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Home | The Machines | The Presenters | The Experts | Find out more
Introduction | Part of the family | Starting from scratch | Inside and out
The Sentinel steam lorry was fitted with a boiler first patented in 1904. This was the pinnacle of steam technology – the Sentinel's small boiler was so efficient that it could hold its own against the internal combustion engine and electric lorries.
So successful was it, that – with some updating of the basic design – the boiler remained in use until the last steam wagons were built in 1951. While the unique Sentinel boiler gave the vehicle its excellent performance and exceptional steam-producing ability, it required proper handling and maintenance.
Edward and Andrew Goddard come from a family of steam enthusiasts. Their family firm, Morris Lubricants, used steam lorries until the end of the Second World War, and their father David jumped at the chance to acquire a Sentinel in 1977. The Goddard boys grew up with their beloved Sentinel, so they were devastated when the boiler started to show signs of wear and they had to stop using it.
When Claire and Suggs first see the Sentinel, it is looking very forlorn and consists of a pile of bits at the Goddards' yard in Shrewsbury. Edward and Andrew had taken it apart but then found that the boiler was beyond repair.
Claire calls in steam expert, Andy Melrose, to work on the restoration. The outer jacket of the boiler is beyond help. Unfortunately, no one has built a Sentinel boiler for over 60 years, so they face a difficult task. As well as that, the cab is completely rotten, so a new one needs to be built from scratch.
While Suggs visits the archives to try and trace some original Sentinel boiler drawings, Claire and Andy get to work devising a method to recreate the flanged corners of the boiler's outer jacket. Andy comes up with the idea of using a massive hydraulic press. This will form the curved flange against a specially made 'former' placed inside the boiler jacket.
While Suggs is busy sleuthing, Claire has the racing engine bearings recoated in white metal and the cylinders rebored. With the engine sorted out, Claire and Neil have to rebuild the car.
Claire visits Deepdale Engineering in Birmingham to roll a new tube for the outer jacket. Then she returns to Somerset to look over the plans Suggs has discovered. Using these drawings, they are able to press out a new boiler using the hydraulic press.
Leaving Andy to drill out all the holes needed to attach the outer jacket to the inner firebox securely, Claire returns to Shrewsbury to work on the rebuilding of the cab with coachbuilder Bob Brown. Once the assembled boiler is back in the Sentinel, Suggs helps Claire, Andy and Bob to rebuild the cab from the newly-made sections.
After passing the official boiler test, the Sentinel is ready to be tried out on the road. The Goddard brothers decide to take it up the very steep Horseshoe Pass in north Wales. Andy is relieved that the Sentinel is able to storm up the pass in a blizzard – and the Goddard boys are overjoyed.
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