Mutant Stuart 5A, Father and Son Project

[Djangodog]

In 1982, at age 65, my father decided that he would “improve” Stuart’s 5A engine design.  He performed a lot of the machining, but made some errors in the machining and the design.  He shelved the project in 1989.

He gave the engine to me in 2010 and admitted that much of the engine would need to be redesigned and a good amount of it reworked or made over.   

The engine sat untouched until I retired at 65, in 2020.  I pieced it together and began to modify his design and remove the light blue paint that covered nearly everything.  Some parts were beautifully made, while others were not.  The pump, base, bearings, cross head and standard all needed to be corrected and reworked.  Everything had to be refitted and nearly everything tweaked.  After a couple hundred hours of labor, it was finally running.  The video shows it before the pump had been reworked and installed.  It has not been run in and never run on steam.  The rings are still a bit tight. 

I nearly threw it into the scrap barrel, but I am glad that I didn’t.  I wish that he could have seen it run.   Thank you for watching.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAkMweoSOuc" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAkMweoSOuc</a>

[Kim]

That looks really nice and runs well!
Your father would be very pleased with the results!

So what modification did he make?  (not being overly versed in Stuart engines)

Is it the reversing that is the addition?

Kim

[Michael S.]

So I like this steel blue.
The modification has made it a light version of the 5a. The sheet metal on the side can also be seen on larger ship steam engines as splash protection. It is well suited for small boats with the reversal.

Michael

[Djangodog]

So I like this steel blue.
The modification has made it a light version of the 5a. The sheet metal on the side can also be seen on larger ship steam engines as splash protection. It is well suited for small boats with the reversal.

Michael

I stayed with blue because my father had chosen it, but I went with the deeper blue and went with more bare metal.

[Djangodog]

That looks really nice and runs well!
Your father would be very pleased with the results!

So what modification did he make?  (not being overly versed in Stuart engines)

Is it the reversing that is the addition?

Kim

Thank you.

Here is a stock Stuart 5A, less the pump.  It’s pretty much a giant 10V, 7A or #4 and from what I have heard, a very nice engine. 

My father was going for the traditional launch engine, but age was catching up to him and I think that he grew frustrated with himself and the engine.  I had to gut the pump, sleeve it, make new valves and a new globe.  Nearly every part had to be reworked, revamped or replaced.  When I began looking it over I told my wife that if the crankshaft was rubbish, then I wasn’t going to do anything with it.  I inspected the crankshaft and it was pretty much perfect, so I committed myself to finishing his engine.

[Admiral_dk]

I think that your Father would have been very happy with the end result     

Per   

[john mills]

the engine looks good
the top part is the 5a  the lower part reminds me of the launch engine in KN harris book.the 5A stuart turner is nice engine that runs well
and the Kn harris engine mine is double  size also is a good engine  but the drawings i had needed a lot of working out ..
john

[Chipswitheverything]

You have reconditioned your father's engine into a very handsome and crisply presented working model, with nice practical features, like the many oilers fitted.  A project well worth the time and the persistence : now the engine is a family heirloom that will give much pleasure, and be a link through to your father's interest in model engineering.  Dave