Bob

What a fantastic project - it looks superb!

Mike

Thanks for the picture Jeff. Brilliant project and a real tribute to Rollin White. I hope there are articles in the magazine to come from Bob and a few Bugatti's frightened at some of the vintage hill climbs.
Cheers
Mark

Bob
Great job.
Keep us posted on your progress.
Is there no suspension on the rear axel? I’m not familiar with the design of Whistling Billy

Hi,
Thanks for the comments.
No, Billy had no rear suspension as such.
When I put it onto the ground off the trestles for the first time about a month ago I found that the armoured oak chassis does infact give considerable flexion (note it tapers down at the rear). It will be less flexable eventually as I have not yet fitted all the stay bolts running along the side that keep the steel to the oak -I want most of my chassis fittings on before they fill in the gaps.

I originally added a shortened version of the White rear suspension as on the big White condensing racer but it meant taking the axle forward and then the propshaft joint would hit the body under the driver's seat.
So I took it all off and did what I should have done to start with -made it as Billy's was made with the one exception that I did not have a picture of the bracket at the time and it is more solid than the original.

I do at present have the seat (an original racing car seat) with a little little suspension to help my own aging chassis when driving. I am not really very happy with it as it is not correct to the pictures of Billy. I will probably make a new seat altogether and have some padding in it but after all the steering box and other parts are fitted.

It is interesting to note that the owners of Billy never in fact raced the car but always employed a young driver - hopefully with a good back!

For vintage photos of whistling Billy and a bit of its history, go to [www.usfamily.net]

Thank you for the link. I have this one already but do keep trying.

I have just started using my coil bender for making the steam generator pancake coils.
I purchased an old thread cutting machine for threading galvanised water pipes- the motor is 2hp then it is geared 100 to 1 giving revolution in 4 seconds. The tube is wound between two 24 inch 1/4 inch steel plates which I found had to be supported by two bearings each side where the bending head and the chain are fed. The bending head has 4 roller bearings along which the tube feeds and the chain gives 1/2 inch between the tubes.
First I put a 90deg bend in the pipe which is what holds it in the coil winder. I have so far bent seven o.75inch OD X 1/2inch ID coils with steel which I had in stock. I am getting today the correct 0.72 OD tubing which is a bit lighter. I hope then to start on Billy's coils and those for the new generator for Lucy my 1908 WHite and the smaller tubes for the 1906 White.ea\
The machine has plenty of power and we keep clear of it while it is working. The head is kept in place by a hydraulic jack which is slowly released but I hope to make this more automatic and more controlled eventually --but it works!

What a useful piece of kit Bob - I can see you taking commissions for pancakes.
Mike

Congratulations on this fantastic effort !

I am not a steam expert, however I have run across a bit on Whistling Billy while researching Walter Christie's race cars of the 1904-1909 period.
Christie actually put two engines in his 1905 racer, he had four wheel drive and still couldn't beat Webb Jay in July 1905. Definitely a sore point for us explosion engine guys.

I was told that Whistling Billy ended up in Portland, OR at the White dealership owned by Chris and Fred Dundee. Rolla Volstedt, the 1960's Indy Car builder, saw it pre-war, according to local legend. Someone told me the engine may have gone into a boat (I lived in Portland for 20 years). A small photo of the car outside the Dundee repair shop is in the US publication: Horseless Carriage Gazette July/Aug 2009.

I'm pleased to see this re-creation, as I am involved in a similar Christie project.

Lee Stohr
Virginia, USA

Hey Lee,

I really love Walter Christie's racers. Do you know if he ever had any in production. I read that the 1909 car with the 20 deg V 2 crank engine could be outfited with 7 1/2" bore by 7" stroke cylinders giving 1,237 ci for the racer and two smaller sets of cylinder 6" bore by 7" stroke 791 ci and 5 1/2" bore by 7" stroke 665 ci for touring. This is the only car I have read of that was designed to be able to switch out cylinders like that.

Which year/version are you replicating?

I can't help but imagine the three hottest cars of 1906 the Christie inline 4, Whites Whistling Billy and the Stanley Rocket or their Vanderbuilt Cup car racing eachother after 100 some years. . .

Caleb Ramsby

Hi Caleb,
I probably shouldn't get off topic - but to answer your questions in brief:
Christie's total car production has never been confirmed, but is thought to be around seven cars. None are believed to have survived. Christie production amounted to at least one Touring car, one Speedster, one Taxi, one 1907 GP car, one early prototype, one continually modified racer which entered the 1905 and 1906 Vanderbilt races, and the final 1909 V4 racer which Barney Oldfield used between 1912-1916. I am producing CAD drawings of the 1905 Vanderbilt car. We have a long way to go, but yes, someday there must be a rematch between all these 1905-era cars !
There already exists Packard Grey Wolf and Peerless Green Dragon reproductions over here. Add a Vanderbilt Stanley, the White Whistling Billy, Christie - that would be something to see.