Post by thread:[OT]: Steam Dream Car- was Audi buys Ducati

My current dream car is inspired by the Stanley Steamer. A road able steam vehicle that is powered by any fuel that can be burned to generate heat. It is likely to never get any further with me than a day dream but I expect there are others who are taking it further. I am currently pondering just what form the engine and drive-line is do able. After that comes the steam generation. I doubt it will be hard to find a junked test bed for scrap prices. Many go to salvage yards due to the expense involved with engine - drive line issues. I seem to have caught this bug after watching the old movie "African Queen" again last year. That little steam engine on the boat looks like what I need! More likely, senility is catching up to me on my 72 birthday! There is a lot about steam power on the web, but that size engine seems hard to find. Any references appreciated. -- John Ferrell W8CCW “During times of universal deceit, Telling the TRUTH becomes a revolutionary act” George Orwell

I have no idea what the power ratings were. Much more that a street car would need. The TradeMe item is much to much for an old guy to consider. Other than rising fuel prices, my 4 acre woods is generating more dead wood than I can dispose of! Used oil is free at this time but if I were willing to pay a little I expect I could get it free. I have collected some old steam books from when Steam was popular. On 4/21/2012 10:38 AM, RussellMc wrote: {Quote hidden}> What order of power rating was the AQ steam engine? > What capacity? > I have a friend who may be able to comment usefully. > > Not steam, but if you want something that will run on petrol or diesel > or kero, or some random mix of these, then there is > > http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=205561268 > > :-) > > > > RM -- John Ferrell W8CCW “During times of universal deceit, Telling the TRUTH becomes a revolutionary act” George Orwell

Thanks for the pointer. Wood-gas was not a term I would have known to search. This looks like an interesting article. I remember a WW II soldier returning home with a story about a taxii ride somewhere that had a wood-gas system. He said the driver would have to stop to tinker once in a while but it worked well. On 4/21/2012 11:37 AM, John Gardner wrote: > Given your timber lot, another option is wood-gas, so-called. > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_gas -- John Ferrell W8CCW “During times of universal deceit, Telling the TRUTH becomes a revolutionary act” George Orwell

The steam engine is where my real interests lie. The options are also interesting but for now I am studying steam! On 4/21/2012 2:35 PM, John Gardner wrote: > You might be ahead of the game catalyzing wood-gas to > produce methanol; ISTR the main fuel component, with- > out the other corrosives - Charcoal is useful too... -- John Ferrell W8CCW “During times of universal deceit, Telling the TRUTH becomes a revolutionary act” George Orwell

On Sat, Apr 21, 2012 at 1:26 PM, John Ferrell <spam_OUTjferrell13TakeThisOuTtriad.rr.com> wrote: > Thanks for the pointer. Wood-gas was not a term I would have known to > search. This looks like an interesting article. > I remember a WW II soldier returning home with a story about a taxii > ride somewhere that had a wood-gas system. > He said the driver would have to stop to tinker once in a while but it > worked well. It was mentioned on Car Talk (the NPR radio show) sometime in the last few months, and followed up on a week or so later. Not a ton of technical info, but good background stuff nonetheless! Josh -- A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools. -Douglas Adams

On Sat, 21 Apr 2012 15:58:09 -0400, John Ferrell wrote: :: The steam engine is where my real interests lie There is a bloke in Germany who has a WW2 era steam car, it burns wood/coal to make the steam. It was shown on the Deutsche Welle television programme Drive it! I think DW-TV is available in the US on cable. Colin -- cdb, .....colinKILLspam@spam@btech-online.co.uk on 22/04/2012 Web presence: http://www.btech-online.co.uk Hosted by: http://www.justhost.com.au This email is to be considered private if addressed to a named individual or Personnel Department, and public if addressed to a blog, forum or news article.

> Thanks for the pointer. Wood-gas was not a term I would have known to search. This > looks like an interesting article. > I remember a WW II soldier returning home with a story about a taxii ride somewhere > that had a wood-gas system. > He said the driver would have to stop to tinker once in a while but it worked well. If you have ever seen the UK originated TV series "Dads Army" about the Home Guard, one of the episodes they are driving around in a bus with a big wood gas 'balloon' on top as the fuel supply. AIUI this was a common way of storing the wood gas on the vehicle if you didn't have a convertor mounted on the back bumper (which is probably what the taxi driver had, and had to put more wood in every so often). -- Scanned by iCritical.

There was a TV series on the ABC here in Australia called Inventions >From The Shed: http://www.rebelfilms.com.au/inventions-from-the-shed.html One of the "inventions" was a guy who made steam engines for a whole range of applications - he and his father were responsible for a steam powered car that was shipped to the US during the 1970's petrol crisis. The interesting thing I took away from the show was that a steam engine is constant torque over its operating RPM so no need for a gearbox (which is apparently why you can see steam train wheels "spin" as they move away from stations). My wife bought me the DVD for my birthday a few years ago - highly recommended! Every one of my friends has been highly amused by the range of fanatical inventors and their absolute belief in their weird and wonderful inventions (I was particularly taken by the guy who made a plastic template that you hung of your ear so you could produce perfectly trimmed rock-a-billy sideburns - the kicker was that you could flip it over and use on your other ear so you only had to buy one template!). On Mon, Apr 23, 2012 at 6:11 PM, <alan.b.pearceKILLspamstfc.ac.uk> wrote: >> Thanks for the pointer. Wood-gas was not a term I would have known to search. This >> looks like an interesting article. >> I remember a WW II soldier returning home with a story about a taxii ride somewhere >> that had a wood-gas system. >> He said the driver would have to stop to tinker once in a while but it worked well. > > If you have ever seen the UK originated TV series "Dads Army" about the Home Guard, one of the episodes they are driving around in a bus with a big wood gas 'balloon' on top as the fuel supply. AIUI this was a common way of storing the wood gas on the vehicle if you didn't have a convertor mounted on the back bumper (which is probably what the taxi driver had, and had to put more wood in every so often). > -- > Scanned by iCritical. > >