Lyka Kit #1 Chassis

Below is an image of what I have found to be one of my most important tools -- a half round needle file.

Also used extensively were a regular flat file, rat tail file, regular sized half round file, hole deburring tool and a Dewalt right angle grinder. But by far this little half round needle file I used the most on all the small pieces parts. All parts for kits 1 and 2 have been deburred and chamfered. This took a little less than two days.



As others have indicated on their blogs, there was some difficulty with assembling the Side Stays. I found it necessary to bend them some. I used my Oxy-Acetylene rig to heat up the bend area and on a vise tapped with a medium to light force the Side Stays with a two pound hammer. Cool the part and retest the fit. I did this several times for each Side Stay until I was satisfied that the Side Stays would align and slide into the front and back Axle Assemblies.

Kit 1 trial assembly completed.

The following image shows the connection point of the Side Stay to one of the axles. I know that Steam Traction World stated that the frame is flexible and not worry about it so much, but when I completely tightened down the Side Stays, I didn't particularly like the way the framed flexed and stressed it. Below shows a picture of the relaxed Side Stay.

I probably could try and re-bend the Side Stays some more, but the studs line up nicely to the frame and axle holes. I decided to find some 1/8 inch (3mm) washers to make up the gap and braze them onto the ends of the Side Stays. This way the long Tubes are not placed under assembly stress and there is the right amount of threads exposed to allow the M10 nyloc nut to lock with maybe 1 or 2 threads exposed past the nut.









Kits 1 through 7 Arrival.

The day that I have been waiting for finally arrived. Receipt of my first shipment of Lyka Kits 1-7 on December 19th.

The shipment left Steam Traction World, Daventry on November 20th, organized with other freight in Southampton in a container and shipped out December 5th.

The container arrived at the Charleston, South Carolina Port on December 14th and was processed through customs, loaded on a truck and shipped to Hampstead, North Carolina -- arriving December 19th.



All de-palletized.

Unboxing each kit.

Checking inventory of parts for each kit.

And success ! Everything accounted for. Enough for today's work.

Chassis Stand

All courtesy of Northern Tools Inc. I have prepared a movable chassis apparatus for which I can assemble my Lykamobile.  This will consist of four "four wheeled" dollies with four automotive jack stands clamped to the wood platform with a length of aluminum square tubing and a bolt and locking nut. See below image:

Once I have received and assembled the basic chassis, I envision bolting 2x4 studs between the wooded dollies to strengthen the apparatus for movement about my shop.

Front Headlamp

I should probably say that batching my kits (1 through 7) and with the associated delay gave me probably too much time to browse the internet searching out accessories for the Lykamobile.  Below are pictures of an early 1900's copper and brass acetylene automotive lamp that I have procured. It is a Phare-Majestic lamp.

I will have to electrify this beauty, and I believe I can do this without making any permanent modification to the lamp. I've discovered a unique restoration parts supplier - www.restorationstuff.com that has all kinds of hard to find items. Of course I will have to fabricate some type of "y" bracket to mount this lamp to the front of the Lykamobile -- that's for a later post.

And on an aside, for those who might want to purchase a new headlamp, the following website makes beautiful brass era replicas of lamps and other interesting items i.e. brass footsteps: www.brassauto.com



Stewart & Clark Speedometer Model 26

As probably like some of the fellow Lykamobile kit builders, I have been studying this kit for sometime now. A Lyka Series 1 builder (jjtjr - as denoted in the Steam Traction World Forums) has provided much inspiration to me -- especially in regards to modifying the Lykamobile to provide a somewhat period correct speedometer. So I set out (again on eBay) to find some of the necessary parts. Below is a picture of a Stewart & Clark Model 26 speedometer (manufactured around 1912) that was typically installed as an accessory to the early brass era automobiles.

The item to the left of the speedometer is a swivel joint that I intend to install with a properly sized drive gear that attaches to one end of the swivel (shaft with pin hole). The other end will have a flexible brass speedometer cable housing with a drive cable inside that will attach to the swivel. This cable and flexible housing will also attach to the speedometer. The drive gear/swivel will mate with the front right wheel modified brake disc that will have gear teeth machined on its perimeter. The swivel will provide the necessary degree of movement for steering. This contraption will transmit the rotation of the right front wheel through the swivel, through the cable and then to the speedometer. I plan to mount the speedometer on the right side of the floorboard of the Lykamobile. Many of these components (drive gear, flexible brass speedometer cable housing etc. are readily available through most Model T Ford parts suppliers).  At a later time I will discuss the math behind the speedometer to match the drive gear, disc brake gear, swivel, speedometer gearing that is required to make an accurate speed/odometer reading.

Follow this link for calculations: SPEEDOMETER MATH

Locomobile Carriage Lamps

So September 19, 2015 I discovered the Lykamobile Steam Car through some Google search I did and promptly sent an email to Dean Rogers Director of Steam Traction World requesting to buy one of these Lykamobile Kits. Dean politely informed me that the item was out of production, but would keep me on file if they decide to make another production run. Well February 15, 2016 I received an email from Dean stating that the Lykamobile was going back into production. That very day I committed.
So as I have said, I chose to have my kits batched for shipping efficiency and costs, this has given me plenty of time to search the web, looking for accessory items. The following carriage lamps I found on eBay:

To my amazement these were authentic kerosene Locomobile Lamps that had been converted to electricity. One of the lamps was damaged, but that did not deter me from purchasing them. I once again went to Google and searched out a company that restores vintage lamps. Genius of the Lamp Ltd. located in Birmingham, UK popped up as the most qualified source I could find. Raj, the owner of the company was very helpful with how and to what extent I should restore the lamps. Below are pictures of the restored lamps. They did a wonderful job.

In addition to the Carriage Lamps, I was also fortunate enough to find a vintage rear tail light again from eBay. Below are the unrestored pictures.

And below is a picture of the restored tail lamp again courtesy of Raj and Genius of the Lamp Ltd.



Color Scheme

I have decided to paint my Lykamobile similar to an 1899 Locomobile that was recently auctioned off by Bonham's this past year. Below are images taken from their website. Several depicting the unrestored condition of this "three family" owned vehicle.