Sold December 2007 Back to Archive

When Stuart Turner joined two of their ubiquitous 10V engines together, it seemed entirely natural to call the resulting engine a "Double Ten" - it has a sort of logic that appeals to my fairly innocent mind. Doing the same trick on the biggest single cylinder in the range, the 5A, made them come over all poetic so, instead of the predictable (and not, it must be said, inappropriate) "Double Five" it became the "Swan".

This is a Stuart Swan, comprising, effectively, a pair of 5A engines mounted on a common soleplate, complete with reversing gear. The project was started many years ago, work to datehas been done to a good standard and comprises:

• Cylinders bored, end covers machined

• Trunk guides machined

• Soleplate machined

• Flywheel machined, bored and keyway cut

• Crankshaft machined, assembled with bobweights

• Valve chests machined

On the demise of the last owner, some kind soul has spent many hours going through the parts list and numbering all the castings. A complete parts inventory is included, along with a set of drawings. Missing bits are:

• 1 main bearing half

• Centre main bearing

• Crosshead pin bush

• 1 crosshead pin

• Valve chest covers

• Slide valves

• Eccentric sheave

• Reverser locking lever

Whilst it would be worth buying the valve chest covers from Stuart if only for aesthetic reasons, the remainder of the parts could be made from stock material - indeed the eccentric sheaves are easier made from bar, I am never quite sure why anybody would want to do them from a casting.