Pressure Gauge details and dates

The pressure gauge (right hand of the two) is now back on the car, complete with bevelled washer ;

 Having reinstated one original feature, I have deviated from another another - instead of a clear indirect reading water gauge glass, I've put a red-line one in. This will make it far easier to see the water level. 

More details - All the Ashton Valve Company gauges on the car have serial numbers; on the Steam Car Club of Great Britain Website there is a list of Ashton Gauge serial numbers and dates.
The Steam and Main Fuel Gauges date from 1913, and the Pilot Fuel gauge 1914 - the year Stanleys changed over to kerosene fuel with a separate petrol tank for pilot fuel.

An obsession with detail?

Original features often vanish during repair or restoration; photos of sister cars show a small beveled washer between the boiler pressure gauge elbow and firewall

The boiler pressure gauge is the right hand one in this photo of restored sister car #7712 in the USA. This car also has its electric gauge lamp, long since vanished from  ours, and the indirect reading water gauge between the fuel and boiler pressure gauges. 

This  pre-restoration photo showed that the washer and gauge glass fitting had vanished from our car

When the car was dismantled, a ring of discoloured paintwork was found where the washer fitted. Spares and accessories for Stanleys are relatively easy to come by; Vintage Steam Products in the US supply a wide range of Stanley spares and accessories, including a stainless steel reproduction of the missing washer, and with the pressure gauge off  to avoid it freezing in the winter, it was a good time to order a  replacement.


 During restoration we also sourced an original Stanley water gauge fitting from T Clarence Marshall of the Marshall Steam Museum, whose father was a Stanley dealer.