The restoration of a 1907 Stanley EX Steam car continues

                                                                   Part 4               

Working 40 – 60 hours a week on the Stanley EX i am making progress. Robert Hurford did a great job adjusting the front wheels. It was nice to meet him at his workshop in the old mill after a week of dust and steam at the Great Dorset Steam Fair. At the GDSF i also bought a beautiful taillight. It happend to be exact the same model as on Terry Fry’s EX.
After testing the engine i mounted the copper covers  on the engine. I made a 18 mm thick oak pump-pit board and prefitted all the pumps. The missing parts are made in brass on my lathe.  

On a sunny day i filled the gas and water tank with water to check for leaks. The fuel tank was in a good condition. I have found 3 old dipsticks in it, probably left there when they fall in the tank checking the fuel level. The water tank had a few minor leaks, making it a easy fix.

 The two fuel pressure tanks are made of steel and the inside was corroded. In America i bought two beautiful and safe new thick copper tanks. They are mounted under the seat so unfortunately you can not see them when the car is ready.
After pre-fitting most of the parts i have taken everything apart. The body is given a epoxy coating and after a lot of sanding it is now spray-painted in Brewster green.

 All the preparation is done in epoxy. The last layer of paint is done by a professional in a spray booth . My worst nightmare is that someone says; “nice car, did you paint it yourself ? “. The very original seats were in very good shape but the paint was very old and needed to be removed completely. The wood underneath was in perfect shape.

The two lights that came with the car were in bad shape. It took me many hours of soldering and polishing to get them right. 

Steam and Fuel automatics are taken apart and cleaned. With pressure test equipment they are set to 350 and 50 psi. I think this is a good starting point. If  anyone has other ideas about that please let me know. I have been trying to force a boilerring from a steel profile but i did not succeed. A lasercut ring with a welded hoop and some bended parts were combined to a nice original looking boilerring. I also made a new asbestos free firewall from ceramic felt and bended tin plate to get as close as possible to original standard. It might look that i am working on all
parts with no schedule but on this way i can keep working on the car while i am waiting for all kind of parts.

Roel.