I make my cars to go not to stop.....

Ettore Bugatti is rumoured to have said...not a good idea on the open road I think!. So this winter's job is a brake reline....which revealed a broken inside brake band suspension link links the off side of the car, a loose brake shoe lining on the near side, and worn original brake drums....

Checking  template for the new inside link; they are soldered to the brake lever shaft bush, so a new one of those is needed too.

Brake drums off to send away for cleaning up

Relined brake shoe - original bronze casting, one split shoe that flexes, note Stanley part numbers. Shoes are stamped D/SIDE and P/SIDE for identification. Must have confused things when Stanleys switched to left hand drive in 1915!

Latest altho delayed news.....

More haste less speed......

The Speedo drive gear arrived and the Russ Furstnow restored speedometer has bee commissioned, works well (Russ did remind me that a speedometer of that era would only be accurate to plus or minus 5 mph)

And we had a spring clamp nut come off  on the way to the the Aldbourne Doggy Day

More Haste Less speed part 2

Took advantage of warm(er) weather over Xmas to progress installing the speedometer and do a trial setup of the drive from the LH front wheel. Waiting for a new speedometer drive gear (eventually decided not to use the worn one I had) then will do the final install.

More Haste less speed.....

After a lot of searching we have found a fully restored correct Stewart-Warner speedometer for the car. A number of the surviving sister cars retain their original speedometers, so we knew exactly what to look for.

The speedometer,  a correct Stewart Warner chain link drive cable and parts for the swivel drive unit which fits onto the left hand front wheel were sourced from US expert Russ Furstnow of Flagstone, Arizona.

Glorious Goodwood

We were flattered that our car was deemed worthy for the Cartier Style et Luxe Concours at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, which this year featured  a "120 years of the Stanley Motor Carriage" section. Our Model 607 spent the event  on the Cartier Lawn in company with a 1903 Model B Stanley (class winner) 1909 Mountain Wagon, 1914 Model 606 Roadster and a 1923 Model 740B - plus a supporting cast of Rolls Royce Silver Ghosts, Fiat 500 variants, Ferarris, Aston Martins and a host of super and hyper cars - what a mix!

Watch this space.....

Bust busy busy...with Heritage Lottery Fund projects for Crofton Beam Engines so no time for Steam Cars. Next  outing will be to the Wiltshire Agricultural Preservation Group rally  at Oare, near Marlborough on 10 and 11 June.

Spring is coming

Keeping an eye on the long range weather forecast and waiting until we are definitely clear of frosty nights before filling the car's boiler again. Even though we have heaters on frost setting  in the garage, don't want to take any chances.


Meanwhile tidying up and treating the odd bit of rust on the (non-original) Lucas side lamps so the car will look smart on Drive-It Day,  Sunday 23 April when we will be off to the Royal Oak at Bishopstone