Fiddling Around, Sub Assembles, Killing Time, and Planning.

It's June - Do you know where my Boiler is? 

I received word from Dean at STW that the Lykamobile Boilers are actually IN PRODUCTION! 

He then went on to say the the UK requires significant quality inspections and the inspector comes by once each month.  He hopes that the July visit will clear the boilers for shipment.

It is now 1 year since my first shipment of kits - 1-13.  Not having the boilers in production has really jacked up the schedule.  There is only so much that can be done out of sequence.  This is because STW builds a production unit along side all the kit subscribers at the same time.  The prototype/production unit is used for confirmation and also for pictures.

Some of the "kits" are sub-contracted out.  Like parts of the Seat, the Burner System, stuff like that.  But the rest of the kits probably can not move too fast in front of production/test as the majority involves piping and that requires steam - hence the boiler. Unfortunately this means that STW can not just keep making the later kits while waiting on the boiler approval.   We have effectively been treading water for almost a year now and some of the attempts, (see Kit 18) at giving us things to do, have yielded mixed results because the prototype unit was not up to date. 

I have been tracking my progress against the previous Lyka production run.  Grier Fleischhauer,  (https://210doghouse.blogspot.com/) has a very complete log of his build, along with an archive of all the parts lists, instructions, and drawings.  These have allowed me to get some clarifications and also see where changes have been made.  Grier and I have been in touch quite a bit, and he has kept me from chasing down the wrong rabbit hole quite a few times.  

Since I have been waiting almost a year for the boiler situation to get cleared up, I have had a chance to look into accessory systems that I can design and get ready.   

Instrumentation and Other Considerations

I have gone back and forth both with other steam enthusiasts and myself on how much instrumentation to add to the vehicle.  The original Locomobile had a steam gauge,  and perhaps a pressure gauge for the fuel system.  You also got a "Sight Glass" to see the water level in the boiler.  The Lykamobile has an small electronics package that has power controls for the burner system, a lighting buss, and automatic burner cutoff for protection.  All of this is hidden from the casual observer.  Oh yeah, there is an ON/OFF switch. 

In one of my earlier posts, I showed adding water level sensors to the feed-tanks, and discussed adding the same to the fuel tank.  I also discussed a speedometer.  Since then I have pondered the options and decided to implement as full an instrumentation and control package as possible, but to also do it in a way that might make it semi-removeable should I wish to just show the "old-school" methods. 

In keeping with the Brass Era theme, I will be creating a small "dash" package,  encased in brass, that includes: 

1. Fuel Level Gauge

2. Water Level Gauge

3. GPS Based Speedometer and Mileage

4. Ignition Key switch - main and ACC - (or Both)

5. Headlamp Switch (on ACC Circuit)

6. Side Lamps Switch (on ACC)

7. Tail/License Lamp Switch (on ACC)

 

"Stop" Lamp - controlled by Brake Pedal 

 

LED indicators for Lamp(s) status. 

LED Indicator for Burner status. 

LED Indicator for Water Level (Low Water) status. 

LED Indicator for Pressure Status. 

 

There will also be, of course, - a Pressure Gauge direct from the boiler. 

 

How do I justify using a lamp that was patented in 1914 on a replica of an 1899 vehicle? 

How do I even get close to justification on things like electronic gauges and the like. 

 

Well - I have taken the position that:

 

"They would have used it if they had had it" 

So - adding it after the fact is only fulfilling a need that was not identified at the time. 

OK, now I can sleep at night. 

 

I fully accept that there are a number of "purists" out there that will scoff at my baby, and call it a "parking lot toy". I also know that there are many owners of Brass Era vehicles with gauges hidden under the dash, or similar add-ons that were required to drive their baby on the roads.  

 

It is my goal to have my vehicle- titled, registered, licensed, insured, and drive her on any roadway where she will be allowed, which happens to be most streets in Denver, and also some country roads. 

 

To do that, I need to prove that she is "road-worthy" - maybe not completely safe, but not a hazard either.

 

 

First -  Ya gotta have the right outfit to ride. 

 

Because I may be crazy, but I am not going to sit 5 feet up in the air on top of 250 PSI of steam and not look good.  

Designing the Instrument Panel

Now that I made the decision to add a dash panel, I need to design the layout.   I have mounting rings for each of the gauges and I used these to get a feel for the view and control options.  

First attempt -  I swapped out the White Speedo for a Black Faced one a little later.

I also have to figure out how I want the dash to look - flat?, angled?   Depth must also be accounted for.

I found some old "Push/Pull"switches on EBay, and cleaned up the contacts.   I will only use these for latching a relay in a remote box as the contacts here are pretty light weight.

Some possible layouts.   I am leaning toward the second (Mouse Ears?).  Keeping in mind that this system is "set-and-forget" - monitor status.  NOT a full control panel, so I do not need to reach any controls while actually driving.  The washers represent LED indicators. 

 

More on the actual building of the dash-panel to come. 

 

Thanks for reading - 

Poppapope

Denver, CO USA