S-10 CHEVY PICK-UP CONVERSION

By Craig Standbridge (edited and amended by D. K. Nergaard)

I was looking for a modern vehicle that had space to fit a steam engine and steam generator. The S-10 Chevy pick-up seemed perfect, having a strong frame, an eight foot bed and plenty of room in the engine compartment. For $50 I picked up one in good condition.

The first step in my project was to make a boiler of the Derr water tube design. Building the boiler from scratch took quite a while due to the number of tubes (220) and hundreds of welded joints. The tubes are in two banks, with a superheater placed between them. The boiler is very heavy (about 500 lbs.) and has a heating surface of about 150 square feet not counting the superheater. I chose this type of boiler because it had good circulation and was known to tolerate oil in the feed water.

The next step was to build a burner and chamber (fire box). I used an SF series Beckett oil burner which I converted to 12 Volts D. C.. This burner has a capacity of 900,000 BTU/hr.. Running my burner in a test chamber, I designed a combustion chamber to match the flame. Once satisfied the chamber size was right, I built it out of 16 gauge steel lined with ceramic (refractory) particle board good for 2500 degrees.

Location was a problem for the steam generator because of its height. The place with the most space was behind the differential case. The burner could hang low, under the bed, which would keep the boiler low in the bed. I used this location although I worried about the weight this far back.

Moving to the front of the truck, the challenge was the engine and gearing. I located a marine 40 hp. Steam engine, a V-4 "Reliable", in Florida, at a reasonable price, capable of 600 psi. with the drawback of being single acting. A friend of mine, a machinist, made a 1 x 3 ratio gear box to match the 3.5 x 1 differential ratio in the rear end. This gives an engine speed of about 1100 revolutions/mile. I had to extend the drive shaft, which bolted to the rear box by means of a universal joint, by 25 inches.

Trying to match the engine to the frame was challenging. The S-10 has a frame that is shaped to fit around the original engine. I had to block the engine and gear box assembly in place and build a sub-frame to custom fit. In older cars the frame would have been straight and easy to adapt to. Using four motor mounts, of what brand I do not know, made it possible to secure the frame at four points. So the engine and gear box sit in a cradle. I am hoping this will make it secure enough against the torque of the engine.

The cradle supports a Madison Kipp cylinder lubricator at the front and the feed water pump and battery charging alternator at the back, where they can be belted to the faster turning drive shaft.

There is a foot of space in front of the engine to fit a condenser. For the time being I am using a gas car radiator.

I have made several test runs. The last one before winter was 3/4 to 1 hour long. During the first two tests there was trouble with blow by into the crank case, requiring water separation from the oil, and balancing of the engine. Since then I have had the crank shaft balanced but I am still working on water separation. I am going to try a "dry sump" oiling system. The engine lube problems and the fact that the alternator has not worked at low speeds have limited the length of the runs, but the truck has reached a speed of 40 mph.

This is as far as I have gone at this point. As I make progress, I will write it up.

(Submitted 10 February 2000)

Postscript: Craig reports that he has abandoned using the single acting "Reliable" engine due to excessive piston blow by and poor efficiency. He has replaced the rear axle with a 1929 Cadillac axle mated to a 20 hp. Stanley engine and is in the process of rebuilding pump and alternator drives. He hopes to have the car operational sometime in April.

( DKN 3 April 2001)