The Car I Should Have Built
by John Wetz

     Start with a small 4-cylinder popular make pickup truck, Install a solid fuel burning boiler like my shop boiler in the bed. Remove engine to convert it to bump valve steam operation- Make a cylinder head, seats for bump valves, and a steam chest for the two rear cylinders. Make feed pumps, external oil pump, and scavenger pump, and mount on the side of the engine, driving them with the timing belt and a modified camshaft.

1. Boiler: Make and install a boiler and burner like my shop boiler, less feed pumps (they would be on the engine) It would be hopper fueled, down draft, induced draft, and controlled by a TM123 thermostat, set at 800 degrees F, a two-stage pressure switch, set at 1000 psi., and solenoid coils on the feed pumps, The coil bundle would be similar to the Mobile Steam Society generator, only upside down.

2. Engine: Remove pistons and rods. Use a 3 or 4 inch hole saw to cut holes in the outside wall of the water jacket by the two rear cylinders, centered on the piston tops at bottom dead center. Drill four 3/ 4 inch holes in each of the cylinder walls for exhaust ports, trying for exhaust opening at 90% of stroke. Put lift pins on each of two pistons, and replace in the two rear cylinders. Cut remaining two rods in half and replace on the empty journals to save some of the balance. Make a cylinder head with seats for bump valves and steam chest over the rear two cylinders, trying for 5 % or less clearance volume. Make rovers for the holes in the water jacket wall.

3. Pumps: Build four small ram pumps. My figures show that 3/8 inch diameter rams with 1/2 inch stroke would be adequate, running at 1/2 crankshaft speed. Remodel camshaft to operate these pumps and drive the assembly with the stock timing belt. Two of these pumps are feed pumps and need a control coil on a steel holddown screw. One pump will evacuate the mix out of the crankcase to the separator, and the fourth one is the external oil pump taking oil from the two-tank separator and forcing it into the engine's oil line. Plus, a long stroke ram pump powered by a disengageable pushrod on the clutch pedal.

4. Condenser: The condenser column would be just a tank about 2 feet tall and 4 or 5 inches in diameter, connected top-to-top and bottom-to-bottom with the radiator. The steam is piped to a downpipe perforated with little holes to break up the steam before it hits the water. The water in the column will rise due to the steam bubbles and overflow into the radiator making for good circulation.

5. Two-tank Oil-Water Separator: This separator would be 8 or 9 inches in diameter and 24 to 30 inches tall. The liquid from the crankcase enters a bowl at the top on a tangent and flows down a distribution pipe, entering the water as small streams. The oil will rise and the water settle. Clear water will come out a riser from the bottom going to the water tank, and a rather milky looking oil will overflow out into the second tank, The external oil pump takes it from there to the engine.

6. Functions: The thermostat will control the temperature at about 800 degrees F by a simple on-off function on the blower, plus, if the temperature drops below a set point, it locks the pump out until the temperature recovers. The two stage pressure switch will be controlling the pumps by on off power on the coils on the pumps that essentially open the by-passes by holding up the intake valves. The upper range switch shuts everything down on over pressure. The whole engine will be bare, radiating heat. Also, the condenser column, oil separator, and related lines will be in the airflow, and radiate some heat.

7. Appearance: This thing will look like any other pickup of that make and model with a barrel-shaped thing in the bed. Under the hood there is the stock engine with some strange-looking attachments, the oil separator, the condenser column, and the pumps. The inside of the cab will be normal looking except for a 2000 psi. pressure gauge, three little indicator lights, and a copy of a Model A Ford choke control, which adjusts our idle and opens the blow-down valve on the steam chest.

8. Starting and Operating: a. In normal operation, one would start out by starting the fire in the burner and turning on the blower. Then put in enough fuel to do the expected run, b. Wait for the thermostat to stop the blower. If pressure is up, go to the next step- If not, use foot pump on clutch pedal to pump water. Blower %hill start, pressure will rise. c. When pressure is up, open idle valve a little, and open the blow-down valve on steam chest a little, which releases steam chest pressure to the crankcase so there is no steam to atmosphere. d. Hit the starter and open throttle with engine turning. Let engine idle a bit in neutral, then put in gear and take off, driving like any other car today.

9. Notes: By sensing the temperature of the actual tubes rather than the steam, the thermostat described in TM123 lets one fire up without worrying about water. If it's there, one will get pressure, if not, the foot powered pump can be used. By sending the blowdown steam and water from the steam chest to the crankcase we eliminate steaming up the neighborhood when starting. By exhausting to the crankcase, we bypass any need to keep oil and water separate. Oil in the exhaust and water-steam blowby all go the same way. By using every possible stock automotive part, many from the junkyard, we eliminate a lot of work and expense, possibly getting the cost down to what lots of people spend on their hobbies.