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Thoughts on Building a Steam Car

Jake von Slatt — Thu, 02/01/2007 - 00:00

 

essential steam power library

December 1, 2006

I want to build a steam car or perhaps a steam motorcycle.  Why?  you ask.  Oh, just for fun, I reply.

The first step in a big project is research.  I ordered the Essential Steam Power Library from  International Correspondence Schools, circa 1906.  Lindsay Books ( www.lindsaybks.com ) has made these available in a nice set, re-printed and bound.  The quality of the re-prints is amazing, the text is marvelously clear and the drawings are razor sharp.

Once I read through a few of these volumes I think I'll start by building a boiler as I will be able to use it as a steam cleaner while I work on the rest of the project and it will allow me to test other components as I go.

Also it's winter, and winter is a good time to play with fire.

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Modern Alchemy - The building of Ignatius The Firepig.
How to Build a Wimshurst Influence Machine - Part 4
Steampunk Car Project - Initial Survey
Car Carrier Trailer
Steampunk Car Project - Dashboard, Wiring, Lights
US Steam Land Speed Record Attempt
Yankee Steam-Up !!
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I can just imagine trying to

Amanda Johanssen — Mon, 08/31/2009 - 02:56

I can just imagine trying to find car service for a steam powered automobile: “Not only will we have to special order these parts, we’re going to have to special order them from the Smithsonian.” If you already have some technical know-how and have worked on similar projects, I can’t imagine the actual building process being too difficult, but making it street-legal might be a project in and of itself. It wouldn’t be much fun to put all that work into a steam-bike only to discover you’re not allowed to take it out of the garage. Anyway, good luck. I love seeing projects that blur the line between art and science.

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street legal

skidmo — Sun, 05/23/2010 - 22:06

I have been turning the idea of getting a one-off steam vehicle street legal around in my head for a few days. Its driving me crazy, it is a problem that I can't solve by going out into the shop and actually building something, or working it out in my head. I want to build off of an existing, readily available vehicle platform, and run my boiler from wood, coal, or whatever burns, instead of gasoline or something like that, as most steam vehicles do. See, when the spaghetti hits the fan, i want to be the only guy in my neighborhood driving around. If I want to survive in a post-apocalypse world (or live simply, independently, and on the fringe, where I want to be) I want to do so by my own merit, and that is where my engineering skills come in. So, my idea was to take a simple, older Jeep, like a CJ, and start there. I want to mount the boiler in front of the driver and fireman, where the motor originally would be, with the firebox door accessable to the fireman. A CJ's flat windscreen is important for this, so the fireman would not have to reach too far to add fuel, especially while the vehicle is moving. The area ahead of the boiler, in the engine compartment, would be a water tank. Behind the driver and fireman, a supply of fuel, easily within reach of the fireman. at the very rear of the vehicle, a steam engine, connected by a short driveline and u-joints to the rear axle (which would be flipped backward). The vehicle would be a 1967 or earlier model, which does not require seat belts, and have hydraulic (not power assist) brakes, which were common back then, because, a steam engine is not constantly running, only when the vehicle is moving, so there would be no way to charge power-assisted brakes without adding another engine. So my solution to getting it street legal is to start with a vehicle that is old enough so that anything you do to it isn't violating any safety issues, as of the date of the vehicle's manufacture. Then, you could add any body you like.... hot rodders do this all the time. And is there anything illegal about steam power? Say I started with a '62 Jeep CJ... and when would I have to get my "62 CJ" smog tested?

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This sounds like an amazing

Alfred York — Mon, 07/13/2009 - 21:47

This sounds like an amazing idea, but should you? How expensive would this be, would it be entirely steam powered or a hybrid of steam and electric, like the motorcycle Tom Sepe made? Could you have the vehicle chosen be painted a brass color, or have specific parts, like the bumper, license plate, or hubcaps, be made of actual brass? All of these come into play and more, but I think you could quite easily
make this, and I would love to see pictures of progress!

~A.Y.~

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steam power library inquiry

bobcatt — Thu, 09/25/2008 - 07:13

Hello,

How have you found the content/presentation of the material in the Lindsay book series? Is it useful enough (as printed) to go ahead with design/fab of a boiler and its requisite control apparatus? It would appear from the titles that the works focus on the engine portion of the mechanism; do the Etnropy, Heat, and Indicators/Mechanics tomes include boiler construction details? I am interested in adding these books to my reference library and was hoping for an expert opinion.

As an aside, this steampunk approach to technology and fabrication is both fascinating and deeply appealing. Thanks for posting examples of your work (and of others) as inspiration.

Chris

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These books were written to

Jake von Slatt — Thu, 09/25/2008 - 07:59

These books were written to give an apprentice the beginning knowledge and language that he'd need to be helpful to a master craftsmen.  So they give a good overview but will not teach you everything you need to know to make a working machine and don't go into detail such as metal working techniques as those would have been taken care of by other tradesmen.

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content advice

bobcatt — Fri, 09/26/2008 - 12:06

Thanks for the feedback! I appreciate your response.

I have a reasonable selection of books on casting, sheetmetal work and machining techniques. My hope was to add boiler & burner design, as well as control requirements, to the mixture.

regards,

ChrisA

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bobcatt

Resolute — Thu, 01/22/2009 - 20:18

I take by burner you mean oil/gas fired.

The premier reference for burner/firebox design is probably going to be the North American Combustion Handbook printed by The North American Manufacturing Co. My copy is dated 1952. No ISBN number.... The book is a crimson hardback with gold-color inked front cover and spine and a embossed stamp on the back cover "North American Combustion"

Next, I'd say for detail would be Modern Marine Engineer's Manual Vol 1, [1st or 2nd Ed.] (I have the 2nd Ed) May also go by the name "Osbourne's". Printed by Cornell Maritime Press. Latest printings of the 2nd edition appear around 1983 or so. ISBN # 0-87033-063-2 Chief editor: A. Bayne Neild, Jr.

After that, this next tome is more related to home water heaters but Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditiong Library Vol 2 This one has great pictures on a variety of home burner units which may be available for salvaged from a junk yard near you. Written more from a repair/information viewpoint... Author: James E. Brumbaugh printed Theodore Audel & Co. ISBN 0-672-23249-9

Tangently informative is Steam, Its Generation and Use by the Babcock & Wilcox Company but its focus is primarily coal fired systems... Additionally, as a suppliment to the combustion manual, Mark's Handbook (aka Mechanical Engineer's Handbook) has great information on the types and capabilities of various comercially available fuels. (Mark's is the 4th edition... other editions may bear different titles)

Best Regards,

Resolute

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Other Sources

Resolute — Wed, 06/11/2008 - 10:45

There are many websites detailing the old designs as well as proposals for newer models to make use of modern technical knowledge and materials.

I would recommend a few other books for perusal.

I.C.S. Staff C.B. Lindstrom, Strength of Materials: Steam Boiler Design (Scranton: International Textbook Company, 1934)

Lionel S. Marks, Mechanical Engineer's Handbook (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1941 4th Ed.) [this may also be found titled as Marks Handbook. In addition, the 1907 edition can be had online for free but a different editor/author I believe]

Alan Osbourne, Modern Marine Engineer's Manual: Volume 1 (Centreville: Cornell Maritime Press, 1983 2nd Ed. [the first edition, printed circa 1941 would probably be better since it would detail reciprocating steam engines with greater attention... 1965 marks the first year of the 2nd Ed. In either case, Volume 1 is what you want, Vol 2 covers HVAC and other such.]

I personally worked with and studied marine steam plants of the sub-500 bhp variety for a hobby. If I can be of any technical help or if you are looking for information of any kind, I am available. I'm sure you can look up my email through my registration here. I work on ships as a deck officer so it may be some time between you sending an email and me being able to answer.

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Why thank you! you are too

Jake von Slatt — Wed, 06/11/2008 - 18:12

Why thank you! you are too kind!  -Jake.

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Not a problem...

Resolute — Thu, 06/26/2008 - 00:44

If acquisition of some of the older titles are not possible, I can photo-copy relevant sections for your perusal from my collection

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Boiler Safety

l3lackEyedAngels — Sun, 06/08/2008 - 14:19

Maybe this point has been raised already, but cool as it would be to have a steam powered car, aren't you concerned about the safety of a steam boiler, or lack there of, on today's roads? It would have to be one hell of a boiler to hold up to an SUV. I am interested in how you will approach this issue.

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Automobile boilers are

Jake von Slatt — Sun, 06/08/2008 - 16:17

Automobile boilers are actually quite safe, they hold a relatively small amount of super heated water and are designed to fail progressively.  This is compensated for by the fact they have relatively lagre burners that are modulated based on load which allows them to respond quickly to demand.  In the entire history of steamcars there is not one death attributable to boiler explosion.  Besides, in a small car vs. an SUV I'm toast anyway - this way maybe I can take the SUV driver with me!

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