Keeping the heat in

Now that the weather is warming up,  we can finish fitting and tidying up the bonnet and boiler insulation - the spray on glue and water based 'finishing cloth' can only be applied in warmer weather. The 3mm ceramic paper insulation on the inside of the bonnet has now  been glued in place and sealed with a couple of coats of emulsion paint. Back in 1914 Stanley's would  have used asbestos stuck on with wallpaper paste.

More layers of insulation will be added to the smoke hood on top of the boiler as well.

Pressure Gauge details and dates

The pressure gauge (right hand of the two) is now back on the car, complete with bevelled washer ;

 Having reinstated one original feature, I have deviated from another another - instead of a clear indirect reading water gauge glass, I've put a red-line one in. This will make it far easier to see the water level. 

More details - All the Ashton Valve Company gauges on the car have serial numbers; on the Steam Car Club of Great Britain Website there is a list of Ashton Gauge serial numbers and dates.
The Steam and Main Fuel Gauges date from 1913, and the Pilot Fuel gauge 1914 - the year Stanleys changed over to kerosene fuel with a separate petrol tank for pilot fuel.

An obsession with detail?

Original features often vanish during repair or restoration; photos of sister cars show a small beveled washer between the boiler pressure gauge elbow and firewall

The boiler pressure gauge is the right hand one in this photo of restored sister car #7712 in the USA. This car also has its electric gauge lamp, long since vanished from  ours, and the indirect reading water gauge between the fuel and boiler pressure gauges. 

This  pre-restoration photo showed that the washer and gauge glass fitting had vanished from our car

When the car was dismantled, a ring of discoloured paintwork was found where the washer fitted. Spares and accessories for Stanleys are relatively easy to come by; Vintage Steam Products in the US supply a wide range of Stanley spares and accessories, including a stainless steel reproduction of the missing washer, and with the pressure gauge off  to avoid it freezing in the winter, it was a good time to order a  replacement.


 During restoration we also sourced an original Stanley water gauge fitting from T Clarence Marshall of the Marshall Steam Museum, whose father was a Stanley dealer.

Bits and Pieces

Parts and fittings for modifications and repairs are arriving from Stanley Specialists J R Goold Vintage Steam Engineering. Today's delivery was valves and pipe fitting for installing:

A Steam Enema - live steam line to blow the fuel vapouriser clear when it gets clogged with bits of carbon - a problem throughout last season.

The new Pilot Fuel Tank - replacing the original one which developed a hairline fracture last year. Work hardened 100 year old brass and 2-3 gallons of pilot fuel (very pure petrol or Hexane) at 20-30 psi is not a good combination.

Prescott - great photos of a grand day out

Phill Kroll of Philmit Photography took some amazing photos of the Prescott Autumn Classic and has kindly given us permission to use those of our car

In the Cavalcade on Saturday - pity I look so grumpy, must be concentration....

Sorry about the unsightly insulation, it is being smartened up honest!

Keeping the heat in....

Finally started work on extra insulation layers for the boiler and smoke hood, and lagging the exhaust flue. Bought some low  temperature application adhesive so can continue work in cold spells. The finishing layer of  'diplag' covering bought from Vintage Steam Products in the US will have to wait until April, as its a water based adhesive material.

Exhaust flue with newly installed insulation is on the right.

End of 2013 Season and Winter Works

2013 saw us doing a lot of short, local runs, no long tours - have not replaced the old, too large, car transporter yet! Kelly Williams of the Stanley Register Online paid a visit in the summer & we were able to give him a short trip in the car. Photos of car at Prescot hill climb here

Total miles about 275, car running mechanically fine, doing about 11 2/3 mpg plus about 1/3 gallon to steam up on 50/50 petrol/diesel mix. The UK Stanley Steam car catalogue says a 15hp car should run 12-14 miles on a gallon of paraffin.

Being generous with the cylinder oil though, using about 1/3 as much as recommended in the Stanley literature.

The  Pilot burner gives occasional problems,  look like dirt in pilot tank. Plot fuel consumption varying a lot, clearly have not go the hang of setting it low yet!

Repeated main burner problems due to small particles of carbon clogging jets. Don Bourdon's article 'Stanley Burners' in the latest issue of The Steam Car (No. 61 Oct 2013 ) very useful. Looks like I was not cleaning things frequently enough! Thinking of installing a 'steam enema' live steam blow-through valve to help with cleaning!

Hood (Top) bows still on order, should have been read by now but are unfortunately delayed. Want to get hood  made up for next season, certainly by mid-summer.

Have not had much success with the original 3-tube water level indicator, which keeps reading high (ie water low in glass). Suspect its mounted about 1 1/2" too high. This is probably a job for another year, don;t want to risk damaging the low water automatic and pipework.

Only real problems are the cracked pilot tank and the leak in the top quarter of the main fuel tank. Have tried & failed to get the tank out - can not compress the new upholstery enough to clear the tank. Do not want to remove it at present so will live with the fuel tank leak for the moment - just fill 2/3 instead of full! The pilot tank is more of a problem, will probably fit a new horizontal tank on the running board where the prestolite cylinder (stolen in the 1940s) should be.