I've finally decided to bring my problem child Stuart D10 to the forum to see if there is someone willing and capable who can get it straightened out as it is beyond my capabilities. A little history first - I bought a factory machined kit back in 2014, got it painted and assembled and running on air, not well but hoping it would do better as the runtime hours passed. Then Stuart came out with a factory machined reversing gear kit which I tried to install but couldn't get to work. In desperation I looked for help finally sending it to Karl Britten at The Toy Steam Hospital in Sept. 2015. Long story short , he had it for a year and a half and couldn't get it to work either. Then in Feb. 2017 it was off to Kevin Morgan at ITA who had done similar work recently. He tore it down, several times, made and installed new parts, and got it running correctly except it was a little tight. I received the engine back in Mar. 2019, ran it with a drill to loosen it up, and lo and behold, it wouldn't run on air - Kevin thought that the eccentrics might have slipped. At this point and considering the history of the build I would like to find someone who can finish the project successfully as it's beyond my limited abilities - otherwise I'll sell it on and lose what I thought would be a really nice engine. Also I still have all the necessaries for a 50" steam launch still sitting on the shelf - I've got to get started on it soon or I feel it'll never get done. Thanks!
[ Guests cannot view attachments ] [ Guests cannot view attachments ]
What a nightmare.
I purchased 1 that had been started from castings .it was a sod of a thing to get sorted but i did and it runs nice on steam .i had to finish machining no reversing gear
The only way I can afford stuarts is to buy some one else f....ps from TM and go from there
I would consider removing the inlet manifold so i can put air into either cylinder.
Then with sufficient air apply to one cylinder at a time to see if either one will work and go from there
Basically i would want to know if the left go forward then reverse
Then does the right go forward then reverse .
Once we have these four results we can go from there
Cheers
Dennis
If nothing else it'll make a beautiful paperweight....
Actually I hope it'll make $500 - $1000 on Ebay if I can't find another expert to straighten it out - probably no big deal but you never know.
That is a beautiful engine. It's too bad you had such trouble. That is definitely a project for advanced builders. I admire you for tackling it and hope you get it sorted . Good luck.
Have put this engine on Ebay.