I am replying to Davids posting on Live Steam on 12 Sept 95 re building a modern steam car - hope this is not too late! I have started looking at building the same and have some info and would appreciate anything you can give me which may help also.

I have an interesting book which may be of interest called "Experimental Flash steam" by J.H.Benson and A.A. Rayman published by Model and Allied Publications, Argus Books Ltd, 14 St James Rd, Watford, Herts, England, cost about $US 6.00, ISBN 0 85242 352 7 - very interesting, has chapters on Principles, Applications to Transport, Home-built steam cars, Application to models, model flash boilers, engines and valve gears, pumps, plant layout and hulls. a simple flash steam plant, a racing flash steam plant, some early flash steamers, some modern flash steamers plus Appendix. Most interesting to me is on p23 a reference to a mini steam car being developed by Alec Issigonis at British Leyland around Nov 1971 (I lived in Birmingham, Uk at the time and heard rumours but never saw it).

I would like to get hold of a copy of a paper by R.M. Palmer read to the Institute of Mechanical Engineers in 1970 volume 184, titled " An exercise in Steam Car Design (also refered to on page 23) - two cross-sections are shown of the L-type three cylinder steam engine.

This was a cross-flow tandem compound engine with uniflow exhaust from both high to low pressure cylinders and low pressure to condenser. It was designed to run at 2000 rpm,; power aim was 60bhp as supplied by a flash boiler evaporating 700 lb/hr at 1500 psi and 900 degrees F. There are also a list of conclusions which may prove useful in your unit. I can send them if you wish (but I reccommend the book).

I have just doodled some design parameters so far but I have this old Honda CRX ....

Dave Murray, the author of this article, died in 1996 of a heart attack while driving his racing car.