boiler fittings

been worried about a boiler fitting they were all nipped up barring the right rear bottom the one where a fitting screws into another fitting viewed from the rear of the car it moved easily i stripped the boiler down today removed boiler resealed fitting rebuilt car and the fitting into boiler is still easy to move by hand it cant be screwed in as far as the others as the fitting screwed into it wont go on when rebuilt i screwed the brass fitting into the end and it moved easily any ideas i used the steamseal on the joints

Hi,
This is my worst nightmare - finding a boiler fitting that leaks when I eventually fire it up!! The fitting you are talking about is the very one that I had trouble with before I installed the boiler and STW had to provide alternate fittings as it would not clear the chassis! I am though, a bit worried about your term 'nipped' up. I fitted all my fittings with plenty of steam seal and used a 12" adjustable wrench to tighten them up with reasonable strength and they are far from just being "nipped" up remembering that the working boiler pressure is 275psi!! I had a lot of trouble fitting my boiler as I am on my own but eventually managed it, so I only hope my boiler is OK as I don't think it is an option for me to take it out again if there are any problems as I have health problems myself! If my Lyka doesn't work, I think I will have to sell it (as beautiful as she is) and let someone else do battle with it!! However, I do hasten to add that should I sell it, I would not sell it for just the cost of the parts - it would be substantially more considering the paint work and all the extras!. I have always thought these cars are very much undervalued when they do come to the market.
Anyway, good luck and I wish you all the best. Any further questions please don't hesitate to write and I will try to give you the benefit of my experiences in building this thing!
Kindest regards
Greg

Hi All,
From what I have read, many times you may see leaks under air pressure that disappear under steam pressure due to the fact the boiler and fittings get pretty warm or hot and expand to close off the "air leak". I still worry that after applying the Steam Seal and it has set-up then we are asked to move a fitting so that we can have clearance to assemble additional components and then return the fitting to its proper location that we are possibly creating a leak. Just hope that the expansion under steam will take care of it. Also the way I tighten pipe fittings is to tighten them to where I think it is a normal amount and then turn the fitting one more time. Sometimes this is a real challenge to accomplish - but so far I have got it done.
Grier

thanks for the reply its not possible to fit the bottom rear fitting tight you have to screw one fitting into the other off the boiler as you cannot turn when fitted the problem with mine is you can only screw in a few threads as it then hits the welded ring of the boiler the effect is like putting a nut on a bolt it is not tight it just sits there all the others screw down further because a pipe goes into them so they can be screwed down further the bottem rear has a lot thicker fitting to cope with thanks tony

Hi Tony,
I had all sorts of similar problems in trying to get mine to fit! You need to talk to Will at STW - he was very good and sorted out the problems for me by supplying slightly different fittings. In any case at the end of the day, if needs be, this fitting is not required (it for for boiler blowdown) as there are two other blowdowns available!! One at the front of the boiler and the other through the boiler bottom two level sight glass valves!! Hope this helps!! Ensure though that this is blanked off by an STW supplied fitting - but I'm sure that they would prefer you to be successful in fitting this!!
Regards
Greg