As suspected the pivot bushing for the handbrake cam had completely worn out. The worn bushing ending up damaging the cam as well so both were replaced with new stainless pieces. Below is the new stepped stainless bushing being installed.
Blog
A blog about my the history, acquisition and operation of my 1911 Model 62 Stanley Steamer.
Telling the future
Horseless Carriage Gazette Vol. 24, No. 6, Nov.-Dec 1962
Amazing how some people can tell the future....
A grinding handbrake.
It always starts with something simple then escalates into a much larger job. This was one of those times.
I had noticed on the last run that my hand brake was making a metal grinding noise when used for any extended period. With the upcoming tour in September I decided I better take the wheels off and have look. I has hoping to see worn out linings, an easy fix, but no such luck. The grinding noise seems to be coming from a worn brake arm bushing causing the pivot to tilt and contact the drum when pressure is applied. It looks like some of the pieces have already been remade once so I assume this is a common problem.
The wheels are off.
Evidence of a bearing repair
I went to check the play in the outer axle bearings and found that the passenger side was quite loose. Upon closer inspection I saw that the original ball bearing unit had been removed and replaced with a modern sealed unit. The fitment of the retrofit definitely left something to be desired. Everything is loose. They had machined the old race to hold the new bearing but the machine work was much to rough to get a proper fit. Everything is spinning on each other so the pieces will need to be remade. Just to add insult to injury that modern bearing is missing a 1/4" chunk of metal. Just another day at the shop...
Brake band removed on the drivers side with the original bearing assembly.
A little welding and we're back on the road.
It's been a while since I steamed up the Stanley and with touring season almost upon us I thought now was the time. One of the last repairs that needed to be made was to weld in a new ring around the peep hole door to provide a better seal. The old ring was pressed in place and left something to be desired when you consider the importance of its role.
We had contacted David Graham of Cougar Welding because we needed some welding work done on one of the enclosed trailers so that we could mount a new 9500lbs winch in the nose and thought we might as well put the Stanley inside and kill two birds with one stone. David has all the machinery to make quick work out of fabrication and being an antique enthusiast himself, does some excellent work.
Having done a lot of work on the power pumps over the winter I took my time steaming up being careful to watch for leaks. Everything went as expected and the car performed extremely well. I had to adjust the rear water pump and fuel pump packing once because they were weeping slightly. All in all the power pump rebuilds were successful and it is great to be back on the road!