1969 Chevelle GM steam conversion

1969 Chevelle

1969 Chevelle SE-124. General Motors contracted with Bill Besler to make this steam conversion. It was made in one year with Roy Anderson doing the drafting and Barney Becker assisting. The original small block Chevy 305 engine was sawed in half with the back four cylinders left bolted to the bell housing and a three speed manual transmission. A small monotube boiler with an air atomizer burner and quartz rod controller was used.

Another Video made in 2023

The engine is a double acting piston valve compound using the back twopistons for cross-heads. The front two pistons are the cross-heads for the piston valves. The crank was modified for this use. A large condenser is in place of the original radiator. This car is underpowered because of restrictions into the space forthe steam generator. The original rear axle ratio was kept, thus limiting top speed. Other than that it was a very successful car and has 5,000 roadmiles on it. There was a two minute warm up procedure: 30 seconds to make steam and then one and a half minutes to warm up the metal in the engine. When starting there was an automatic timing advance sothat any water in the cylinders would be exhausted through the piston valves.

Jim Crank says he spent a couple of days hacksawing the block in two. Everything fit under the hood and in consequence the steam generator is not large enough and this thing only makes 55 horsepower or so. It sat at Harrah’s for 20 years and we do not know if it was put away properly, with oil in the engine. I plan on taking it apart to hone the cylinders and then to put a big boiler in the trunk and big wheels and have a real steam car some day. It is a very conservative design. It did not attempt air conditioning, freeze prevention, or a lot of other unnecessary things when one is making a prototype steam car. It worked when it was made and ran reliably.

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1969 Chevelle SE-124. General Motors contracted with Bill Besler to make this steam conversion. It was made in one year with Roy Anderson doing the drafting and Barney Becker assisting. The original small block Chevy 305 engine was sawed in half with the back four cylinders left bolted to the bell housing and a three speed manual transmission. A small monotube boiler with an air atomizer burner and quartz rod controller was used.
Another Video made in 2023
The engine is a double acting piston valve compound using the back twopistons for cross-heads. The front two pistons are the cross-heads for the piston valves. The crank was modified for this use. A large condenser is in place of the original radiator. This car is underpowered because of restrictions into the space forthe steam generator. The original rear axle ratio was kept, thus limiting top speed. Other than that it was a very successful car and has 5,000 roadmiles on it. There was a two minute warm up procedure: 30 seconds to make steam and then one and a half minutes to warm up the metal in the engine. When starting there was an automatic timing advance sothat any water in the cylinders would be exhausted through the piston valves.
Jim Crank says he spent a couple of days hacksawing the block in two. Everything fit under the hood and in consequence the steam generator is not large enough and this thing only makes 55 horsepower or so. It sat at Harrah’s for 20 years and we do not know if it was put away properly, with oil in the engine. I plan on taking it apart to hone the cylinders and then to put a big boiler in the trunk and big wheels and have a real steam car some day. It is a very conservative design. It did not attempt air conditioning, freeze prevention, or a lot of other unnecessary things when one is making a prototype steam car. It worked when it was made and ran reliably.