ball that did not show on the drawings, it did not fit and was probably added in error. As the result of an oil leak, found damaged gears in the differential spider. The drive train completely removed and disassembled. Broken parts sent off to Gilbert Hall at Rempco in Cadillac. Rear suspension sent to Detroit Spring to fix sagging. Finished the Canadagua Tour this year, which was our first Steamcar tour with no real issues. 2016. Repaired plugged fuel line. Reassembled engine with some newly built bearings (Rempco). Reused valves and repacked guides. Reassembled rear end, refitted axles and clearances in repaired housing (Jim Wright) and powder coated parts (Creative Powder-coating). Repaired water tank. Had multiple issues during Maine tour. Pilot kept going out. Squeaking in the pumps and fuel delivery failure eventually forced us to trailer it back on the very last day. Replaced pilot casting with new one from Bourdon and built a new needle from 1/8 steel rod using lathe grinder. Threaded it to standard #6 and threaded the casting accordingly. Main fuel valve at the tank was completely plugged up. Much squeaking in the pump assembly resulted in repacking with more high pressure packing from Mc-master. Iowa Tour brought more issues with pilot and leaking main throttle. We finished the tour with poor fuel delivery issues (plugged valve). -Participated in two tours: Kingfield Maine put on by the Stanley Museum and Prairie du Chien in Iowa. Neither were free of problems but the car performed well 2017. Removed burner, disassembled burner. Cleaned and reassembled with new bolts and nuts. Disassembled the main fuel vaporizer completely and flushed the system. Replaced into the burner assembly with hardened bolts. Removed and disassembled throttle. Straightened shaft, machined cone, reassembled and tested. Seated with minimal leakage. Shaft moved freely after repair. Replaced the assembly from the boiler to the throttle with a single medium thickness black pipe, connected with a Swagelok part number SS-8-RSE-6 elbow. Got ¼ pipe and elbows as well as “Key Graphite Paste” from Mc-Master to start sealing piping. Extended the whistle valve and redid that assembly. Re-seated both valves for the sight glass and re-seated the blowdown valve into the exhaust The smoke hood had started to crack at a point where it did not match the boiler hold-down bar. The bar was re-positioned and the top TIG welded. Removed the fuel automatic and disassembled the bottom part. Repacked shaft and reassembled. The entire assembly was filled with water and tested to 750 PSI. Steam automatic restricts at 550 psi and closes completely at 600. Checked for leaks. Because of ongoing poor performance on the water pumps, I decided to replace the packing in the water pumps with #247 John crane packing from vintage steam products. The check valve cap broke and I remade one. Took apart fuel automatic. Remade nylon valve. Fished extra bearing from pipe that had occluded the system. Re-seated check valve and cleaned the system out. Reassembled and set for 130 psi. Don Bourdon is building a new boiler. Picked up 8-17 and put in storage. Removed old electric box for propane equipment. Ran electrical wire for brake lights to wicker basket. Replaced brake lights with LEDs. Installed water separator for both main and pilot systems. Plumbed acetylene tubing to the lights from the running board and hooked them up. Made a new hub cap. Exhaust leaks. Sealed up leaks in the exhaust system. Welded the front part and screwed the rear end together to get rid of all the gaps. Rebuilt the tailpipe by welding it rather than soldering it. Rebuilt the front brakes (Well, Mike from Kennedy’s did as he found the parts) turned the rotors down .020 which made the units fit better. Repacked the front wheels and replaced the seals. Removed water tank and had it fixed by Thomas radiator. It was still leaking a tiny bit after last year’s repair. Replaced some of the covering on the smoke hood. Late 2017: Replaced front tire right side (left from front). Made bigger bolt hole and tighter treads in front right kingpin (left seen from front). Put in 5/16 soft bolt, kept upper hardened bolt in place. -Participated in Vermont tour with no issues other than running over a screw on the last mile of the last day, causing a flat tire. 2018. Replaced rear tires, a job I hope never to have to do again. Fixed front roof bow which had somehow broken. Removed water reservoir as it was leaking again and brought it to Thomas Radiator to see if they could fix it. Fuel starvation again due to main fuel valve plugged up. Cleaned and reinstalled. Replaced water separator as it had gotten so dirty you could no longer see the bowl. Tightened all bolts holding pump housing to the car. Repacked water-pumps again and found pump-shafts to be concave, likely leading to premature failure. REMPCO machined new ones from hardened material. They need oiled after each use to keep from rusting - Participated in Pennsylvania tour, hosted by the Auburn Heights and Mr Marshal as well as the Washington, Missouri tour put on by Dick Friedeman and Joe Graziano. Both were trouble-free. 2019. The Water reservoir started leaking again. Top and one of the sides was removed. Copper was thoroughly cleaned, and bottom was welded back together with poor results. The rest was soldered back together, and aircraft tank sealer was used to waterproof the seams the top was then soldered on again The steam siphon system was repaired as described extensively in that section. Rear axle shafts were re-machined to allow more wheel clearance. Oil seal system fabricated on the outer axles to keep oil out of the brakes as described in that section. Steam box cover replaced with new one from Hokes. Driver side rear perch pole nut repaired. A lot of the worst paint damage was taken down to the wood, re primed and repainted with Sherman-Williams industrial enamel. The flat section on the driver side was painted with an airless system. The throttle was removed and rebuilt by Gil at Rempco in Cadillac. The smoke hood was remounted and the holes were refilled with refractory cement. The kingpin in the Passenger front wheel was tapped and fitted with a hardened bolt, similar to the driver side. The wedge in the lower part remained. The Fuel filter was replaced. Replaced the hinges on the windshield with reproduction Brass-era model-T hinges. Fabricated a new end to the siphon hose out of brass and copper parts. Eric sewed a patch on the driver side shroud as the material had worn through and the rod started coming out. Learned to pinstripe and did quite a bit of that. Repair Guide. Water pump check valve bolt. Check ball clearance 1/32”. Adjust by machining excess off lip. Raw material: 3/4 “hex rod from McMaster.  The tank is made from copper sheeting soldered together into a shape that fits under the seat. The seat top is removed with wood screws under the base. The water return line has to be removed in pieces and requires some creativity as shown below. The siphon hose and the water feed also have to be removed before the reservoir can be removed   The water tank has been seeping since I've had the car but it had gotten worse in 2017. I had tried to fix it at that time but it leaked again in 2018. I removed it again and Thomas radiator went at it, but by the fall it was leaking again. I removed the worst side, cleaned it and attempted to weld the bottom with extremely poor results. I ended up soldering the thing back together and sealing the seams with "CHEMSEAL B2 TANK SEALANT CS3204", which is extensively used in aircraft pressurized cabins and fuel cells. Instructions for use: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbNqw_qqCPI The top edges were cleaned and the top soldered back on. Function of holes and tubes in the tank clockwise starting with the small hole towards the top center: sight glass. steam powered siphon, overflow, main water feed.  A simple device, just make sure the ball bearing does not fall into the body and plug the passage. I was surprised with how much dirt got into it, likely leading to its extremely poor performance.     The black plastic part is MDS infused nylon, turned to fit snugly in the hole. The diaphragm should seat flush on its base and the nylon valve should just touch the seat. Important: the one-way valve bearing ahead of the assembly will easily travel down the pipe and block the entry to the assembly. If the ball shows up missing during reassembly, that’s likely what happened. Pressure setting is extremely simple. Pump the handle. If you reach past 140 psi with a steady stroke, loosen the spring tensioner. If it does not build up enough, tighten it. The throttle works pretty ingeniously. Steel shaft, steel barrel and brass seat held on through a press fit with tiny roll pins. Has to be removed for disassembly and hole has to be realigned with exit hole for it to work.   The 2019 rebuilt throttle with the original slide. The slide was also made a little shorter and the steam feed pipe a little longer to allow for better clearance. The three divots have to line up with the out port. 
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1909 Stanley Steamer Model R Service Manual and Maintenance Log WRITTEN AND PRODUCED BY Herb de la Porte Part One  History: This car is a re-creation by Basil Craske from England that started with an Alan Kelso project body. Basil Craske Bought the body in Ireland in 1999 and recreated the car around it in time for it to be shipped to Australia in the early 2000’s for their inaugural steam car tour. Sold it after a number of tours to Phil Lewis of Cleveland in 2006 while on a steam car tour in the Ohio area (Berlin). In 2013 Phil Lewis sold the car to me along with a new Baker style Burner delivered by Allan Blazik  By the time I got the car, Phil had taken it on a number of tours and it had not ran very well for a while. He was well into his 80’s and crawling all over the vehicle became impossible. The brass had not been polished since 2006, the burner had warped and cracked due to serious undetected back fires and everything else performed very much sub-par. The Contents of this part of the story are as below Basic Operation. Water System.. Oiling System.. Oil Pump Operation. Check Valves in the water system. Blow-down and Siphoning into boiler after cool-down. Steam powered Siphon.   The Water system takes water from the reservoir under the seat and pumps it into the boiler. Water quantity is adjusted by two valves. The one on the steering column is the on-off switch for everything. Closing the one under the seat under the seat (highest Valve) adds the second pump to the mix  When the wheels are turning and the boiler is pressurized, one-way valve (H) is closed with up to 600 psi of pressure. When both valves (D E) are open, water meets resistance at (H) and flows back into the reservoir. When you close valve (E) on the steering wheel, water from the front pump, unable to pass through (G), builds up enough pressure to overcome the boiler pressure and flows through (H) into the boiler. the rear pump still flows freely back to the reservoir. If you also close Valve (D) water from the rear pump will no longer be able to go back to the reservoir and is forced through the one-way valves into the boiler as well The manual handle has the option to add water to the boiler by opening valve (F) under the floorboard and closing the other valves. When doing so, you’ll suck water through the main pumps one-way valves and push it through the system that way. The volume amounts to no more than a couple of ounces per stroke. Since there is a sizeable amount of pressure to overcome when the valve is open, for routine operation it is advisable to close the valve while the pump handle is as far forward as possible or you won’t be able to manually pump fuel. The manual handle has the option to add water to the boiler by opening valve (F) under the floorboard and closing the other valves. When doing so, you’ll suck water through the main pumps one-way valves and push it through the system that way. The volume amounts to no more than a couple of ounces per stroke. Since there is a sizeable amount of pressure to overcome when the valve is open, for routine operation it is advisable to close the valve while the pump handle is as far forward as possible or you won’t be able to manually pump fuel. Oiling System The Oiling system is a brilliant design in simplicity. There are no check valves and the gauge is a disk pressed against a window by a spring but the system requires some care in setting up  The oil used is a 1000W mixed with animal fat. It has to be formulated for the higher pressures a steamcar runs versus a locomotive or steam tractor. Condensing cars are even worse as they need an oil that can be removed from the feedwater before it hits the boiler again When oil gets in the boiler, it coats the insides, creating an insulating barrier and requiring more heat and, therefore, more damage. Condensing boilers tend to have a shorter life span then non-condensing boilers I have been using Green Velvet products from Bill Petitjean. Bill’s oil is very dark and seems to stick to everything. The best way to dispense it seem to be through a laundry detergent bottle with a big spout. In 2018, bill sold the green velvet line to Brennan oil in Durango, CO 970-247-3054
Oil Pump Operation An ingenious device. It is adjustable to give a metered quantity of oil with every stroke the concept is simple. There are two pistons in the pump. The one on the right is connected to the drivetrain and the one on the left is held in place by a spring   When the driven piston is the way out, oil can only come in through the inlet  As the piston moves in past the inlet hole, the reamining oil has no easy outlet and starts moving the left piston  Once the left piston gets to the outlet hole, the oil escapes  Until the entire metered amount is gone. When adjusting the piston, it is important the driven piston cannot go further than this position as it would try to press oil in a closed container  As the driven piston is pulled out, the secondary piston stops at the preset area  The vacuum created at this point helps fill the reservoir up again for the next stroke The actual pump and metering rod looks like this:  Adjustment details are in another section  There are a number of check valves with two in each of the main pumps, one between the pumps and one at the boiler The ball is held in the assembly by a special screw that allows the ball to travel about 1/32” The balls in the pumps as well as the check valve below the floorboard are 7/16” Delrin. The one in the check-valve at the boiler is stainless steel Delrin is preferred as steel would eventually hammer out the seats. Obviously that material cannot be used In valve (H) as the heat would destroy it Since the balls deal with pressures in excess of 600 psi, replacing the delrin ones annually is probably prudent. The boiler valve should not be touched until it leaks, which is characterized by steam pushing into the reservoir
Blow-down, other than a great piece of entertainment or annoyance, depending on the neighborhood, is crucial to get sediment out of the boiler. Each corner of the boiler is connected to a valve on the front of the car. Try to blow down as soon as possible and at as high a pressure as possible after every run to avoid stuff to settle. The purpose is to get as much crap out of that boiler as possible. Make sure the pilot is out and no fuel can go to the boiler before blowing down. This is an extremely loud event. Wear Ear protection and turn off the hearing aids The water in the boiler at 600 PSI is roughly 500 degrees Fahrenheit. When you let it escape, it will turn to steam instantly forming a characteristic tulip shape at the nozzle. Open all four valves three full turns. Let the steam escape until the steam shape turns from a “Tulip” to a straight flow. Close the valves as quickly as possible. You should still have around 400 PSI remaining which will allow you to park the car.  The steam coming from the nozzles will be cool enough within a few feet that you should be able to hold your hand in it for a short time. It’s a great way to see how filthy the water in the boiler gets  Before the boiler cools down, Make sure the throttle is completely closed, fill the water reservoir and open the water valve on the steering column. As soon as the boiler cools below boiling temperature the remaining steam will condense and the boiler will become a vacuum chamber. Opening the return valve may help give water a little less friction on the way to the boiler. Storing the boiler full of water limits corrosion and extends its life The Stanley has a steam powered system to suck water from below the level of the vehicle and pump it into the reservoir. The system works by sending a jet of steam through a ventury and creating the vacuum needed below it to suck up water. Once cold water hits the nozzle, the pressure of the steam will still shoot it upwards, keeping the vacuum below going and most of the heat will be absorbed by the water on the way up the tube I am spending a bit more time on it here because these principles also apply to the way fuel and air are mixed in front of the burner  The simplest way to explain the principle is that the steam velocity from the tapered pipe on the left creates a vacuum right around it. In order to get the ultimate in suction, however, the nozzle and tube around it (ventury) sizes are relevant to each other. if the ventury is too big, air will be allowed to leak back out. The basic suction system in the model R is to the left. It was screwed into the tank where it ended into a 3/8" ID tube leading to the top but the nozzle was placed in a 2" section of 5/8" diameter tube. It never worked well so i made a test rig to see how much it could be improved upon by turning piece of 5/8" plastic, notching it at 1/4" intervals and increasing hole sizes during the tests
The results surprised me in how little it took to get major changes  lessons learned: 1/64" diameter makes a difference. The "Sweet spot" appears to be for the restriction of the insert to start about 1/2" above the nozzle another test piece at (A) 1 1/8" with a 11/32" diameter able to be screwed into the tank showed that there was a marked improvement in Suction
since Mercury is about 13.5X heavier then Water, a conservative estimate would be that every inch of vacuum should equate to about a foot from the bottom of the tank.
Roel Rasker recreates a 1915 Stanley Mountain Wagon. PART ONE After the restoration of my Stanley EX in 2017, I was looking for a new project. The choice soon fell on a mountain wagon. These cars have always had my interest, since my first meeting with Peter Williams's mountain car at the Dorset Steam fair a few years ago. First I started looking for an original mountain car. Because these were not available, or too expensive, I decided to build one myself. My preference was initially for a 1909 model with a wooden chassis with 3 benches. To be able to drive the car in the Netherlands, however, I had to work with an existing old Stanley chassis. Otherwise it was not possible to get it road legal in the Netherlands . That's why I decided to go for a 1915 model on a 735 chassis. It was important that I could find an old chassis whose restoration to the original model was not possible. In England on steamcarnetwork website I found a 735d chassis with chassis number. This was a great start to a big new project.  I could also buy a 20 HP engine in England. With this I already had a solid foundation. In the future I might replace this engine for a 30 hp engine but first I want to see if the engine is strong enough. I had set aside 2 years for this project. But by working full time on it, I succeeded in half a year. I did a size study on the basis of photos of a 1915 MW, which in my opinion was quite original, after which I made a dummy body with a bench in plywood.   These sizes were pretty good and with some minor adjustments I started producing the MW. Because this is a reproduction I naturally had some freedom to build the car the way I want. Among other things, more space between headboard and first seat, exchangeable seats, and a fixed propane gas tank for the pilot light. I also preferred copper gas lamps instead of electric lamps. The floor is completely flat so that the car can also be used as a pickup  The convertible top is made of curved ash arches. The rest of the frame is made from various existing parts. An upholsterer has covered the convertible top and also provided the leather upholstery of the four seats. I had the bonnet and the fenders made at Vintage Wings in England. The fenders were perfect. I still had a lot of work on the hood. The company could not make the louvres. That is why I made a steel mold and punch with which I could apply the louvres manually. Roel
PART TWO After spraying I applied the pin strips with a Buegler pin striper. The MW has a 30 HP boiler which is made by the Goolds. This boiler produces enough steam for this car  The pump pit is placed in the same place as with the 735. For the steam oil I use a Madisson Kipp lubricator.  To transport the MW, I bought a closed box trailer that fits the car exactly.  In order to be able to get on the road legally with the MW, it was inspected by the national road traffic department. This is always an exciting moment because you never know the outcome of the research because it is a special project. But still we managed to inspect the car within a day.  I have now driven the first kilometers. I had made the connecting rod of the water pump too light. This broke off almost immediately. I am also still looking for the right adjustments from the burner. I am listening to every strange sound I hear while driving. And there are a lot of them. After every trip I get more used to the car. The boiler maintains good pressure and the fuel system also functions properly. After every ride I come across small things that are easy to solve. Building this car was a nice adventure. I have met nice people and learned a lot. The MW will be shown for the first time during the Melle steam event 2019 Roel  Part three of the Mountain wagon rebuild. During the 400 kilometers I have gained a lot of experience with the Mountain wagon. The car was finished with a few details left to do, but these details were of great importance. During the journeys the throttle sometimes squeezed which made giving gas very difficult. I had made the throttle rod too short and throttle unit was engineered too tight. Now I have moved the throttle unit and extended the distance of the rod by approximately 8 cm.  The cylinders were not yet isolated. A job that I kept pushing back because I didn't know how to make the copper casing. The insulation has now been applied. This makes a big difference in use.  The water pump also did not always work properly. The check balls were worn. I replaced them with new balls and now it works properly..  To be able to check the operation of the pumps while driving, I temporary placed a pressure gauge between the water pipe on advise from another steam car driver. You can now see exactly whether the pumps work well during the ride.  At the front, I have provided the blow-off valves with thicker brass spouts. This is only an aesthetic choice.  .
The only adjustment that I am going to do this season is the application of disc brakes on the front wheels. Not beautiful, but effective. The hills in Melle were sometimes a challenge. Uphill - even with a 20 ph motor - is no problem. But to go downhill safely I had to use the handbrake occasionally and even then a emergency stop would be a challenge rolly`s stanley ex restoration4/8/2019   PART ONEFront axle details CAD Drawings in JPEG photoalbum\rolly\axle\4.5 BC Stanley Front hub as machined.jpg photoalbum\rolly\axle\axle assembly-a.jpg photoalbum\rolly\axle\axle end.jpg photoalbum\rolly\axle\Left Spindle.jpg photoalbum\rolly\axle\Perch pole and spring casting.jpg photoalbum\rolly\axle\Perch rod end.jpg photoalbum\rolly\axle\Spindle Pin and Parts.jpg photoalbum\rolly\axle\Stanley Hub Cap.jpg photoalbum\rolly\axle\Tie rod ends & small parts.jpg photoalbum\rolly\axle\U bolt.jpg EX Rear AxleThe rear end as built was modified slightly from the original. I have included the drawing as was original, and as modified. The axle ends were modified and built with five inch tapered keyed ends, and the drums were made to accept them. The bearing are deep grooved sealed ball bearings and are arranged so when the wheel is installed, tension and preload is applied to both the inner and outer bearing. No side thrust from the wheel is against the planetary gears. The gears used are original. The inner brake band cleaves and bolt was modified per the drawing so as to facilitate the ease of adjustment. The outer brakes originated in 1907 and I modified them by bonding brake lining material to the bronze shoes. All castings are 85-55-06 ductile, the axle tube is 3/16 - 4130 and the axles are 4140. The front axle is the same except for the spindle castings; they are A-148 structural steel 110,000 Tensile and 90,000 Yield and have tapered rollers for bearings. CAD Drawings in JPEG photoalbum\rolly\r-axle\4.5 BC Stanley rear hub with Drum.jpg photoalbum\rolly\r-axle\4.5 BC Stanley rear modified drum.jpg photoalbum\rolly\r-axle\Attachment cleave.jpg photoalbum\rolly\r-axle\Attachment cleaves.jpg photoalbum\rolly\r-axle\Brake acturator.jpg photoalbum\rolly\r-axle\Brake assamebly.jpg photoalbum\rolly\r-axle\Brake band.jpg photoalbum\rolly\r-axle\Brake bands modified .JPG photoalbum\rolly\r-axle\Brake cam actuator rod.jpg photoalbum\rolly\r-axle\Brake cam-3.jpg photoalbum\rolly\r-axle\Brake parts.jpg photoalbum\rolly\r-axle\Brake parts-a.jpg CAD drawings in JPEG photoalbum\rolly\r-axle\Brake cam actuator rod.jpg photoalbum\rolly\r-axle\Brake cam-3.jpg photoalbum\rolly\r-axle\Brake parts.jpg photoalbum\rolly\r-axle\Brake parts-a.jpg photoalbum\rolly\r-axle\Center yoke.jpg photoalbum\rolly\r-axle\cross brace casting.jpg photoalbum\rolly\r-axle\Gear.jpg photoalbum\rolly\r-axle\Modified axle end.jpg photoalbum\rolly\r-axle\Modified brake band attachment bolt.jpg photoalbum\rolly\r-axle\Modified Brake cleave as built.jpg photoalbum\rolly\r-axle\Outside brake shoe.jpg photoalbum\rolly\r-axle\Rear axle assamble-a.jpg photoalbum\rolly\r-axle\Rear axle end Hub.jpg photoalbum\rolly\r-axle\Rear axle yoke spacers.jpg photoalbum\rolly\r-axle\Rear axle parts.jpg photoalbum\rolly\r-axle\Rear axle yoke spacers.jpg photoalbum\rolly\r-axle\Rear Perch pole and spring casting pattern.jpg photoalbum\rolly\r-axle\Truss Rod.jpg Running Gear |
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