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Yes sir, you will truly enjoy the fruits of your labor when the project is completed. I did a similar restoration on a 1977 vintage HLV-H. It was a complete tear down, clean, repaint and a lot of new parts. the folks at Hardinge were great to work with on getting new parts and helping with...

You can throw my name into the pot also. It would look great with the steam twin cylinder rope driven flywheel that I have sitting on the back burner. Larry DuFour, Cary, NC

I feel like I lucked out on the pump casting. Usually my luck is to bore the final hole and find a big blow hole. Anyway, I just had to share these pictures with all of you. I am sooo excited ! I want to take the assembly out of the fixture and put it into the main frame of the LaFrance. But I...

Good Evening, Great news, there are NO inclusions in the pump body casting. All the holes have been drilled and bored as should be without any problems. All that is left is to tap the mounting holes and mill 4 channels. The top mounting plate and bottom cover are finished except for matching...

Good evening, Made some more progress. Picture #1 shows all the posts turned and mounted in the main bearings. The cylinder mounting plate is made and in place. There are two pieces of brass that have been machined down to 1/8" and 3/16" thick from 1/4" thick plate. I suppose I could have bought...

Greetings, Main Bearings: I was able to correct the bosses on the back side of the main bearings by turning some brass pieces and soldering them in place. The tops and bottoms are tapped 10-32 for the support rods for the engine and pump mounting plates. Picture #1 Crankshaft: I took a...

Greetings, Progress is being made on the fixture for the engine and pump assembly. The frame work is assembled. I need to cut the recesses for the main bearings and drill and tap the mounting holes. The main bearings and flywheels are roughed out. There were some bosses on the inside of the main...

Greetings, I did reach a my mini-goal this afternoon. All the brake rigging is in place plus a few other small frame details were taken care of. Now I can focus my attention on the steam engines and pump assemblies. I plan to build a jig that represents the center section of the frame. That way...

Greetings, I have been working on another frame detail. This time it is the rear axel vibrations clamps. In the early days of these horse drawn steamers, the engine would start to jump up and down with all the vertical motion involved while running the pump. Some of the written accounts...

Greetings, It has been a long while since my last post; way to long. I finally uncovered the LaFrance project and spent most of the week refreshing myself on the project and was able to get the draft door and latch mechanism made. Sure was good to be back working on the steamer.:) The first...

Greetings and Happy New Year, I do appreciate your interest and to answer your question; the engine is not completed yet. I have been working on all the chassis components and attachments. I wanted to get all this finished before I start on the best part yet to come; the steam engines and pump...

George, what brand of DRO are you planning to buy ? I purchased a SHARS on ebay for my mill and it is great. I just purchased a second one for my Hardinge HLVH lathe. Check them out. For what they can do you can not beat the price. Larry PS: Happy Thganksgiving

Greetings, well I finally got some pieces painted and assembled for the draft gear. I have been fighting outdated spray paints from the discount stores in our area. One piece I removed the paint 7 times until I got something worth while to keep. Anyway, some progress is finally being made...

Chuck I am sitting here in my LazyBoy chuckling to myself. What a delight you are. I/we never know what to expect when we open your threads. Well, my fellow model maker, if anyone can pull this project off, it is you. Thanks for sharing the fun with all of us.

If you were machining "slag" off the surface, you more than likely was using "hot rolled" steel. True cold roll or 1018 steel is clean except for the grease and oil they put on it to keep it from rusting. It comes in many forms and shapes. Check with Speedy Metals. He's their link...

I thought I would share a set-up with you for making long tapers on a milling machine. Picture #1 shows the typical 5” sine bar being used to produce a very accurate angled surface for setting the work piece on to machine a very precise angle. Picture #2 is a similar situation except in this...

Greetings, I have transported the LaFrance/Karen Lynn on several occasions on the back seat of our car. One time I even bought a big tub and packed a lot of towels around it to protect, so I could take it to a model show. I need to transport the engine to various painters to get some quotes for...

Just had to add some color to some of the brake rigging. All done with making levers. yeh ! Now I need to taper pin them to there respective shafts. Right now I am using Valspra spray paint. It does not dry as quick as Krylon, but when it has several days to cure out, it is tough as the...

More bits and pieces. The first picture shows all the brass pieces needed to fabricate the large rear brake lever. Picture #2 (side to face out board) and #3 (side to face in board) shows the pieces clamped together and ready for soldering. Picture #4 shows the lever in place with the linkage to...

Awesome Pete :bow: Fantastic job. I got the ole goose bumps watching it run. Being there with you during your build makes it very special for me and I am sure for many others also. Again, grrrrrreat job :) Larry