Gibbs - Cartland
Mustang Engine
(3 Cylinder)
| This engine is the back half of an in-line six cylinder Ford Mustang engine. It has bash valves and was commissioned by R. A. Gibbs of North Carolina and made by Bill Cartland of Jupiter Beach, Florida. The engine is attached to the original bell housing and is ready to install in a vehicle. The original pistons are used as crossheads so that new uniflow cylinders could be fabricated and bolted to the plate that replaces the original head. Reports are that this engine ran very well. |  |
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| This engine was owned for many years by the Mobil Steam Society out of Oak Ridge, Tennessee. It was made by Bill Cartland out of Florida working with R.A. Gibbs of Greensborough, North Carolina. The engine started as a 200 c.i.d. Mustang engine and then was sawn in half leaving the last three cylinders and the bell housing. The head was unbolted and discarded leaving the block and pistons. The pistons were then used as cross-heads. |  |
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| New Pushrods (connecting rods) were bolted to the original pistons and new pistons attached to the top and new individual cylinders were made with uniflow exhaust ports drilled into them. The new valve train was a bash (otherwise known as a bump) valve with a small rotary valve mounted on the side and chain driven for starting. | ||
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This engine illustrates one of several methods of modifying an existing IC engine for steam. The beauty is that a new crankshaft and connecting rods, complete with bearings does not have to be constructed. Using the existing pistons as cross-heads effectively isolates the steam from the crankcase oil, where the ensuing water would emulsify with the oil and cause all kinds of problems. The downside is a taller engine with more reciprocating weight. | |
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| This engine illustrates one of several methods of modifying an existing IC engine for steam. The beauty is that a new crankshaft and connecting rods, complete with bearings does not have to be constructed. Using the existing pistons as cross-heads effectively isolates the steam from the crankcase oil, where the ensuing water would emulsify with the oil and cause all kinds of problems. The downside is a taller engine with more reciprocating weight. |  |
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| The other beauty of this conversion is that it will bolt into any of the early Ford Falcon autos or, best of all, the little Ranchero. Because most of a steam power plant consists of the burner, boiler, controls, water pumps, valve train, and condenser, this is a good way to gain experience running a steam engine with the minimum amount of steam engine engineering development work. The latter is very expensive and time consuming.
At such time all of the other components can be bread boarded, tested and perfected a decision can be made to spend the money on a dedicated steam engine. In the mean time this is as efficient a steam engine as can be made cheaply. The bash valves mean a very short cutoff, somewhere in the 6% range, with concomitant long expansion and efficiency. |
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By using the original equipment bell housing, clutch, and gear box, one can have a very simplified valve design. A clutch and gear box means that neutral can be easily found. Thus the engine can be warmed up and idled while water is being pumped and everything in the boiler stabilized. A bash valve steam engine approximates the torque characteristics of the original gasoline engine thus making a nice match with the drive train and rear axle gearing. It is also cheap and reliable because of billions of dollars being spent by the automobile industry for engineering development. Also the uniflow exhaust system assists in engine efficiency by isolating the hot end of the cylinder, which is where the steam comes in, and the cool end of the cylinder, which is where the expanded steam exhausts. This conserves the energy in the steam so that little is lost and most can be used to generate power. |
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