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1998
~ Mechanical Restoration Started Questions or Comments? Please Email Me!
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| 2005 | Work Done |
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Monday, January 24 |
In measuring the wooden top bows to start preparing them to fit the bow sockets I discovered the bows that John made are 62" wide. My widest bow is only 58-3/4" at the rear and the one at the windshield is 57-1/2" wide. After talking to John he's agreed to make the right ones. I packed up the five that he made me and sent them back via UPS. He should have replacements done in a couple weeks. |
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Thursday, January 27 |
Worked with Joe McAleese at the Lab to
install the new springs on the steel frame we made up to mount the front seat
back cushion springs. Removed some of the top material from the very front bow to see they type of wood used and how it was mounted to the bow. Removed the indoor-outdoor red carpet from the rear foot rest to see the type and size lumber used to make it. |
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Wednesday, February 2 |
Heard from John Boorinakis of John's
Enterprises in Auburn, California (530/885-4956) that he can't make the
bows needed for my car. His bow bender only does bows at two inch
increments and thus he can't make the laminated tapered bows for my car. He suggested
I contact Rick Kessell at Oak Bows and see if he can do them for me. Oak Bows or South Penn Restorations 122 Ramsey Avenue Chambersburg PA 17201-1293 717/264-2602 |
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Tuesday, February 15 |
Took the folded up top for the car to Rob
Montgomery at New Castle Auto Upholstery for review. He agreed to make the
replacement top for the car. He is going to order the new top material and
the black duck cloth to cover the bows and to make the padded bags with. New Castle Auto Upholstery 306 East Ayre Street Newport, Delaware 19804 302/995-6777 |
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Saturday, February 26 |
Picked up the seats, leather, and bits & pieces from Greg Ham. Greg has the back seat sewn together and it looks good. It needs to have the bottom sewn on. The two front seats will most likely need new leather tops made. Greg will be starting back to work at GM and won't have time to finish the seats at the schedule I'd like to see them done. |
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Friday, March 4 |
Took the seats, extra leather, and old
seat leather templates to Rob Montgomery at New Castle Auto Upholstery for
sewing and whatever else it will take to get them finished. Rob has started sewing various components of the top together. |
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Friday, March 11 |
Drove out to Chambersburg and picked up the 5 steam bent oak bows for the Stanley top. |
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Thursday, March 17 |
Joe McAleese and I worked on the top bow
for the windshield. After making sure the new bow was identical to the
original we fabricated the fill panel from a piece of 5/4 white pine. We
set up the laminate trimmer and rounded the edges of all five bows in
preparation for them getting covered. Packed up the driver rear-view mirror and sent it to Majestic Optical Coatings for recoating with aluminum. Majestic Optical Coatings Attn: Jeff Decker 152 Willow Way Clark, NJ 07066 (732) 388-5604 888-278-8308 Fax(732) 388-5826 |
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Saturday, March 19 |
Installed the two windshield thumbscrew
mounts on the front bow and placed the bow on the windshield posts. Mounted
the bow sockets to their pins at the rear of the car and taped them to the
front bow to get a feel for how the top would look. Installed the original
bows in the bow sockets to see how they fit, etc. Cut the front bow to the proper length and tapered the ends so that they fit snugly in the proper bow sockets. |
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Tuesday, March 22 |
Tapered the 3rd and 5th (rear) bow ends to
fit the bow sockets. As the weather has warmed sufficiently, the power to the two rod heaters in the boiler flues was turned off. The temperature recorder was left functional to record the cool down of the boiler to ambient temperatures. |
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Thursday, March 24 |
Tapered the 2nd and 4th bow ends to fit
the bow sockets. The driver side rear-view mirror was returned from Majestic Coatings. It looks great. It will need to be assembled into the painted frame. |
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Saturday, March 26 |
For each of the bows the proper curving
was applied to the length of the bow where it will be in contact with the
top material. The square profile was rounded out at each of the ends of
each bow where it mates to the top bow socket for a smooth transition from
the oval top bow socket profile to the 1-1/2" by 1" profile of the steam
bent oak bow. Fitted the top bows to their top bow sockets on the car. A string line from the rear bow to the front bow at the windshield indicates the bow lengths and positions are proper for a smooth roof contour. Folded the top bow and bow sockets into the storage position at the back of the car so that the bow sockets rested in the bow socket clamps. It suddenly became apparent why one of the rear bow socket tubes had been bent and why the rear most (#5) bow was severely bowed towards the car and even broken. The rear bow is too wide for the car and to fit in the bow socket holders by approximately 1-1/2".
Raising the bows and top bow sockets back
to the "up" position revealed the back bow's added length to actually be
twisting the whole top somewhat. As the replacement bow was made identical
to the original bow the problem has existed for some time. The fact that
one of the bow sockets had a severe bend in it and the rear bow was deformed
and broken can now be explained as causes from the undue stresses from the
bow being too long. I perhaps now also understand why Marvin Klair never
lowered the top in the 30 years he owned the car as he said it was too much
of a problem. |
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Monday, April 4 |
Met Carl Kishbaugh at Wilhelm's Service
Center to give him the top bow sockets to paint. Used Alex Kaznica's advice and applied bees wax to the small cracks in the #3 bow. Used my shellac heating knife to melt the bees wax and run it into the small cracks. Then used the blade edge to smooth the wax even with the surface of the bow. It worked really well and after a light sanding it was difficult to see where the filling had occurred. |
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Thursday, April 14 |
Cut out the replacement 1" thick red oak floor plank that the two folding seats mount to. Routed out the recesses for the folding seat bracket. |
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Thursday, April 21 |
Removed the heat trace, insulation, and thermocouples from the steam and water piping under the hood. Also removed the boiler heating elements and controls. |
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Monday, May 16 |
Picked up five top bows from New Castle Auto Upholstery which have been covered in black canvas. |
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Saturday, May 21 |
Carl Kishbaugh dropped off the painted top bow sockets. Installed the top bow sockets on the car and installed the wooden top bows into the top bow sockets. Next step is to fasten the top bows to the sockets and to finish out the canvas covering over the interface of the top bow with the socket. |
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Sunday, May 22 |
One of those days were one doesn't get
much physical work done but a lot of planning for future work is
accomplished. The front floorboards need to be covered with linoleum. As
several of the boards tend to stick when they are placed in the car they
were sanded as necessary to make them easier to drop in place. The two
fixed angled floorboards at the far right and left need to be fabricated so
the materials to do so were collected up. They will be fabricated using the
woodworking equipment at Dickinson Theatre Organ Society. The main flat floorboard has warped due to moisture. I'm going to try and flatten it before I cover it. Bolted the two nickel plated top thumbscrew sockets to the front top bow using 10-24 x 1-1/4" stainless stove bolts and tee-nuts. Put the top "up" in position for the next step which is installation of the 4" wide bow straps. I need to get screws to hold the wooden bows into the sockets and I need the two straps that hold the rear bow to the rear seat back before this part of the project can be accomplished. A review of the aluminum plate fastened to the floorboard around the emergency brake will need to be replaced because the scratches are too deep to sand out and it is broken at one of the screw holes. The plate was removed for taking to M&P Custom Design for fabrication. Upon removing the plate and underlying linoleum it was discovered the wood was broken out so a replacement piece was fabricated and will be glued in place. As the existing plate's mounting screws were stripped the new plate will have the screws drilled in a slightly different place in order to have good wood available. Just a lot of planning, etc. but not much physical work done. |
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Tuesday, May 24 |
Picked up the rear seat bottom cushion
from New Castle Auto Upholstery. The rear seat back can now be installed at
the rear of the car and then work started on sizing and installing the top. On Monday new oak panels were cut to replace the existing far right and far left front angled floorboard panels. Today those panels were sanded slightly to fit where they are mounted. They were then drilled for wood screws and painted flat black. Also painted flat black were the wooden frame and aluminum panels between the floorboards and the dash board along with the oak frame that will be covered with linoleum. A 30" length of 1" x 1" square box beam was drilled in four places to mount it to the underside of the large front floorboard. This floorboard wants to warp when the humidity is high so the board was put in the oven at 150░ Fahrenheit for 18 hours to drive out the humidity and return to to being flat. The box beam was painted in preparation for mounting with bolts to the floorboard. |
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Saturday, May 28 |
Drilled recesses and through holes in the
large front floorboard and installed T-nuts in the holes. Bolted the 30"
length of 1" x 1" square box beam to the floorboard. Hopefully this will
help keep the floorboard flat. Drilled the top bow sockets and top bows and installed stainless steel roundhead screws to keep the bows in the sockets. Installed the two harness D-rings at the top of the rear seatback of the car that the top straps will attach to. Set the web that runs between each of the bows in place and worked to set the bows in position to give the proper appearance profile to the car's top. |
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Monday, May 30 |
Using push pins to hold the black top
material in place, the new rear panel of the car's top (the panel that goes
across the back of the car between the top of the body and the last oak bow)
was positioned across the rear of the car. Using strings to set and hold
the position of the each of the bows relative to the other bows, the profile
of the top was set. The three 3" wide straps that span all five bows were
then stapled in position thus setting the bow-to-bow distances of the top. Next the double straps at either rear corner of the car were stapled to the ends of the rear bow. These straps will be anchored at the D-rings which protrude from the rear seat and maintain tension for the rear bow when the top is in place. The black duck cloth covering over each bow was formed into a hem at the interface with the top bow socket and sewn tight for each of the ten top bow -top bow socket interfaces. The top is next ready to have the bow radius pads installed and the window panel across the rear of the car properly fitted. |
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Tuesday, May 31 |
Stapled the right and left rear vulcanized
fiber backing panels to the car frame. The leather with felt stuffed side
panels of the rear seat area will rest against these. Stapled the canvas covered felt pad for the rear seat back to the wooden support at the bottom of the seat back. Made up a felt pad for the top of the seat and stapled it to the frame then stapled the canvas covered felt pad at the top of the seat to the car body. The rear seat back is now ready to have the leather cover put on once it is stuffed with horsehair. Reviewed how the two leather side panels at either side of the rear seat will be installed and decided that two more felt filled sections needed to be added to each panel to extend the felted sections behind the rear seat back. Set up the sewing machine and sewed two more sections into each side panel. Also stitched along the lower edge of the rear seat back leather cover so that it can be stuffed with horsehair. Removed the dry-rotted coverings from both of the metal strips that mount to the edge of the front and and rear seat cushion support boxes. Sanded off the loose debris and rust and painted them flat black. They will need to be covered with new leather and then installed. |
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Thursday, June 2 |
Screwed the far right and far left front
angled floorboard panels to the frame. Started stuffing the rear seat back with horsehair. Using a 1-3/4" OD by 1-1/2" ID by 3' long polycarbonate hollow tube the horsehair was shredded and stuffed into about 8" of the end of the tube. The tube was inserted into one of the pockets of the leather rear seat back cover and then a dowel inside the tube was held stationary while the tube was slid up the dowel. As the tube slid up the dowel the horsehair was pushed out the end of the tube and into the pocket. This procedure was repeated as necessary to completely the fill the pocket. Each pocket in turn was filled in the same manner. Stuffed 11 of the 13 panels before my arm gave out from smoothing it in the panels after being inserted. |
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Saturday, June 4 |
Completed stuffing the remaining two rear
seat back panels with horsehair. The complete panel is ready to install as
soon as the two side panels are installed. Installed the two rear seat side panels. Started by stapling them to the tack-strip near the floorboards. Then stapled the panel at the support post next to the door. Finished by cutting the panel to the proper length and folding it over the upper body wooden piece and stapling it to the wood. Used 1/2" staples and Joe McAleese's air stapler which really made the job easy and it eliminated the body having to withstand the hammering of tacks. |
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Tuesday, June 7 |
Picked up the two front seats from New
Castle Auto Upholstery. They are excellent. I couldn't be more pleased
with the way they turned out. They corrected the beading around the edges
and they sewed on the bottom material to the leather making the seats look
like they did when the car was originally built. Cut and fitted the vulcanized fiber panels that line either side of the front seat. Installed the vulcanized fiber panels in the car. Installed the felt-filled leather front seat side panels. Covered the front seat and rear seat metal retainers with leather. Temporarily installed the front seat back spring unit to measure the size of felt cover required and to set the position for the blanket strap clips that mount to the rear of the front seat back. |
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Wednesday, June 8 |
Installed the blanket strap rings to the
back side of the front seat using captive tee-nuts. Installed the front seat back spring unit to the front seat back using the rubber insulated cable clamps. Tied the lower row of springs to the bottom of the seat back and tied the upper row of springs to the top edge of the front seat back so they won't move out of position as the seat back flexes. Cut a piece of 1/2" thick felt to cover the front seat back springs and encased it in heavy duck cloth. Installed the felt pad over the springs and stapled it to the front seat back frame. The front seat is now ready to have the leather cover filled with horsehair and stapled in place. Installed the license plate on the car. |
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Thursday, June 9 |
Installed the springs on the water
automatic so that it will be functional. Filled the kerosene tank and pumped up kerosene system pressure. Pressurized the pilot fuel tank. Removed the half-pint can that used to serve as the master brake cylinder reservoir. Joe McAleese and I installed the new one-pint plastic master brake cylinder reservoir and plumbed it to the master cylinder. We then bled the brake system of any trapped air. Drained and flushed out the water tank. The car is ready for firing up on Friday evening and to be moved to the shop for display at Wilhelm's Antique Farm Machinery Show on Saturday and Sunday. |
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Friday, June 10 |
Fired up the car to move it to the shop.
Upon firing up noticed that the micro-valve on the pilot fuel system was
dripping at the packing. Also noted that the pilot nozzle was whisping
yellow flame indicating it wasn't as tight as it could be. Shut down the
pilot and tightened the pilot nozzle. In turning the pilot fuel micro-valve
the complete valve stem came out of the valve. The brass had fractured at
the interface to the valve body and was leaking. Replaced the micro-valve
with a 1/4" to 1/4" coupling. Refired the pilot. Fired up the car without any incident. In driving the car found the water automatic not to be working. Spent nearly 2 hours driving the car and working on the water automatic to try and get it working properly. With it getting dark decided to park the car at the shop and blow down the boiler. The water automatic will need to be disassembled and inspected to see what is causing it to stick. By using the manual bypass I was able to keep the boiler water up but the automatic needs to be properly adjusted. Put 15 miles on the car driving it around Old Limestone Road and Limestone Road along with a trip in both Southwood developments. Overall the car will be running fine once the water automatic gets attention. |
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Saturday, June 11 |
Displayed the car for Wilhelm's Antique
Farm Machinery Show. The boiler was blown down Friday night when the car was parked in the mechanical bay of the alignment shop. Unfortunately I forgot that I needed to close the water automatic bypass valve and when the boiler cooled it didn't syphon any water since it drew in air through the line between the pumps and the condenser. Filled the boiler with water from the shop hose. |
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Sunday, June 12 |
Displayed the car for Wilhelm's Antique
Farm Machinery Show. Fired up the car so that I could return it to its parking spot in the large pole barn where its been the past year undergoing the final phases of restoration. While I didn't blow down the boiler I did make sure the water automatic bypass valve was closed so that the boiler will syphon full of water when it cools. |
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Thursday, June 16 |
Took the four door panels, leather, and
top material to New Castle Auto Upholstery so that they can sew up door
pockets with the top material and then sew the pockets to the back leather
panels cut to fit the doors. They will also need to make a flap for
covering the access hole in each panel. Discussed what New Castle Auto Upholstery might have as a replacement for the trim moldings at the top of each door, across the top of the dash, and across the top of the front seat back. The original trim material is thin brass half-round that has been filled with lead and has nails embedded in the lead as it hardened for the purpose of mounting the trip molding to the wooden frame of the car. The whole assembly was then covered with leather which was sewn on the flat backside to hold it in place. These strips are not in good condition and reusing them is probably not possible. Either they will have to be refabricated or a suitable replacement will need to be found and used. The only thing that is available today are two trim forms which come in a variety of colors and materials. One is a flat trip that takes the form of a staple after it has been formed to hold paper together. It is called hydem welt. The other is very close in appearance to the original metal half-round however it has a smaller bead along one side. It is known as wire-on welt. The wire-on welt appears to be the best solution and several examples of it were supplied for me to work with in testing how it will work with the car. Took the wire-on welt samples and looked at how it will work for trimming out the car. It appears that it will work well however termination ends will be needed as well as a metal clip to make the right-angle bends. Decided on the wire-on for at least the dashboard, top of the front seat back, and for around the rear of the car where the top mates to the body (as it had originally). Ordered 8.33 yards of H-5W black leather wire-on welt from LeBaron Bonney Company. Also ordered 5 packs of wire-on welt tips, brass with nickel plating (P21). LeBaron Bonney Company 6 Chestnut Street PO Box 6 Amesbury MA 01913 800/221-5408 |
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Tuesday, June 21 |
Started working on applying the polished
aluminum cap moldings to the outlines of the front floorboards. Had to set
up the chop-off saw with a metal cutting blade and change the grinder from
polishing pads to grinding wheels. Also had to set up a work area behind
the Stanley. Got the large front floorboard edged on three sides along with
the far right angled floorboard edged on three sides. The forward/top edges
of these boards weren't done as the molding will need to be formed around
the semicircular openings in the boards. The molding is in the form of a
'J'
and when fastened to the floorboard allows the linoleum to be caught in the
bottom of the 'J' such that it forms a clean edge for the linoleum. This is a slow process as after cutting the cap molding (Youngstown Aluminum Products #944 polished cap edge molding) the cut is badly burred and needs to be filed clean. Fitting of the corners takes time as the saw tends to cut the pieces long (which is good) since the piece being cut wants to slide in the saw fixture and the aluminum doesn't cut clean but get hot and tends to run slightly. The pieces are then drilled with a countersink for mounting screws. The aluminum cap molding pieces are secured to the oak floorboards with 1/2"-6 square-drive flathead wood screws. |
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Wednesday, June 22 |
Continued applying aluminum cap molding to
hold the linoleum in place on the front seat area floorboards. Completed
the remaining angled floorboards with the excepting of their upper edge
moldings which will require the molding to be formed around the semicircular
openings for the steering column, boiler water indicator, and speedometer
cables in each panel. Fitting the molding around the openings for the brake
and hookup pedals is time consuming having to work with all the small pieces
and the number of cuts needed. Cut the two pieces of molding that will fit on the frame of the car just inside the each front door. In looking at the material that I have left it appears that I won't have sufficient to finish the job. Just to be on the safe side an additional piece of molding should be obtained. |
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Thursday, June 23 |
Tried to contact Youngstown Aluminum
Products where I obtained the polished aluminum moldings for the running
boards and front seat area floorboards. The 800-number, the toll number,
and the FAX number all responded with "the line has been disconnected". The
website is still active however. After a 3-hour search on the web Futura
Industries was located as a potential supplier. A phone call to Futura
indicates that they don't have the exact same cap molding. They are sending
samples for review. Carefully reviewed the uncut aluminum cap molding and what still needed to be done and came to the conclusion that if I don't make any mistakes (or at least not a major one) that I may have just enough material. With all the straight sections of cap molding installed on each of the four panels the edges of each panel with a radius or slot as part of the edge needs to be done. As the cap molding is a J-shape, the longer edge was slotted in the band saw at roughly 1/4" increments until the band saw blade nearly contacted the short edge. The Dremmel tool with a cutoff wheel was then used to lengthen the slot. Using the appropriate diameter deep-well sockets screwed to the work table the cap molding was carefully bent in as smooth as possible a radius around the socket. The result was a fairly uniform radius bend. The pieces were then cut to the proper length and attached to the respective panel.
The remaining straight pieces of cap
molding were added to complete the circumference edging of all four
floorboard panels. 1/2" staples were fired into the channel and oak panel
using Joe McAleese's pneumatic Porter Cable stapler at each joint to insure
the joints stay together. The pneumatic stapler was also used to staple the
little tabs that formed where the cap molding was bent on a radius. With
the exception of the water tank gauge in the large floorboard, the panels
are ready for sizing of linoleum. |
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Saturday, June 25 |
Carl Kishbaugh worked on the roughness of the tape edge from the repairs last August. When the rear of the car was repainted the lighter shade of red the tan pinstripe was taped as the upper limit of the area to be painted. When the tape was pulled a rough surface remained. Today Carl carefully scraped the pinstripe to remove the severe roughness. He then lightly wet-sanded the pinstripe with 2000-grit sandpaper to remove all traces of the roughness. He then polished it with 3M Microfinishing Compound on a sheep-hair pad, followed by 3M Finishing Material on a undulating foam pad, and finally with Foam Polishing Pad Glaze on a foam pad. Art Simpson will need to touch-up the tan pinstripe at the rear of the car. |
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Wednesday, June 29 |
Cleaned up the better of the two old Apple
Electric voltage regulators that were mounted to the dash. Tested them on a
lab power supply and both still work however an internal wire jumper is
required so it doesn't chatter. Using neoprene and fiber washers along with
nylon sleeves the four terminals were insulated as they pass through the
firewall. Brass nuts on each stud hold the unit to the firewall. As the
unit is 6-volt and the car is now 12-volt a small LM-317 will need to be
mounted on a circuit board under the dash so that the unit can can be
activated (change from displaying OFF to displaying ON) whenever the lights
are on. Rob Montgomery of New Castle Automotive Upholstery brought the bow corner pads and top materials to the pole barn at Bruce's and showed me how to put the corner pads in place and to prepare the top so that he can lay the top in position and mark it for final cutting and binding. I need to install the rear seat back and bow corner pads then have Rob back to size the top and prepare it. Cut paper templates to fit inside the aluminum cap moldings for the front four floorboards if preparation for cutting the linoleum. |
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Thursday, June 30 |
Joe McAleese piped up the new check valve
added to the discharge line between the water automatic discharge and the
condenser and then reassembled the water automatic. It is ready for
testing. Cut the aluminum cap molding for the two raised oak frame planks just inside the right and left front doors. All the cap moldings with the exception of the circular one that rings the water tank level gauge are installed. I ended up with about 18" of moldings left. That was cutting it close to say the least. |
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Sunday, July 3 |
Laid out the position of the rear seat
back leather covering so that it aligns with the rear seat cushion leather
covering and stapled it to the 1"x3" pine board that runs the width of the
car behind the rear seat cushion. Pulling the leather covering tight
widthwise while holding it in the proper place to staple proved to be a
lesson in being a contortionist. I definitely will be sore on July 4th
after all the pulling and such required to get the leather covering properly
stapled in place.
With the lower edge of the leather covering stapled in place the top edge was pulled and positioned to the top edge of the car body as it will be stapled in place. Heavy-duty metal pushpins were used to temporally hold the leather covering in place at the top edge of the body so that the leather has a bit of time to stretch. Over the next couple of days the leather will be pulled tight and held in place with pushpins until it is stapled in place. |
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Monday, July 4 |
As I was indeed sore for stapling the rear seat back leather covering in place I decided it would be a good day to stuff the front seat back leather covering with horsehair. As the rear seat back leather covering hadn't pulled loose and was still tight it was not tightened further. |
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Saturday, July 9 |
Stapled the top edge of the rear seat back to the frame of the car. |
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Monday, July 11 |
Stitched up the two straps between the
rearmost bow and the rear of the car. Cut the black felt to 8" width and sewed up two 8" wide lengths of 4 felt layers to serve as a 4-ply pad for the top. Installed the right side and left side padding pouches that protect the top material from chafing on the bow radiuses. Stuffed the pouched with the 4-ply padding and secured the pouch flaps. The top is now ready for Rob Montgomery from New Castle Auto Upholstery to size and then apply bindings to the edges. |
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Tuesday, July 12 |
Joe McAleese and I worked on the parking
brake to see if it could be tensioned anymore so that it would hold better.
The mechanical rods were removed and checked to see how much adjustment is
available. Our work turned up the fact that the brake rods have already
been adjusted up about as far as they can go. Two alternatives exist to
improve the parking brake efficiency. First to to have the parking brake band linings replaced. The existing material is definitely showing wear. A thicker material should help the brake bands grab the brake drum better. Also, the existing brake material is at least 15 years old and has gotten hard, is probably steam oil impregnated, and no doubt this is contributing to the problem. If installing new brake material on the bands doesn't help the situation then the rods will be cut and shortened slightly with additional adjustment turnbuckles so that there is adjustment available. |
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Thursday, July 14 |
Polished the new aluminum plate that mounts to the floorboard and trims out the parking brake lever. Also polished the aluminum thresholds for the four doors. The thresholds are badly scratched and perhaps should be replaced. The aluminum oxidation was removed and they have some shine to them but the deep gouges and scratches detract from what shine there is. |
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Saturday, July 16 |
Using the paper templates that had been
cut and fitted to each of the four front floorboards, the linoleum sheet was
cut to match the paper template. The cut linoleum was then placed in the
aluminum cap molding of its respective floorboard to insure it fit
properly. Two pieces of linoleum need to be fit on the oak frame to either
side of the floorboards before it all is glued down. With the parking brake not holding the car when the brake is applied I contacted Herb Kephart to inquire what he had done for Tom Marshall's cars. The brake material Herb used is recommended by Charlie Johnson and is called Green Gripper. Herb provided a contact to obtain the brake lining material from. When I have the brake lining material, Herb will replace the existing linings with the new material. The left rear brake band was removed from the wheel to measure the length, thickness, and width of the existing material so that replacement material could be ordered. |
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Wednesday, July 20 |
The brake material on my bands is 2" wide,
approximately 42" long, and 1/4" thick. Research on the Internet reveals
the recommended replacement material is called Green Gripper Woven and is
made by SanPac Corporation. It is available in various widths and
thickness. I contacted PBS Brake & Supply to order an 85" length of the
material. The contact information for the brake material is as follows ~ ScanPac is the manufacturer ~ http://www.scanpac.com
A supplier of Green Gripper Woven is ~ Cut and formed a piece of the aluminum cap molding into a circular shape to ring the circular opening in the large front floorboard so that the water tank gauge can be viewed. Applied linoleum adhesive to each of the four floorboards in succession and set the linoleum in place. Rolled the linoleum with a hand roller to insure it made good contact with the adhesive. Set each of the floorboards under weight to keep the linoleum pressed to the wooden floorboard and adhesive while the adhesive cured overnight. |
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Thursday, July 21 |
Joe McAllese removed the right rear parking brake band in preparation for
both bands going to Herb Kephart to have the linings replaced. Joe also
drilled out the brass rivets that held the old lining to the band so that
the old lining is free of the band and can be used for a drilling template. In looking at the steel bands, one of them is thin in one area. Looks like the wheel was low to the ground or otherwise exposed to the elements and took a lot of moisture as the band rusted on the outside badly but not all the way through. Its thin for about 6" along one edge. After Herb looks at them, I'll see if he recommends getting replacement steel bands made. The ends are riveted to the steel band so they'd have to be removed from the existing band and riveted to the new band. One end of each band has a steel loop with and associated steel spring and the other has the take-up bolt casting. It shouldn't be hard to replace the bands but it is one more thing that was unexpected that may need to be attended to. It turns out that the linoleum on one of the floorboards, the largest of the sloped ones (far fight floorboard), didn't adhere to the wood panel. In trying to get the linoleum up for the purpose of putting more adhesive where it wasn't sticking, the linoleum tore. It is not as robust as I had believed it was. Thus a new piece had to be cut, the old adhesive removed with mineral spirits from the wood floorboard panel, and the replacement linoleum piece applied again with adhesive. This time I used plenty of adhesive and I clamped the linoleum to the panel as it wanted to bulge up from the panel. Using a 7/16"-14 die the two top socket support studs had the threads chased and cleaned of paint. The new top prop knobs were installed. Cut the triangular shaped pieces of brown paper to serve as templates for the linoleum that will cover body frame rails at either side of the front floorboard area. Then cut the actual linoleum pieces. For the left linoleum panel the area for the parking brake lever was cut out. Drilled and countersunk 8 holes in the new aluminum plate that outlines the brake lever opening as it passes through the frame at the left side of the car. Cut a piece of the heavier black leather from some of the seat leather scrap material to serve as a dust boot in the opening where the brake lever handle is mounted. |
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Saturday, July 23 |
Installed the leather front seat back. Screwed the wooden top frame for the rear seat support in place. Installed the leather covered metal retainers that hold the the two front seat cushions and the rear seat cushion in place on their respective wooden support frames. The folding jump seats are the only two seats remaining to be completed along with the installation of all four interior leather door panels. |
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Thursday, July 28 |
Another major milestone today! Picked up
the top panels of Black Stayfast from New Castle Auto Upholstery. Installed the rear panel of the top across the rear of the car. Positioned it in place using the pushpins to secure it to the rear top bow and to the top of the body. With the panel properly positioned it was pulled tight and stapled to the top bow. Next the panel was stapled to the top of the body. The top panel of the top was spread out across the bows and positioned using pushpins to secure the panel at the rear bow and at the front bow over the windshield to secure the panel in the proper alignment. With the panel in the desired position the panel was stapled to the rear bow. With alignment still looking good the panel was pulled tight and stapled to the front bow. A length of black wire-on hidem was applied across the front bow to cover up the staples and edge of the top material on the front bow. The decorative flap that goes across the rear of the car was put in position and marked so that it can be cut to match up with the main top. Once this flap is stapled in place a length of hidem can be applied across the rear bow to cover the staples and edge of the flap material. |
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Saturday, July 30 |
Sometimes what seems like the simplest job
can take hours to accomplish. Today was such a day. There weren't really
any problems in working on the top for the car but the couple of tasks
accomplished today simply took time to make sure things were aligned right
then stapled properly with Joe McAleese's pneumatic stapler. Installed the decorative flap at the top rear of the top along with the wire-on hidem that goes across the top bow in order to cover the staples and Stayfast seam. Installed the wire-on hidem at the top of the body where the top material is stapled so that the staples were covered. Polished the two nickel plated oval beveled glass window frames that will be cut into the rear panel of the top. |
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Sunday, July 31 |
Sanded the oval back frames for the two
rear beveled glass windows to remove all rust and debris and then painted
them gloss black. Also painted the windshield wiper hardware gloss black.
Need to get some 5-40 nuts for the oval frames as some are missing. Measured the screws used to hold the various components on the dashboard so that proper screws can be ordered. Laid out and cut the brown matting that covers the rear panel of the front seat back. Also cut two pieces of black leather that get sewn to either side. Will take the matting and leather to New Castle Auto Upholstery and ask them to stitch it up straight. |
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Monday, August 1 |
Had New Castle Auto Upholstery stitch the
leather side panels to the brown matting that covers the rear of the front
seat back. Using the old panels as templates, cut out pairs of vulcanized fiber sheets that can be attached to the right and left inside of the car under the dash. With two panels cut and fit for each side, the panels were cemented together to form a single panel using contact cement. The next step is to cover them with leather. |
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Saturday, August 13 |
As today is the hottest day in 2005 thus
far work was confined to what could be done in the cool of the lab area. As
the door panel Common Sense fasteners that hold the pocket flap closed were
slightly different than those on the Stanley originally they were changed
out with Common Sense fasteners that match what Stanley originally used. Cut two pieces of leather to fit the vulcanized panels that are located below the dash on either side of the car. Using contact cement the leather was attached to the vulcanized panels and fitted over the edges and glued to the back side. The panels are ready for mounting to the car's wooden frame. Using the old panels as templates, cut out pairs of vulcanized fiber sheets that can be attached to the right and left inside of the car just behind the front seat. With two panels cut and fit for each side, the vulcanized fiber sheets were cemented together to form a single panel using contact cement. The next step is to cover them with leather once the covering for the backside of the front seat is in place. |
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Tuesday, August 16 |
Installed the four aluminum thresholds
that had been polished. Worked with Joe McAleese to apply the leather panels to both rear doors. Also attached the hidem around the perimeter. The metal corners for the hidem need to be painted black before they can be installed. |
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Saturday, August 20 |
Another milestone day ~ almost. Today saw
the finishing of the leather work for the rear seat area of the car which
means the interior upholstery for the rear of the car is done. The "almost"
comes in because the little metal end plates for the wire-on and the metal
corners for the hidem have to be painted gloss black and installed. With
the exception of the floor carpet which must wait until the jump seats are
completed and installed, the leather work for the rear compartment is
complete. Today two vulcanized fiber panels were cut to shape and covered with leather to fill in the area between the pleated side panels of the car and the floorboard just in front of the rear seat. The hidem was installed along the rear door edges of the body and wire-on was installed at the top of the side panels. Finally the carpet was installed at the back of the front seat along with the leather covered vulcanized fiber panels attached to either side. Thus with the two rear doors being covered on Thursday all major leather and trim has been installed in the rear passenger area of the car. Next is the front seat area and completion of the leather work in that area. |
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Tuesday, August 23 |
Installed the two leather covered vulcanized panels under the dash on either side of the car. Installed wire-on across the top of the dashboard. Installed wire-on across the back of the front seat. Installed hidem at each door. Installed the aluminum trim plate for the parking brake. With the exception of the front doors being covered with their leather panels, most of the interior trim work is complete. |
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Friday, August 26 |
Rob Montgomery from New Castle Auto
Upholstery came to Bruce's shop to put the Common Sense Fastener eyelets in
the top material so that the two flaps at either side at the rear of the car
can be fastened to the top bow sockets. I now need to drill and tap the
metal top bow sockets for the Common Sense Fasteners. Laid out the side curtains and reviewed with Rob how we should go about getting new ones fabricated. Rob took the curtains with him to work on. He's going to make up the plastic panels with the Stayfast top material as the frames and then bring them to the car for fitting. Art Simpson repaired the tan pinstripe at the rear of the car. After letting the metal corners and ends for the wire-on and hidem soak in battery acid to remove the plating and black paint, they were sprayed with gloss black paint. |
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Saturday, August 27 |
Initially when the mechanical restoration
was underway and the rear wheel bearings were being replaced the internal
emergency brake shoes were relined. The exterior foot brake bands did not
have their linings replaced at that time as that could occur later just
before the car was to be driven. Part way through the mechanical
restoration the boiler was found to have bad flues during a hydrostatic test
and the mechanical restoration and driving the car during the first year of
ownership became impractical. With the delay required to fabricate a new
boiler the foot brake system was changed from a mechanical linkage to a
hydraulic system. Hydraulic brakes provides better brake effectiveness and
less fade but also now required that the exterior band that was the foot
brake become the emergency brake band. Thus the band was not lined. With the car now again drivable and based on the fact that the emergency brake was becoming ineffective at holding the car in place on a grade, replacing the band brake linings became a necessity. Thus a couple weeks ago the band brakes were removed and taken to Herb Kephart for lining with Green Gripper brake material. Due to the poor condition of the bands themselves Herb also made new bands. Today the new bands with their linings were reinstalled on the car. Installation went well. The brake bands as they had come to me from Marvin Klair were missing the guide blocks that traveled in the holders opposite the tensioning mechanism. The springs were also not the correct tension. With the new bands and linings it is imperative that the guide block and springs be correct. Thus a pair of nylon bushings were made to fit the holders. A trip to the hardware store located springs that would work as well as the needed washers and locking nuts. Both brake bands were installed and adjusted. When loose an index card will slide between the Green Gripper brake lining and the steel brake drum. When tight it is impossible to rotate the tire. Thus the car now has a mechanical emergency brake that is functional in addition to the hydraulic foot brake. As the metal corners and ends for the wire-on and hidem that were painted had paint defects and the paint hadn't really dried well, the pieces were sanded lightly, resprayed with gloss black paint, and placed in the oven at 175 degrees F for better curing. |
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Tuesday, August 30 |
With the help of Joe McAleese the interior work is complete with the exception of the two jump seats. The leather coverings, hidem, and wire-on were applied to both front doors thus finishing up the interior of the car. Another milestone in the car's restoration has been reached. With the car in its present condition it is considered acceptable to take to its first car show which is the Hagley Car Show on September 18th. |
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Saturday, September 10 |
Since Wilhelm's Antique Engine Show in
June a lot of activities have occurred on the car. Most notably the top has
been installed and the interior largely finished (the two jump seats still
have to be completed and installed). The parking brake bands have been
relined and the sticking water automatic has been rebuilt. Today was
targeted as the day to fire up the car and assess its readiness for travel
next Sunday to the Hagley Car Show. Joining in the activities was Joe
McAleese and Alex Kaznica. Before firing up the car several items had to be attended to. As the two jump seats are not done the hole in the rear floorboard needed to be covered. Joe cut a piece of Masonite to cover the hole. The driver's side rearview mirror had never been assembled since repainting so I did that and then Alex cleaned the paint from the swivel parts and installed the mirror on the car. A 12-volt battery was installed in the battery compartment under the rear seat. Finally, the top was put down not only to see how it folded up and stored at the rear of the car but also so that it would be out of the way for today's test drives. After lunch the firing-up process was started. Joe was responsible for the fire-up teaching Alex the process while I served as observer. With the car fired up it was time to take to the road and make the loop around the shop to see how the water automatic performed. The charging of the electrical system needed to be verified and we needed to insure that the parking brake bands weren't dragging or causing other problems. Finally any other problems with the car needed to be noted for future action or dealt with as part of this drive. After a couple loops around the shop area it became evident that the water automatic was not maintaining the water level in the boiler. The water level had dropped in the boiler to 1/3 full so the automatic bypass valve was closed to force feed water to the boiler. The electrical system ammeter showed a constant discharge indicating that the generator regulator either wasn't working or that the generator magnetic field needed to be demagnetized from the car not having run for five years. Braking systems were nominal, the winker was providing plenty (perhaps too much) oil to the engine, and generally things seemed very nominal. After returning to the pole barn the adjustment nuts of the water automatic were turned a half-turn tighter. This would serve to close the water automatic's valve and force water to the boiler when the automatic was hot. On the drive back to the pole barn the boiler had been forced half-full of water so another test drive was indicated to check the boiler water automatic's operation. This test drive showed that the water automatic was forcing water into the boiler however there was now a problem with the burner not firing at full heat. Either the steam automatic or the low-water automatic appeared not to be providing full fuel flow to the burner. Alternately the burner vaporizer or the nozzle could have been clogged with carbon thus restricting fuel flow to the burner. After returning to the pole barn and getting ready to see what the burner problem was, the burner backfired. A check of the fuel and firing-up valves indicated they were off. Thus either the steam automatic or the low-water cutoff automatic had opened and released fuel to the burner. By the amount of fuel that was released it was indicative of the low-water automatic opening. As the boiler was still low on water the first thing that needed to occur was to add water to the boiler. The right rear wheel of the car was jacked up. With the right rear wheel not making contact with the cement floor of the pole barn the throttle was cracked so that the pumps could function. Water pump action was checked and the pumps quickly filled the boiler to nearly full on the boiler water indicator. With the boiler full the main burner relit at full heat and tended to confirm that the low-water automatic had shut down. What was disconcerting was that the low-water automatic was shutting down fuel flow even though the boiler was low on water but no where near a critical point. The only way to further access the situation was to drive the car again. We all loaded into the car and made a couple more loops around the shop area using Limestone Road and Old Limestone Road. We noted that the generator had started supplying power to the battery and lights. The generator field would not need to be demagnetized and the voltage regulator appeared to be functional. The pumps were heard to be pumping hard and they cycled ON and OFF indicating that the water automatic was now functioning as it should. After a couple of "loops" a left turn was made onto Limestone Road and I headed for the nearby housing development where I could make a couple loops of the development to further access the operation of the water automatic, low-water automatic and the car in general. With one "loop" complete I was feeling very confident and we headed to Southwood Road for a short trip towards Hockessin. With things continuing well we headed down Yorklyn Road to Route 82. We passed the Marshall Estate and headed to Kennett Square. We returned to the shop on Kaolin Road from Kennett Square where we put water in the car. Photos of the car in the field were also taken. As there was an hour before I would need to start thinking about putting the car away and heading to Mom's for dinner another drive was in order. This one took us South on Limestone Road to Valley Road. We proceeded straight across Little Baltimore Road onto North Star Road. From North Start Road we took Upper Pike Creek Valley Road. A right on Linden Hill Road took us to Ebenezer Church Road. We crossed Paper Mill Road and headed to Corner Ketch on Corner Ketch Road. A right onto Wilmington-Landenberg Road brought us to Little Baltimore Road were we turned right and headed for Limestone Road. Crossing Limestone Road onto Brackenville Road we reached Old Lancaster Pike. From Old Lancaster Pike we turned left onto Valley Road. In a short distance we reached Southwood Road which took us back to the pole barn. It had been a good second run. Most of the time the steam pressure stayed above 400 PSIG. For some of the driving the boiler held 500 PSIG. Occasionally the pressure dropped to the 300 PSIG range and once I pulled over to not only let traffic behind me pass but to also build up steam for the coming hills. We could maintain a speed of 25 to 30 MPH in the hilly terrain and peaked a little over 40 MPH on one downgrade. The blower wanted to whistle indicating an over-firing condition. I also don't feel it steamed as well as it had in the past. This could be from a number of factors including my memory of how well the car ran when I last ran it in 1999. I suspect the burner is actually over-firing in that it's getting too much fuel and thus the fire is not at hot as it could be. When we shut down the pilot the pilot door glass was covered in carbon dust indicating a rich fuel condition at least at the pilot. In the coming week I'll need to look inside the smoke bonnet and see if there's carbon buildup there. The whistling needs to stop and I need to optimize the burner's heat production for the fuel being consumed. I noted that we'd used a quarter tank of kerosene and traveled 32 miles during the day (odometer reading 50367). The boiler was blown down and the water tank filled of water. With the car back in the pole barn to cool and hopefully syphon the boiler full of water, we cleaned up and all prepared for going home. While the car had a quick drive in June 2004 when it returned from body restoration and another quick drive in June 2005, this was really the first time the car had been out on an extended drive. It rode and steered well. It was comfortable to drive but still a handful. Braking was typical of a Stanley with brake fade an ever-present reminder that this car is 1918 technology and not to be driven in the same manner as today's cars. At least the new tires didn't slide on the road like the old ones were doing in 1999. The intent of today's activities was accomplished. The car is ready for it's first official car show since restoration started in January 1998 ~ The Hagley Car Show. It felt really good to be back in the driver's seat. |
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Tuesday, September 13 |
Checked the car over from the run on
Saturday. The boiler had siphoned full of water. Fuel pressures were still
up. Opened the throttle and closed the steam cylinder oil separator drain.
Picked up the pair of "1918 Stanley Model 735" license plates from Art Simpson. Installed one of the plates on the license plate bracket at the front of the car. Renovated Marvin Klair's old spare tire Stanley plate and adapted it for mounting of the second Stanley license plate. Touched up the wire-on and hidem decorative end plates and corner screw heads on all the doors and seat backs with gloss black Sign Painters One-Shot. Also touched up nuts and such that had been scraped as a result of removing the kerosene tank when the rear of the car had been worked on. Painted the screw heads of the driver's rear view mirror and the tops of the windshield posts where the top clamps. |
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Thursday, September 15 |
In preparation for the Hagley Car Show on
Sunday the Stanley was cleaned and made ready. The kerosene tank was filled
with about 7 gallons of kerosene to top it off. A quart or so of Hexane was
added to the pilot fuel tank. While the pilot tank was depressurized the
plug was removed from the fuel gauge port and the restored pilot tank fuel
gauge was installed. Joe McAleese cleaned the wire wheels which were a dirty, oily, disaster while I went over the painted surfaces with Race Glaze. The windows were cleaned and the leather seats rubbed down with leather conditioner. The car is ready for it's trip to the Hagley Car Show. |
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Sunday, September 18 |
The Hagley Car Show!! Today was the annual Hagley Car Show which marked the first official car show for the Stanley. Alex Kaznica and Joe McAleese met me at the shop at 7 AM to fire up the car. We rolled it back and lit off the pilot followed by the burner. The firing up was uneventful and by 8:15 AM we were ready to leave for the car show. One potential problem was noted in that the left rear blowdown valve was leaking steam and water at a good drip. As I didn't believe it would be that big a problem I decided it wasn't necessary to blow down the boiler to replace the valve. With tools loaded on board along with my signs and "Stanley Ignition Key" we loaded in and I drove the car over to Yorklyn Road to insure things were functioning properly. Joe McAleese then took the wheel as we followed Route 82 over to Route 52 and onto Route 92. From there we looped around to Route 141 and down the Hagley driveway. Once inside the Hagley gates we pulled over at a convenient location and Alex took the steering wheel to experience driving a Stanley. We drove along the Hagley grounds to get to the car show area where I parked the in an area that had been reserved for the steam cars. We had made the trip from Wilhelm's Service Center to Hagley in about an hour. Once parked the car was quickly wiped of dust and the display signs set up. The pilot was turned off so that we could enjoy the car show and no one would need to stay with the car and keep an eye on the pilot. I also figured that if I let the steam pressure drop the dripping left rear blowdown valve would not let out as much water from the boiler. While I had closed the automatic bypass valve during the ride in to fill the boiler with water I wanted to insure as little as possible was lost due to the leaking valve. The day went very well with over 600 cars registered. There was a constant flow of people looking at the cars and may stopped to complement the restoration and ask questions. Late in the afternoon the steam pressure was nearing 100 PSIG so I fired up the pilot and let it burn hot for about an hour to raise the steam pressure back up to 200 PSIG to insure that the boiler didn't cool sufficiently and start siphoning water. While I had a hose with me and water was available at Hagley, I didn't want to take on water if I didn't have to. At 4 PM the show closed and the pilot was lit to start the firing-up process. The boiler water level indicator was now showing quarter-full. This was a concern to me since in the past this low water level had caused the low water shutoff to restrict the fuel flow to the burner. The car fired-up well and we had a full head of steam in short order. With the low water situation I decided to drive the car just to be sure of what was happening. We started out with the water automatic bypass valve closed which forced all pumped water into the boiler. Travel was slow out of Hagley which meant the pumps didn't supply a lot of water volume but also meant we didn't use a lot of steam. However once out of Hagley when the pace picked up the boiler pressure dropped to 250 PSIG and hung there. I needed to keep going as there wasn't a convenient place to pull over so between cold water going to the boiler and my needing steam the pressure didn't rise. It wasn't until we got onto Route 82 again (after having a problem getting across Route 52 due to low steam) that I could pull over and build up steam pressure. With steam pressure back the car responded well and the boiler continued to fill with water. With the boiler nearly full I opened the water automatic bypass valve and the car was basically operating on automatic. Joe deferred an opportunity to drive the car to Alex so Alex too the wheel for the remainder of the ride home. I elected to stay on Route 82 taking it to Kennett Square where we turned onto Kaolin Road for the trip back to the shop. We passed the shop and took Valley Road to Little Baltimore Road. At Limestone Road we headed north to return to the shop. After filling the water tank and letting any oil run off the surface water of the water tank the top was put up in preparation for the installation of the two beveled glass windows at the rear of the car and the fitting of the side curtains. The boiler was blown down and the car put away. All in all it was a very good outing. The car performed well sans the blowdown valve. The odometer now reads 50398 miles which means we drove 31 miles today ~ a mile short of the run the car had a week ago. |
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Tuesday, September 20 |
Checked the status of the Stanley. With
the leaking left rear blowdown valve I didn't expect the boiler to siphon
with water but it had. The boiler was full. The throttle was opened and
the car generally looked over. The leaking left rear blowdown valve stem and handle was removed and replaced with a much shorter valve stem and handle so the boiler would not drain of water. The 10-inch valve stem cone had pitted from rust and that was the cause of the leaking. A short turning in my model lath would repair the cone to its original contour and probably make the stem serviceable. Investigation of my spare valves revealed that I don't have any long-shaft Stanley valves so I need to have some fabricated. I can order valve stems from John Goold in the United Kingdom or I can have either Tony Alverez or Herb Kephart machine stems. Keeping with Stanley philosophy the valve stems are unique. The rods are 5/16" diameter. They were originally steel but now the replacements from John Goold are of stainless steel which eliminates the rust pitting of the valve seat cone. An inch of one end is cut with a 20-thread (another Stanley bastard thread). Then the very end of the threaded end is tapered with a 60-degree cone (Stanley also used 82-degree cones on some valves). I need to get a stem 10" long but should get a 9" as well as an 8" and a couple of 6" as well. |
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Sunday, September 25 |
Put the pitted Stanley valve stem in my
model lathe and machined the end back to a 60-degree cone removing the pits
that had caused the valve to leak. The temporary short valve stem was
removed from the left rear blowdown valve and the 10" stem installed. It
took a couple tightening-loosening-tightening cycles to get the valve stem
to seat again but water flow from the blowdown pipe stopped. The boiler was
then topped off with water from the garden hose so that a hydrostatic test
could be made. The hand pump on the car was used to pressurize the boiler
to over 600 PSIG. The pressure held and there was no dripping from the
suspect valve indicating a good seat had been made. While performing the hydrostatic test the kerosene fuel pressure gauge showed pressures reaching 160 PSIG. With the pressure moving up fairly rapidly it is an indication that the service tanks are low on air and will need to be repressurized before the next outing with the car. The seat and seat backs for the two jump seats were covered with leather. The carpet that covers the lower part of the jump seats was cut to size so that it can be taken to New Castle Auto Upholstery to have a binding sewn around the perimeter. |
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Saturday, October 1 |
Worked on the oak plank that holds the jump seats in place cutting it to fit where the old one mounted. The ends need about 3/16" shaved off which will be accomplished using the Dickinson Theatre Organ Society's radial arm saw. Also need to obtain from M&P Custom Design a pair of 4" long T-bar pieces that will support the second oak plank that holds the jump seats in place. Originally held in place with angle, the T-bar will allow support off the car's frame and thus a more secure mounting for the seats. |
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Friday, October 7 |
The carpet that covers the lower part of the jump seats was picked up from New Castle Auto Upholstery after having a leather binding sewn around the perimeter. Met with Rob Montgomery to fit the side curtain panels for cutting of the clear inserts and fasteners |
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Saturday, October 8 |
Finished up the upholstery of the two jump seats. The carpet was applied to the lower areas of both seats and the rear cover panels of the seat backs were installed. Both seats are now ready for mounting in the rear of the car as soon as the wooden supports are installed. |
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Thursday, October 13 |
Joe McAleese and I installed the two beveled glass oval windows in rear panel of the Stanley's top. Definitely a two person job. |
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Monday, October 17 |
Alex Kaznica worked with me to installed
the common sense fasteners on the top bow sockets and the top edge of the
body for fastening the side panels of the top to the car when the top is up. Alex installed a replacement needle regulating valve on the pilot fuel line as the old one had started to leak at the valve stem due to a stress fracture. Alex and I mounted the two jump seats to their primary wooden support and set them in the car to figure out how the the jump seat support lumber would be fastened to the car frame and body. |
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Thursday, October 20 |
Richard Hills, theater pipe organist from
the UK is here visiting and a big fan of older cars. He's followed the
progress of my Stanley over the past several years during his visits to the
US. Today presented an opportunity to take him for a ride. It was the
first time the car has been out with the top up so I wanted to see how it
performed with the top in place. Basically it flaps a bit for sure and the
view out the back to the cars following the Stanley is really obscured.
The blowdown valve that was rebuilt functioned fine. One thing that will need attention is finding where the burner whistle is occurring. The outdoor temperature was in the low 60s and the burner definitely whistled more than it had during the last outing when the temperature was in the low 80s. I believe the whistle is coming from somewhere around the pilot door but I'm not sure. I had to cut back the burner a bit to keep the whistling down and that limits steaming capability so the whistle needs to be located and corrected. Also the inside of the pilot door was heavily coated in carbon. It appears that the pilot is leaking at several of the cleanout ports so it needs to be removed and have the port plugs tightened. The odometer read 50,420 miles at the end of today's trip. Richard had taken a 22 mile trip in the Stanley. On the way home rain drops started to dot the windshield so we had put the car away just in time. |
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Saturday, October 29 |
Put two coats of flat black paint on the
two oak boards that the pair of jump seats attach to. Also touched up the edges of the front floorboards where they needed to be sanded to fit properly. |
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Saturday, November 5 |
Another portion of the interior restoration was completed today with the installation of the two jump seats between the front and rear seats. Both jump seats were bolted and screwed to their two pieces of mounting lumber and then the assembly was set in position. The main oak panel was secured to the body frame with 2" - #14 wood screws. Some additional securing screws were installed to complete the installation. With the two jump seats installed the car is now back to being a 7-passenger car. To complete the interior the carpet needs to be cut to size, have the edge trim sewn on, and then the carpet installed in the car. The rear seat foot rest also needs to be completed. |
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Sunday, November 6 |
Tom Marshall and the Friends of Auburn
Heights set today as a mini-tour day. The trip was about 29 miles and took
us into some of the more scenic areas of Chester County. The Mountain
Wagon, 76, 610, and 82 all went along with my 735. I had asked Carl
Kisbaugh if he were interested in the trip and didn't hear back. Also asked
Brant and he didn't respond. Fired up the car this morning and drove to
Tom's by myself. John Lawrence rode with me for the complete trip and
Anthony Zych for the last leg home. The car fired up fine and the trip to Tom's went very well. Also the first three-quarters of the trip went well. The only complaint is that the burner whistled. About a third into the trip the burner stopped whistling which I attributed to it warming up. That was not to be the case. The burner not whistling is a sign of low fuel flow which could either be in the liquid supply side with the kerosene fuel filter, the low water automatic, or the steam automatic. It could also be the vaporizer or the nozzle. By the time we got to Longwood Gardens on the homeward leg of the tour the car didn't want to steam well. Earlier I had maintained 500 PSIG steam pressure and now it was all I could do to hold 300 PSIG. The tour group stopped at Applebees on Route 1 just East of Kennett Square and while some of the tour folks had a meal I investigated the problem. Initially I thought it might be the low water automatic restricting fuel flow. That seemed cool I also looked at the steam automatic but it too looked fine. It could be the kerosene fuel filter but that would have to wait until the car is cooled down before I can work on it. The burner nozzle was taken apart and found to be clean. I decided that the problem must be the low water automatic and we should be fine with the car cooled. In leaving Applebees it was obvious the car was not steaming properly. I was able to make it back running mostly at 300 PSIG steam pressure however by the time we got to the old Snuff Mills the pressure was down to 200 PSIG and I needed to pull over and build steam pressure if I was going to climb the grade to Tom's home and then his driveway. Building steam pressure from 200 PSIG to 400 PSIG took a good 5 minutes. With enough steam to get to Tom's I started to investigate the problem. I cracked the kerosene line were it attaches to the fitting at the fuel end of the vaporizer tube. The line had pressure which released kerosene when I broke the flare fitting loose. The kerosene caught fire but went right out. There shouldn't have been pressure at this point indicating a plugged vaporizer. I removed the vaporizer wire fitting and the wire pulled out easily. I then gave the vaporizer a steam enema out the end of the burner nozzle tube. It seemed clear so I buttoned things up but without the vaporizer wire installed. The burner relit with the usual power. I decided to make the trip home without the wire in the vaporizer. I mentioned to Tom that the vaporizer was plugged and that I was going to go home without the wire. He didn't think that would work. It turns out that when I left the vaporizer indeed spewed liquid kerosene from the nozzle. I reinstalled the vaporizer wire and the trip home was fine with plenty of steam available. I do need however to try and figure out where the whistle is coming from with the burner fired hard. I also need to further investigate the kerosene fuel system and make sure the vaporizer is clean. Today I traveled 35 miles. The odometer now reads 50,455 miles. After putting the car away the trip home brought some rain drops to the windshield of the Saturn L300. This is the second trip in a row with the top up and the second trip in a row with rain on the way back to my home. I wonder if there's a theme here?? |
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Saturday, November 12 |
Investigated the cause for the loss of
burner heat during last Sunday's Steam Team outing. The pilot assembly was
removed from the burner followed by the burner's nozzle assembly being
removed. The wire in the vaporizer was pulled and inserted from the end of
the vaporizer where the nozzle assembly attaches. The vaporizer was found
to be clear and free. Further inspection of the burner's nozzle assembly
revealed that the screen was choked of carbon particles and this is no doubt
where the restriction in vaporized kerosene fuel flow was occurring. The
screen assembly was tapped lightly to clear it of its built-up of carbon
particles which were on the inside of the screen. While everything was apart the opportunity to insure all the ports of the pilot vaporizer were clear. The pilot was taken to Bruce's shop where it was completely disassembled and blown out with compressed air. The vaporizer ports along the edges of the pilot casting were found to be relatively free of any carbon buildup. In removing one of the port access plugs the threads galled leaving the threads of the pilot casting basically removed. A 9/16"-18 tap was used to rethread the port from the original 1/2"-18 thread. A new port plug will need to be fabricated. All port plugs along with the nozzle assembly were reinstalled on the pilot with liberal use of anti-seize on all threaded surfaces. Inspection of the burner and bottom of the boiler with the pilot removed didn't reveal anything of concern. The burner and pilot area of the burner were blown free of dirt, rust, and carbon with an air jet. A steel cable with the end frayed to act as a wire brush was threaded through the vaporizer tube. Once the cable exited the vaporizer tube the cable was pulled through to allow the frayed end to pull loose any carbon buildup. The vaporizer was then blown with compressed air to insure it was clear of any particles. Having gone through this experience it is obvious that more routine maintenance of the burner is required. With nearly 500 miles on the burner plus quite a number of static test firings before the car started to accumulate miles and the burner vaporizer just now showing carbon fouling is great. I need to perhaps set the 250-mile mark as when I pull the wire, remove the strainer, and remove the nozzle assembly down plug and give the system a steam enema before blowing down. As the pilot looked good that should probably be serviced every 500 miles or so. With the burner nozzle removed I could size the nozzle orifice. It is a #51 drill (0.067") orifice in the nozzle and this explains why the burner was whistling so much with this nozzle size when it hadn't previously. I had changed the nozzle during the Hagley trip weekend when the clean out wire broke in the nozzle orifice during the preparation to fire-up the car. The car had been running with the #55 drill nozzle (0.052") which rarely whistled. I need to return to the #55 drill nozzle to stop the whistling. I might try a #56 drill nozzle just to evaluate the performance. If I don't get enough steam I can always drill out the orifice to #55 drill size. |
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Sunday, November 27 |
Made up a pair of 9/16-18" diameter
bolt-plugs (one will be a spare) for the pilot vaporizer cleanout port that
had stripped when the pilot was taken apart and cleaned. Made up a pair of burner nozzles with #55 holes in them. Drilled out the nozzle end of both of my burner nozzle cleaning screws so that a piano-wire could be installed in the end to serve as a cleanout for the nozzle. |
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Tuesday, November 29 |
Drained all the water from the boiler and
water tank. Removed the boiler, firewall, and the four water pump check
valve caps and balls. Used compressed air to blow the pump lines and boiler
steam lines clear of water and condensate. Installed the rear carpets that had leather binding sewn to the perimeter by New Castle Automotive Upholstery. The carpets will need to have snap fasteners attached to the carpet and floorboards once the carpet has had time to flatten out and I get the snap fastener parts from Rob at New Castle Auto Upholstery. Today's mail brought an invite to show the Stanley at the Concours d'Elegance in Amelia Island, Florida. This highly prestigious car show will feature Stanleys in the show. If I'm to attend I need to obtain a trailer and commit to attending by Christmas. |
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Friday, December 2 |
Worked with Rob Montgomery of New Castle Automotive Upholstery to fit the curtain panels to the car. Rob has some minor sewing to do and they will be complete. |
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Wednesday, December 14 |
After searching the Internet and checking
with folks that had trailers I wasn't able to locate a trailer to rent for
the January Stanley Steamer Centennial of the World's Speed Record in Ormond
Beach, Florida nor for the March Concours d'Elegance in Amelia Island
Florida. After looking at several brands of trailers and visiting several
trailer suppliers I decided to purchase a Wells Cargo autoWagon Model AW2024
with six inches of extra height, a 3rd door over the right side wheel for
access, and a spare tire. The color will be Brandywine (dark red). Four Acres Trailer Sales, Inc 2009 West Newport Pike Wilmington, DE 19804 302/994-1500 |
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Wednesday, December 21 |
Visited New Castle Auto Upholstery to pick
up the side curtains. Rob Montgomery has a Hidden-Hitch that he no longer uses and he's willing to sell it to me however it is not complete. It needs the trailer tongue clips for the weight-distribution system bars and the attachment for the anti-sway bar ball that attaches to the hitch tongue. Met with Joe McAleese to discuss the trips to Florida and the use of this pickup truck to haul the trailer with. Also found out that Spallco in Newark, DE will rent Ford F250 Super Cab pickups for hauling the trailer. |
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Saturday, December 24 |
Having a December day were it was sunny
and the temperature reached 56 F provided an excellent opportunity to
reassemble the burner pilot and burner L-nozzle. The pilot was inserted
into the burner cavity and the pilot fuel line was attached. Next the
L-pipe and nozzle were installed. The burner is now ready for firing which
is not possible at the moment since the boiler has been drained of water. Installed the finished side curtains and checked them for fit. Additional common sense fasteners were added just in front of the top bow socket pivot rod and in front of the windshield. Filled the kerosene tank with ten gallons of kerosene in preparation for the trip to Florida as the top will be lowered next week for making a boot to cover the top bows and protect the top material when the top is stowed at the rear of the car. Removed the steam gauge since it will contain pure water condensate and would freeze should the car be exposed to freezing temperatures in the pole barn or in the trailer on the way to Florida. |
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Wednesday, December 28 |
Eric Gleason had a top boot (cover) from
his Model 735 Stanley. He generously loaned it to me for use as a
pattern and shipped it to me several months ago. Met Bob Montgomery at
Wilhelm's Service Center for fitting of Eric's boot. Eric's boot fit
fairly well and Bob took it with him to use as a pattern for fabrication of
my boot.
One thing that we definitely need to address is the two glass windows on the top when it is down. They rest on the spare tire which is fine however they will need to be protected. I'll also probably have to put snaps along the rear of the car so that the boot can be attached to the rear of the car and provide some support to the two glass windows as well as keeping them from hitting the rear of the car. |
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1998
~ Mechanical Restoration Started Questions or Comments? Please Email Me!
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