Office of Steam Forum for Model & Toy Steam Gas & Hot Air Engines

A very nice looking engine Tony...

These flamelickers can be quite temperamental, but it is imperative that the valve seals completely.
Also, the timing needs to be properly adjusted, so that the valve is open on the downstroke, to draw in as much heat/flame as possible, and closes completely when the piston is farthest away from the valveend, to give the vacuum hauling the piston back up the biggest effect when the gases starts cooling.

In the past i have had some succes using old feeler gauges as valvematerial, as they usually is made from spring steel.