Hills were plentiful on the 2013 June tour in Mission B.C. and subsequent failures were high. Of the 35 cars that started the tour only 26 managed to completed. I wouldn't say the the tour was difficult but there were definitely a challenge or two to overcome.
The tour was really a final test for all of the work we had done over the past 6 months. As noted in my earlier posts the Stanley had only been running for about a week prior with minor issues cropping up each time it was fired. Samantha and I started out early Thursday morning prepping the car for a test run before we loaded it into the trailer and headed out to mission. At this point I was still chasing a vapor cloud that would constantly appear in front of the vehicle when the main burner was turned on. This inevitably would result in tube fires, an issue that is slightly unsettling and annoying. Having already sealed every crack and crevice between the burner pan and boiler I was left with no choice but to start inspecting my connections. Sure enough I found the culprit! There were some burs on the flare that attached the branch forks to the main vaporizer. I assume this was caused by the flaring process. I cleaned up the flare and like magic the vapor cloud was no more. During my messing about tracking down leaks, Samantha kindly started polishing the brass. In fact, she polished the whole car! This came up during the tour and needless to say some of the wives weren't very impressed with her eagerness to participate. After a short, trouble free run around South Surrey we packed the Stanley up and headed out for Mission.
The tour started Friday morning and with it the routine of waking up much to early and missing breakfast began. I think we were the last car out of the parking lot which was probably a good place for a car that really wasn't well tested. The Stanley preformed very well that morning. The pilot went out once do to dirt in the system but other then that she ran without issue. The increased water capacity of 45 gallons makes finding water really a non issue. After lunch during the journey back to the hotel Samantha noticed we were having problems holding 120 psi of fuel pressure. I watched the gauge during a long, flat stretch of road and the problem seemed to worsen with ever mile traveled. I reasoned that something must be wrong with the pump so we found somewhere to pull over. After removing the floor boards I saw that the fuel pump was weeping fuel. Not good. It turns out the keeper wire had broke/disappeared and the packing nut has backed off about a turn and a half. It took about half an hour and couple of attempts but we managed to fashion a new keeper out of some old wire attached to the wrench that opens the presto-light tank. A nice classic road side fix! We arrived back at the hotel a little later then anticipated but under our own steam.
Day two was a drive up to Stave Lake Power Station and there were some pretty good grades. Unfortunately I got stuck behind a few slower gas cars so some of the switch backs were completed at little over a walking pace. That being said the uphills have never really been an issue for the Stanley. The Baker burner was working flawlessly and we happily maintained over 400 psi during the whole climb. On the flats, I had to shut the throttle to keep it at 40 mph which is a welcome change from how it used to run. Now coming back down is always interesting and this was no exception. The long decent took it's toll on our brakes and by the time we got back down to the flats my brakes were smoking pretty good. I'm still getting used to not having any engine braking. I've also realized that getting behind someone who puts there car in first gear and crawls down the hills probably isn't the best idea either.
The Banquet was held back at the hotel during the evening and I was awarded the People Choice Trophy. It is one of only two awards given out by the the Antique Chapter of the VCCC. The other being the "Hard Luck" award which definitely isn't desirable. This means a lot to win an award touring with many of the Wellburns close friends. The Stanley had won this award once before in 1987 and I'm tremendously proud that it was able to do it again.
The third day was a short run up to Westminster Abby. It was a reasonable climb and worth the view once you got to the top. All in all it was a great tour and Stanley preformed extremely well. The pilot only went out once and it never stopped vaporizing which made it a pleasure to drive. Thanks to everyone for there input and support. It wouldn't have been possible without my parents and my amazing girlfriend. I just can't wait to do it again!
Samantha and I on the 2013 June Tour
