Locomobile

Great old home movie of what travel was like in 1929. Lot's of old towns and Cars on the roads among other strange vehicles.

As Frank wrote, it would be unlikely that both are stopped up and stopping the engine at the same time, one engine bank would still be trying to run (very poorly). There may be another inline filter from the tank, or possibly it's stopped up inside the fuel tank. It sounds like the fuel flow is restricted.

Take it to a machine shop and have them cut the threads internally, any manual or CNC lathe can do that. They'd probably do it for 20 bucks or a box of donuts. A good assortment of a dozen donuts has very high value in a machine shop. If it's just brass, a person could make their own tap of mild steel too. Lathe cut external threads and then cut flutes like a tap.

It starts right back up and runs about the same length of time? And it does this repeatedly? That sounds like a plugged fuel filter, as somebody already suggested above.

It happens when it's hot? Also have a look at the ignition coil, it may be breaking down in the heat. -Ron

Sitting idling and cutting out? Cutting out around corners? I would be looking at water in the fuel first. Try some Drygas/Heet. Some of the 60's/70's? Dodges and others had the fuel filler out on the rear fender facing up slightly and were bad about allowing rain in. I've seen people replace carburetors, change fuel filters etc etc and a two dollar bottle of Heet fixed it. My Dad always said "carburetors get 90% of the blame and they are 10% of the cause" -Ron

Thanks for the input everyone. The steel shot looks like a good process. I went with the easiest route for me right now and that was: 1 part flour 1 part salt pour in vinegar until its a thick paste. These parts were very badly oxidized with 120 years of build up. The long bronze piece had a thick green crusty coat. The smaller part was blackened with oil and heavily oxidized. I applied the paste all over the surface and let it sit for about an hour, then I started working it with a fine brass brush, which resulted in a good scrubbing, rinsing it all off and then doing a second application. It worked rather well, one benefit is the surface is left undisturbed, the stamped letters on the fittings which were faint to begin with look as good as new, sand or shot blasting would have likely distorted them. Thanks, Ron

Hey fellas, I'm refurbishing some 120 year old steam car parts, oilers, valves etc which are bronze and some are heavily oxidized. I looked around on the web and there seems to be no real consensus on how to clean these parts. I can sandblast them, but the problem with that is they look brand new with no patina at all and it takes years for them to brown up again. Any tricks of the trade anyone care to share? Thanks, Ron

I've been shipping stuff regularly for about 25 years, here is what I've learned. If it is an item that is irreplaceable, and loss is not an acceptable occurence, drive it there, trust none of the parcel or freight companies 100%. USPS is very reliable, but their tracking system is not. Often it will have inaccurate information. If your package appears in limbo, it probably is and here are some possible reasons why. Never hand write addresses on packages and/or pay at the USPS counter, you and the person at the counter can read your handwriting but their text recognition devices in their facilities may not be able to, if it can't, the package is kicked out of the system and has to be sorted by hand, which may take weeks. Always go to USPS.com and pay and print for the label, it's easy and you won't have to stand in line at the post office. Affix the printed label with legible barcode that their machines can scan, (they don't physically read packages unless there is a problem, it's all done by scanners and automatic sorting), to the top of the package with three or four strips of clear 2" wide clear tape all the way across, which securely affixes the label and protects it from rain etc. Make sure to put accurate information in all sizes, weight etc needs to be very close to accurate. Package the item well, and this goes for all the parcel services as they all do it the same way, it needs to be able to survive a dead drop from six feet. In their major hubs/sorting facilities there are multiple conveyors that automatically scan and weigh every package that comes through, then the package is routed on various conveyors to gather for different regions of the country/world. Transferring from one conveyor to another, it is dropped as much as six feet. If it isn't packaged properly and breaks open etc, again it's kicked out and has to be sorted by hand. If there is oil or gasoline leaking on the carton is another cause to get kicked, for that it usually won't even make it out of the receiving post office. Forget buying in insurance, and this goes for all shippers, including freight. If they lose it, which is not likely, they would pay with or without insurance if the value can be proven. If it gets damaged in transit, their blanket wiggle out comment is "if it was damaged, it wasn't packaged properly" and they won't pay anything. If you're a commercial concern, they will offer to send a packaging engineer over to help you in the future... Shipping by freight: Again, if you can't afford to lose it, drive it there or use a bonded dedicated hauler ( a guy with a van). Never build a solid wood box on a pallet with a flat top. The handlers see that as a building block to put on the bottom and stack everything they can on top of it. Unless your wood skidbox is very strong, it's going to collapse and get damaged. A trick that I use and it works, make the top like a pitch roof, so nothing can be stacked atop, they will always put your skid on top. Package it well, secure item to the floor of the pallet if possible so it can not be jostled around inside the crate. One of the things that happens, if the crate is picked up at a terminal and it is loaded out side, the skid is simply set on the rear of the trailer. If the driver has to stop fast, the carton heads to the front of the trailer at great speed and stops with a huge impact. I never let a driver leave like this, I make them take it to the front of the trailer with their pallet jack or I take it back off. -Ron

The cars were in the possession of someone else who is now deceased, they were not in his name, they are on someone else's property. They are new enough that they were titled to someone which ownership is likely bound by an estate, those VIN numbers are registered to the previous owner. The property owner is not sounding willing to have them removed. I'd say the possibility of getting a clear title to these vehicles is slim to none, and even if successful, it's going to be expensive (to do it the legal way). I would definitely get a clear title before investing one dollar in them. The bill of sale can help, but if it wasn't notarized.. -Ron

Grier, Yes, if I recall correctly, those are odd size threads. The common for them, pitchlead is 24. 1/4-24 5/16-24 etc. I've joked that apparently Mason and Locomobile only had one set of change gears for the lathe - 24 tpi. Searles? Yes, I've ran across that persons name doing research on early steamers. I'll look back over some of the books I have and see what I can find. I'm thinking it was in "American Steam car pioneers" by John Bacon. This is really a must read for anyone interested in that era of automobiles. It's most likely out of print, but used copies do show up. Pay close attention to the Hand written letter by Whitney. Another good one is "Floyd Clymer's steam car scrapbook. -Ron

Al, Thanks for the update and yes, please let me know. Grier, It's a judgement call on that sort of thing. You can definitely get away with a lot more on a steam engine versus a gas engine. The valve guides that you're talking about and the dims you've posted are what I would consider excessive and needing repair. Five thousandths difference would be at the out side of acceptability. The good news is that is an easy fix. Carefully run a .531 ( 17/32", I would refrain from going 9/16" ) reamer through, then get a 1/2 ID x 5/8 OD Oil-lite Bronze bushing long enough (McMaster carr has them up to 3" long) and have it turned down to 531. Then heat the casting a bit then just press it in with a C-clamp, and you're back to .500 ID. Steam engines run better with loose tolerances. Tolerances that would destroy an I/C Engine in short order. A little metal lathe is real handy working on these engines. Typically have to make most everything. Be careful with the reamer, bronze is kinda snaky stuff to machine. I would run it through by hand. That conrod you need, I would just take the one you have to a foundry that does nodular iron alloys and have them copy it. Then machine it to fit. They can copy it without a pattern. -Ron

Thats going to be hard to find, I do see panel seats from time to time, but the spindle seats didnt last very long. My suggestion would be to research and build one or have one built. There is a guy on Youtube with username Engelscoachshop, that can do the steam bending for the armrest and back. https://engelscoachshop.com/ -Ron

Al, Thanks for doing this. As long as they aren't too expensive, I will commit to two of the small ones, and one large badge and then one of the footplates. Thanks, Ron

My Friends son Terry, has worked with wood gasification quite a bit. Here is a video of his riding mower. He also has a gas setup on a Ford Ranger truck. He said a 5 gallon bucket of sawn wood cubes will give him approximately 17 mile range. Yep, it's finicky and requires maintenance, but it does work, fuel prep, cleaning, etc. Post WW2 Europe seen a lot of vehicles converted to this for a short period as there were vehicles but no gasoline. Obviously, gasoline is much easier to use. And too this is another reason, the modern steam car is not practical, virtually any combustible substance can be gasified and burned in an internal combustion engine far more efficiently. For instance, a 5 gallon bucket of wood would do well to simply raise steam pressure on a steam boiler, forgo, the 17 miles of driving. -Ron

Al, I would be interest in a few of the footplates as well. Thanks, Ron

Al, What size is that footplate? Thanks, Ron

Al, I would be interested in the other badge as well, not the footplate though. It's not really correct for my car, but it is definitely better than nothing. That is a reproduction, probably sold by Art Hart. Long story, he had all the badges and they went missing after he passed away. I think they used that particular plate from around serial numbers 200 to about 1750. As I understand it, the very first vehicles had no badges. Mine is serial number 3834. It was a smaller plate with the patent numbers cast in to it. The smaller badge you have which is much more prevalent, was located on all of their Currier and Cameron steamer bodies in all years, down low, front and rear. So, two per vehicle. The big square one goes under the leather apron and covers the screws where the throttle mounts. Grier, The only engines I've retrofitted sealed ball bearings in are the later steel frame Locomobile engines. The Mason engines, I have replaced the balls of nominal size, which seems to be sufficient. You say yours are measuring 242 etc, .250 should tighten everything back up and make a serviceable setup. Those rods should be numbered to orient the way they go on the eccentrics and crankshaft. I think the Conrods are .312" i.e. 5/16". The eccentrics on the crank? I would leave those alone, those are typically pressed on and about impossible to remove without damage. I don't recall the bearing numbers I used for those, but it usually involves sleeving either the ID and the OD and some boring. I like to keep things original if I can and why I'm sort of moving away from that practice. The original setup is fine as long as it is in good shape and maintained. Yeah, those Krydon bearings are crazy expensive. Someone asked me once about using them for the four timing rods, I told him, the four bearings alone are $1080. He opted for the balls. On the engine in the car above it has the Locomobile engine with timing rods that are just steel to steel i.e. steel rod, steel eccentric. I used 330 bronze for the eccentrics and the original steel rods and it has been ran quite a bit, at least a few thousand miles and I've had no issue with it. Those engines, once repaired are pretty much trouble free, as long as they are kept oiled (hydrostatically) and the builder doesn't get too generous with the superheat. -Ron

Al, Thanks for that. Please let me know what other badges you have that I might be interested in as well. Grier, That is a nice looking build you have going, nice job you're doing. Is Steam Traction world selling those again? I would definitely put the Mason engine in, it is a better machine than the Day-Land you currently have. I notice too, yours doesn't use the usual Derr type boiler. Is that something new they have, Personally I like the Firetube design, it is much more traditional. Is the burner an Ottoway style? Here are some pics of a Mason 70 I currently restored. Good for another hundred years. I made a pattern and cast up a valve chest cover with the proper name on it. It is a copy of the original. I'll keep an ear out for out for a conrod for you. I included a pic of my Locomobile too. Thanks, Ron

The two tail lights could be a result of requiring turn signals, of which there would be two. -Ron

Hi Al, Yes, I need two of those. They really need to be wax cast to get a good copy. Or better yet, I'd like to purchase the one you have. I will PM you about it. Grier, Watch Ebay, those parts and engines show up on there quite often. The good news is those engines were very plentiful, and there are a lot of them around. Thanks, Ron

New York was the first state to require one red taillight in 1905, then other states followed suit. I've never seen anything regarding two taillights. It was obviously done on a state by state basis and from the looks of the postings, around the late 20's some states were requiring two. I know utility trailers in most states are (or were recently) only required to have one taillight. -Ron

Al, Is that something you have? Or do you know who owns it? Thanks, Ron

Michigan just passed laws a few years ago allowing motorcyclists to ride without a helmet. Lawmakers were lobbied heavily by the insurance companies and got it passed. A biker without a helmet in an accident is much more likely to die from the injuries which is cheaper than providing long term care. Lovely insurance companies showing their true colors again. -Ron

After participating in online forums for the last 25 years, this is the sort of stuff that kills them. People read and share these posts for enjoyment; why else would they? Air grievances with the administrators in private and leave the civil, entertaining discussion out of it. -Ron