Just over a year ago, I purchased the yellow 1919 Stanley 735B from Steve Theobald. As imported by Jeff Theobald, it had a burner system from an oil central heating boiler with a fuel pump and air fan mounted above the axle driven by a 110V AC motor powered by a frequency converter and two large batteries. Parts of the burner system were missing, but Jeff had collected some items to return it to standard, so a Stanley burner, cruban pilot and various valves came in a box with the car.
I spent last winter returning it to standard, reinstating the pilot and main fuel pipework, making a duct to connect the burner to the boiler etc. Goolds were very helpful in supplying more of the missing parts and each visit to them elicited more steam knowledge from Grant and Justin.
The car ran under steam in March last year and since then has been a regular sight on the roads around Halesowen. If there are any steam car owners around the West Midlands, it would be good to make contact.
Most of the time, as well as learning to drive the car while watching all the gauges, I've been experimenting with different fuel ratios (Petrol/Diesel mix for main burner), vapouriser lengths and position, different wire inside the vapouriser, trying to get a good stable burner without too much carbon formation - I'm sure you've all been there.
I'm still trying to find some bits, that aren't stopping the car running, but would be nice to fix.
I need a speedo cable. I believe the speedo head is a Stewart Warner and I have the drive gears on the offside front wheel, but no cable to connect drive to the head. Is there a good contact in the UK or US?
I also need the main fuel tank level gauge and float which is missing. A long piece of brazing rod works OK as a dipstick, but it would be nice to find the right part. Again any good contact would be appreciated.
This is my first steam car, so there will be more questions to come!
Dave

Try Speedy Cables - they can do all kinds of cables including those with flexible metal outers which I suspect is what you need. Helpful company but you may need to prod them to get the job done speedily!


[speedycables.com]

Mike

The chap in the USA you want for S-W speedometer drive parts is Russ Furstnow, if you send me a private message I can give you his email. Sourced virtually all the correct restored drive and Speedometer for our Model 607 from him.

Hi Peter,
Thanks for the offer of a contact for S-W speedo bits. That would be very helpful as the input gear and cable attachemnt part seems to be missing from the speedo. I've sent you a private message.
Thanks David