# The complete guide on casting parts



## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

Vw parts of course!
Said Id throw this up for the craic, some of you may be interested in the process so I might as well share given the fact that I took pics of the progress and build as I went.
First off, this line of work is next near impossible get info on so alot of it I had to design up myself and choose the suitable materials too along the way.
Casting is now a dying trade and fully automated around the world in controlled environments.
While Im sure nobody will go to the trouble I have here it may rise some interest as to whats involved, the process, materials, procedures, mould making, melting, design, etc.
I had to do this to figure out a few things I needed to know for my bigger smelter Ill be using to melt the alloy for the cylinder head Im designing. 
Using this smaller smelter less heat up times, gas, and raw materials can be used in order to get the feel for molten alloy in general.
Plus, its a bit easier than winding up my bigger smelter which can melt approx 9litres of alloy at a time, where as this one can do 1.25 litres.
Im going to be using this to make a few parts I have in mind for a while, DTH throttle bodies and a few trick intake manifolds being just some of the stuff.
Casting is a pretty simple process, but the finished item all depends on the quality of the mould the metal is poured into.
The main mould types ill be using will be of the sand variety, meaning, you make your pattern part you want in timber(Iroko) and you then strike both your sand mould halves off this pattern. The part shape is then formed in the sand and you can pour in your alloy, that way, ending up with the timber pattern shape, just thats its now alloy. 
Its a bit more complex than that but Ill try my best to explain all as I go.
Pattern making is what Im good at as my main ''skill'' is cabinetmaking so making very complex accurate pattern parts is not a problem.

Its important to note that this is not the cylinder head thread, this will be covered in another thread on Club Gti
Ok, so onto the first step of a long road, and that is the smelter itself. 
A smelter is basically just a round oven where the crucible is placed in order to melt the charge inside it.
The smelter must be well insulated as the heat inside is in excess of 700 degrees. 
The smelter is powered by plan ordinary gas you get for your cooker.
Its all pretty basic, now onto the build...
For the body of the smelter something round is needed, you could use a large diameter pipe but I used a gas cylinder, the walls are 3mm steel and there tough by nature.
I filled it with water to expel any gas still left inside.








Next up, off comes the top with my favourite tool[LOL] 
















A second ring is then cut off the main body to for a locating ring for lid.








The ring is then split and welded to lid around the outside.








The lid now fits snug back onto main body again.








The lid is turned over and I welded some wire lattice in there to hold in the refractory material a bit better.








The refractory mix consists of, 
Perlite
Cement
Sand
Fireclay
Perlite is a natural volcanic material, it is a natural insulator.
Cement is standard cement.
Sand is normal sharp sand.
Fireclay is the cement fire bricks are made from, kinda like normal cement but with a better heat resistance tolerance.








Mixed up








First the base is poured, approx 80mm high.








Then, I wrapped up a bit of Formica to form the inner circle.








Pouring the walls.








Done and tamped.








Onto the lid
A bit of pipe is placed into where the valve was in order to form a vent hole up through the lining. The pipe is removed when lining is set.








Thats the smelter pretty much done now, so next up, onto the crucible.
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The crucible is the cup used to place the metal in that is to be melted. 
This is used from start to finish, that is, the raw unmelted alloy is placed in this and stays in here until it melts, the crucible is then removed from the smelter and the alloy poured from it directly into the mould.
So, the material needed for the crucible has to be picked with care, depending on what you are melting, what the part is for, and what properties the finished part has to have all reflect on the crucible material choice. 
If poor crucible materials are used some material from the crucible walls can leech out into the molten alloy and effect the alloys properties.
In this case Ill be using stainless steel >316. Its ok for small parts and doesent really have any bad quality's that will effect the final part.
However for the cylinder head, I will be using a pure graphite crucible, graphite poses no threat on the final part qualities, be it strength, structure, or machinable properties. 
Obviously On such parts as throttle body's, intakes, and the like, the final properties can afford to be altered a tiny bit as there is no work on these parts as such, and machining of parts is minimal, so, stainless is a perfect choice for crucible material.

The Crucible manufacture.
I got a bit of pipe approx 250mm long with a wall thickness of 5mm, to this I welded a base plate in 6mm. 
Rods used are also 316 s/s.








Next, a 'V' is cut for spout








The spout is constructed from two pieces cut to triangle shapes
















Spout tacked in place








Finish weld
























Next, a ring is needed at the rear in order to tilt vessel in order to pour alloy








Pins are welded to the sides to catch crucible with the pouring tongs
























I gave the whole thing a quick sandblast after to remove any oxides or ****.
















Sandblasting really works in lifting any dirt or general dirt, a close up of one weld shows surface finish.








It may appear an over kill looking at the scale of the plate thickness, welding, ring, spout, sizes etc, but keep in mind this isent a milk jug and has to with stand very tough conditions for may cycles.

Thats the crucible done, next up the burner tube.
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## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

The burner tube is pretty much where it all happens, air is forced in one end, the other end is inserted into the smelter at the base, gas is introduced into a venturi in pipe near the hot end. The air speeds up as it passes through venturi and carries the gas with it, as it emerges inside smelter the air/gas mix ignites and makes the temperatures required to melt the alloy. 
The pipe enters at the side of smelter and has the effect of swirling the flame around the walls, passing around the crucible completely on all sides, and exits out the top vent hole.
With the Formica former now removed you can see the hole where the tube will sit.








The burner tube is approx 1200mm long, 50mm in diameter, and has a 3mm wall, its is of mild steel.
First, 3mm slots are cut all around to form venturi.








These strips left are tapped in to close slots, and once again, they are recut.
















Tapped in once more you can now see the crude but effective venturi formed








This is then welded up, its crude as hell and pretty wide cuts had to be filled in either end but its fine for what it has to do








Welder is then turned up to high and a hole blow through to fit a straight fitting to supply gas








Fitting tacked in








Now the end that sticks into smelter has to reduced down a bit too, few more slots a a bit of tapping and thats it done








Fits like so








There now has to be some form of way to vary the air from the blower, My blower is the exhaust air from my workshop vac but, it isent vari-speed, so I had to fit a butterfly to burner tube.
I wanted this as handy and as basic as possible so I got thinking, I made it just like a throttle body butterfly, one toyota wheel brace with a slot cut in it, and a disc 43mm in diameter. Job done. I fitted a valve spring and a welded washer as to make a bit of resistance and hold it at whatever position I wanted.
















I also welded a leg to tube to hold free end at correct height, the leg is a bit of scrap from the pile and happened to be just the correct size!








Thats the burn tube done.
Up next, tempering the refractory lining.
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I set the smelter aside for a week to air dry.
If it is dried too fast the lining will crack, and thats no good.
After a week or so, a small fire was set inside of timber off cuts and paper, this was repeated for a few evenings in order to dry out lining further.
















The smelter is now ready for the first run.
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First run.
How the smelter looks after the tempering.








Test fit/run









Made up the tongs too earlier, forgot to take pictures, its pretty simple








A bundle of lit news papers are inserted between crucible and refractory wall, blower is turned on, throttle closed, gas is turned on at low reg setting.
As temperatures rise the news papers are burnt, throttle is opened, gas is increased, burner tube sustains ignition by itself and the whole thing comes to life in a fantastic jet engine like roar!
For the first melt I used a few alternator brackets, some water pump casings, and some other brackets. This is a bit of a messy way of doing it as it creates a lot of dross, or scum on top of molten alloy that has to be skimmed off before pour. This dross is the impurities and dirt on the old parts.
Thankfully I have found a spot in Ireland that sells Ingots off the shelf in 5kg bars, they are LM25 which is the exact alloy I need for the cylinder head as it has all the correct properties I need. It is also Idea for all the other parts.
Just warming up, crucible loaded








8 minutes from ignition and all the alloy has now been melted, what you see on the top is the dross, it looks like grey banana skins and is very bad if it makes its way into mould, its pretty easy spoon it off before pour though.
My optical thermometer told me that it was approx 700 degrees in there after 8mins.








I have to say it was pretty cool, and pouring the molten alloy was a sight to be seen, sadly, I dident get a photo as my hands were full.
I poured it into a very crude normal sand mould, just to get it into a shape to be able to be remelted easily. I also wanted to check cooling times, shrink, etc.








The blank when cooled








Notice the shrink at top once it dried








This shrink has to be taken Into account in the design of all parts, moulds, risers, gates, and all other mould aspects.
Youll see about all them in the next part when I make up some moulds for parts and other bits.
I had trouble getting high grade casing sand but I have some located and ill be picking it up sometime next week along with a crate of ingots and a load of other vital bits incl de-gas tabs.
One last shot of the crucible post pour
It seems to be well up to the job and can ''take the heat''!


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## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

Next up a run down on the basic casting methods and the various moulds needed to make particular parts.
Simple parts such as brackets and other solid items are pretty easy cast, meaning they only require one pattern in order to make that particular shape.
Slightly more complex parts which have a hole through them such as the flange on the end of a cylinder head require a ''core'' to be installed inside the main mould in order to create the void through the flange.
This core is also made of sand and requires a pattern to make that too.
All parts in or on an engine that fall into the sand casting category use these two types of casting methods. 
Depending on part complexity the mould may require multiple patterns to be made up in order to strike the associated sand moulds off them in order to build up the final mould for the part required. 
Take two basic parts below as an example> 
One is an alternator bracket.
The other a coolant flange. 
First up, the bracket, this is a basic part and requires only one pattern, and just the two mould halves, the top half and the bottom half. 
The top half of the sand mould is called the cope, and the bottom half is called the drag. 
The sand is held inside frames called flasks. There is a flask for each mould half.
Casting sand isn't like the sand your used of, once packed into say a block the size of a concrete block it holds its shape because of the binders added to it.
Its very fine also and takes sharp details pretty easy.
Therefore no support is needed to hold it in shape, a simple frame(flask) is used in order to aid positioning of both mould halves, even though the moulds are open top and bottom the sand will not fall out of its frame, its brilliant stuff.
Anyway, onto the bracket
As you can see its fairly basic, 
























Now, lets imagine you wanted to make that, you would need an exact replica pattern in order to ''make'' that shape inside the moulds.
Sadly, if you wanted to make a copy of the above part, you cannot use that part as a pattern because you have to factor in shrinkage, as the alloy cools it shrinks back a bit, so, this has to be factored in when making the timber pattern.
If you were to use the alloy bracket as the pattern once your new part had cooled it would actually be slightly smaller that the original...not good.
LM25 is the alloy Ill be using throughout and the approx rate of shrinkage for this material is 1-1.3% from pattern dimensions.
Or approx 3mm shrink on a 300mm long part, enough to throw things a bit.
So lets say I had that part made in timber with the shrink rule factored in and it was ready to use as a pattern, heres how you would go about striking the sand moulds off it in order to create the ''space'' to pour the alloy into.
First off, you can see the line all the way across the centre of the part, this is called the parting line and it is where the top and bottom mould halves come together.
Parting lines exist on alloy items that are cast this way, and also exist on ALL plastic items too as the moulding process is similar, you will see them on may items if you have a closer look.
Parting line








In an ideal world parting lines would not exist, but they do, on very cheap parts parting lines will be more prominent because of lack of accuracy, tolerances, and general sloppiness when it comes to positioning both mould halves exactly in-line and opposite each other. If they are off a bit, the mould halves become offset and this can be seen on the finished part.
Have a look at some cheap kids toys, you'll find them in a second.
Another extremely important feature you have to keep in mind when designing parts is the ability to be able to remove the timber pattern from the moulds once the sand has been packed around it.
If the part had angles that widened as they originated from the parting line more mould design would be needed leading to a more complex setup and a 'multiple sand parts mould build' so that the pattern would be able to be withdrawn from the sand without causing damage to mould.
On a two part mould design its pretty easy to get around, you just have to make sure that the angles never widen as they originate from parting line. 
This insures easy pattern removal from the sand mould before pouring.
Below you can see this slight angle present on the bracket, this angle is know as the draft angle, and for sand casting its usually anywhere between 2-6degrees.


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## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

You'll see why the parting line matters in the next bit where Ill show how a flange is made.
The water flange is a bit more complex in the fact that it has a void in the middle for the coolant to flow through.
Therefore a sand core has to be installed in the mould to prevent the alloy filling up the mould totally and the flange ending up as a solid lump of alloy with no hole through it.
Flange in question is the plastic one found on the end of the 8v head which always likes to leak, Im going to make up a few alloy ones for that reason.
Its easier to describe with a few diagrams first before I move onto the real deal so you'll get an idea of what it looks like in cross-section.
Cross-section photos aren't possible in real life so I hope this helps with the process your going see when your looking at the actual mould and casting photos.
Heres a picture of said flange, Im sure you'll recognise it! 








And here it is in a simple drawing








And a cross-section drawing, the light line showing the water way inside, the black bit in the middle being the void that has to be hollow.








So, keeping that in mind its easy to see that a mould is needed to cast the outside shape, and a sand core is also needed for waterway in order to install inside the parent mould in order to ''keep out'' the alloy from that bit.
Onto how its done, a timber copy of the flange is turned on the lathe in timber, the timber blank used to make the copy is first glued from two pieces of timber with a piece of paper separating the two pieces. 
That way once turned the timber flange is easy enough to split in halves along its centre line.
The flange is then turned up on the lathe but with the addition of a spigot either end, like so shown below.(The timber pattern is solid)








Next, a copy of the internal void, or waterway inside flange is turned up, again, with the extra length or spigots either end.








The flange pattern is then split along the paper glue line and is mounted up into the mould boxes(flasks) 
Both halves are separated with a 3mm thick sheet of steel separating the top and bottom flask also, the halves locate on this sheet using positioning pins show in red, that way both halves are exactly opposite each other.








The top and bottom flasks are then filled and packed with casting sand.








The top flask is then lifted off carefully, this is where the draft angles of the part are important so that the part does not interlock in the sand.
The part is then lifted out of the sand contained in the bottom flask.
Putting the two flasks back together again the void can be seen that the pattern has left.








Next, the inner timber pattern for the core shape(shown below again) is transferred to to the same shape but this time made in sand.








This transfer from timber to sand is done using a core box, ill cover this later.
With the mould open again the sand core is now installed inside the parent mould, its now clear why the spigots are need on the timber flange pattern, the sand core hangs or sits on these inside the main mould.








A sprue and riser are formed in the top mould in order to feed the mould with the molten alloy, a few 1mm vent holes are also made using a bit of wire.
The sprue is used to fill mould and also acts as a reservoir for the mould as the mould fills and also feeds the mould after the pour is complete and as the part cools if any shrink occurs.
The riser is not needed on some pours, its function is to indicate when the mould is full as the molten alloy rises up this meaning the mould is filled and pouring can stop.
A ''gate'' is also made at this time from the base of sprue into mould cavity, its size and cross-section depends on part complexity, wall thickness, and material being poured.








The mould is then filled








Once solid the mould is knocked out and the part removed from the sand, the sand can be re-used many times.
This sounds like a long process but its very quick, the mould and core can all be made very fast once you have patterns to strike them off.
For more complex cores of a bigger area a special sand can be used which cures when Co2 gas is passed through it, a core 600mm long can be made this way then and can remain unsupported without collapse inside the main mould.
Once the part is removed the sprue and riser remain on it, it would look something like below








These are then cut off and ground at the area where the gate was feeding part.
The gate location on the bracket can be seen clearly inside the red circle


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## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

So, you can now see how a core is used to create a void within the part to be made.
Granted the water flange is pretty simple as thats open either end and the core can be ''hung'' inside the mould pretty easy.
But on an intake manifold or other part such as a cylinder head where the core is totally contained a different method has to be used.
On the water flange it was possible to hang the core from either end as the space inside exited out either end so that made core positioning pretty basic.
There are other ways to hang internal cores inside moulds on parts that have no holes through them to the outside.
Take the manifold below, the plenum chamber for all intensive purposes is a sealed box, therefore the core used inside it at the time of pouring has to be suspended some way, and in the correct location in order for all the plenum walls, and runners to be of the correct thickness/position. 








If we look a bit closer things become apparent, notice the frost plugs used to close the holes that the core has been suspended on.
Its the very same principal as the flange core, but a different shape.
Spigots are also incorporated on the plenum core which are needed to hold the core in the correct place and at the correct height.
These holes formed by the location spigots are then closed off after the part is finished by inserting frost plugs into them.








Or, in the case of the other end of this manifold a breather pipe has been inserted into the spigot hole. This solved the problem that end and saved the use of a plug as the tapping was needed for the brake booster line.








If we look at other parts that have enclosed cores such as the manifold the spigot positions used to carry cores can be located too
Take a look at the 16v cylinder head below, a core is needed to form the inner waterways around valves and chambers, while this core is pretty complex the basics still apply.








And a picture of a water way core for use in a cylinder head(not the core for the above head)








You can see the extra spigots on both ends needed to locate it in the main moulds, these spigot holes left behind after casting sometimes become waterways either end of head, or can be capped off. Both are done on the 16v VW head as shown below
Spigot/core carrier hole right hand end, milled flat for water flange








And the hole the left hand end, machined, and capped with a frost plug








The same can also be seen on the engine block itself, here the three spigot holes needed to carry the water jacket core are capped off with frost plugs on the rear of the block








A cutaway view of water jacket and a guide as to what shape the jacket core would have been









And another showing frost plug removed








And an example of what a core needed for water jackets would look like, this is from a 6cyl but the principal is the same, check out the spigots on it needed to position it in the parent mould








Another feature of these spigots on the cores is to help expel any hot gasses that build up inside the core at the time of pouring. These hot gases escape out these, through an air hole in parent mould and out to atmosphere.
If these were not there, the gas could build up and rupture the casting from the inside out before it had fully cooled.
All cores are also given a gas impermeable wash before being installed, this helps direct internal gas out to the areas of the core where the spigots are, these spigot areas are left untreated so the gas can escape. 
You'll notice above the wash is kept off these areas.
To give you a rough idea of what an engine block mould would look like heres a picture of a partially constructed one below, granted its done as a sketch but you can see the holes along the face of the red sand mould where the water jacket core would hang once assembled.








You can easily see that a more complex part requires multiple sand moulds and cores to be integrated together in order to form the final mould. 
Anyway, more about cores and how they are made later on.
http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 


_Modified by chippievw at 3:27 PM 11-26-2009_


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## [email protected] (Sep 18, 2005)

*Re: (chippievw)*

OMG!!!!














This is some pretty awesome stuff. wish had the ability to do this kind of stuff. I would love to cast my own 16v head being able to design the intake and exhaust ports the way i wanted them.


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## Veedub_junky (Aug 13, 2005)

*FV-QR*

Awesome work and great thread! I did a very small amount of casting in my metal shop class in junior high, but nothing complex or requiring dimensional precision. Very cool process, and I'd have loved to learn more about it. I look forward to following this thread and seeing your progress http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## idrivemyself (Mar 7, 2003)

Very nice work. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## ftwelder (Feb 27, 2008)

you rule man.


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## Pf3il (Dec 28, 2004)

*Re: The complete guide on casting parts (chippievw)*

great post!


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## Jettaboy1884 (Jan 20, 2004)

*Re: The complete guide on casting parts (Pf3il)*

Excellent Thread!
I have found a few places in the New Jersey area which are willing to entertain the idea of custom casting a one-off, or low quantity run of pieces... Most places are only interested in mass quantity runs.
Here's a cool thread from not too long ago: http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=4420125


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## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

@ Jetta boy, Indeed I did, and a sound guy he is too.
Thanks for the kind words to everyone else, glad your finding it to be of interest!
Next up a run-down on the flasks and the parting plate.
They are pretty basic, but vital non the less.
You could make these very easy if you wanted to, later I'll be making a bigger set for an Intake manifold but these ones are perfect for small castings.
I picked these up years ago at a car boot sale with the intent of doing all this, hard to believe Im only getting round to it now.
The guy I bought them off thought they were grates from a stove............I told him ''Yes, they must be'' and handed him 20.
The drawings I did above pretty much sum them up but a few pictures and a quick run down on them wont go astray.
They are made of alloy, very strong, and have two integrated positioning pins to locate the top flask exactly onto the bottom flask.
The precision of these pins is vital in a good casting, if there is play, the top half wont locate on the bottom half exactly and a step at the parting line in the finished part will be very noticeable.
Luckily for me, these are quality items and no more than .25mm play exists, just enough to make removal of top half easy.
The guide pins do need a bit of a shine up and oiling but thats pretty easy to do.
Here they are below, in the assembled position, notice the large corrugations in the walls of the flasks to hold sand in place, remember, these are open top and bottom.








And in the open position.








A view from the side in the closed position.








And again from the side in the open position.








A closer look at the guide pins, one side has a round pin, the other a hex pin, this way the top can only go on the bottom one way.








And the hex pin, slightly larger in size than the round pin. The hex pin socket is also adjustable clockwise or anti-clockwise so any play can be compensated for.








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## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

Next, onto the parting plate and how its made.
Originally I was going to make this from steel, but given the fact that steel isn't transparent it could make taking photos or explaining stuff awkward, so, I went with some 12mm acrylic sheet.
Once a size was taken I cut it out on the table saw, I left a bit of extra all round the edges to make it easier to grip it when removing it.








Chop chop.








After that I gave all edges a run with the electric planer, they were a bit rough after the saw and Im going to be handling this plate a fair bit.








And a bevel to remove sharp corners.








Job done.








Now onto the holes, these have to be pretty exact too in order for the plate to slip down onto guide pins.
















Transfer measurements to plate and scribe them out.








Bore guide holes 








Like so.








Next up, 3mm bit in the router to inscribe the word ''up'' on plate, that way installing it upside down by mistake will never happen.
You could use a marker but, I doubt it would stay on there too long.
















Parting plate installed, mould in the closed position.








And a view from the side.
Drawing I did earlier below it showing proposed set-up as shown now for real in photo(Pattern omitted).

















(more to follow)


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## ABA Scirocco (May 30, 2001)

*Re: (chippievw)*

Outstanding stuff!! 
One question though, what's the purpose of the venturi in the burner tube? Several years ago, I made a similar burner but without a venturi it worked great. I've since switched to a naturally aspirated burner.


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## Afazz (Feb 10, 2002)

*Re: (ABA Scirocco)*

This is so cool! I can't wait to see the finished parts http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## ABA Scirocco (May 30, 2001)

*Re: The complete guide on casting parts (chippievw)*


_Quote, originally posted by *chippievw* »_Its important to note that this is not the cylinder head thread, this will be covered in another thread on Club Gti


One more thing, when you start that thread, would you please post a link to it here?


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## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

@ABA I added the venturi for two reasons, the main one being that when the gas reg is removed from cylinder just before shut down a small suction is created by the passing air where gas enters, this then completely clears all gas from the length of hose. And second, I was afraid that gas inserted into a 2'' full bore pipe would not mix well enough with the passing air, so, a reduction at the venturi lessens cross-section and increases velocity of the passing air @ fitting.
Hope this makes some sense!
Ill be sure to insert link when the time comes.
Brian


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## ABA Scirocco (May 30, 2001)

*Re: (chippievw)*

That does make sense, I don't think it's necessary but it's at least prudent.
It's one heck of an ambitious project you've set out for yourself, I'm really looking forward to seeing it, especially keen to see how you make the core boxes for the coolant passages etc.


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## turbinepowered (Mar 19, 2007)

Hmmmm... I seem to recall that very complex shapes, such as the cylinder heads and manifolds, may also be made by the various "lost X" casting methods.
I've seen an example of a gear-drive transfer case being cast from aluminum using a foam template left in the sand, which evaporated away through an increased number of risers and vents as the metal was poured. Would that not be easier than attempting to create such complex, intricate plugs?
With the disadvantage, of course, of being only usable once.


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## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

All manufacturers Im currently aware of use the sand method to make their engine blocks and heads, this incls Bmw, Vw, and Ferrari. F1 also uses sand. Manifolds are also made using sand, as you can see from my photoabove and the rundown on it. 
Im sure you could use foam for other stuff and Im not dissing it, BUT you do need a template in foam for each pour that would either have to be rapid proto-typed, cnc'd, on cut by hand. With sand you only need one.
Hope this helps explain why I chose sand.
Thanks ,
Brian


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## turbinepowered (Mar 19, 2007)

*Re: (chippievw)*


_Quote, originally posted by *chippievw* »_All manufacturers Im currently aware of use the sand method to make their engine blocks and heads, this incls Bmw, Vw, and Ferrari. F1 also uses sand. Manifolds are also made using sand, as you can see from my photoabove and the rundown on it. 
Im sure you could use foam for other stuff and Im not dissing it, BUT you do need a template in foam for each pour that would either have to be rapid proto-typed, cnc'd, on cut by hand. With sand you only need one.


I wasn't dissing you for taking the sand route, and hey, I'm all for watching people take the harder, higher road and come out ahead.
I just was thinking that for a one-off part you'd have less total investment in a lost-foam plug than you would a complex set of sand plugs and molds.
I've done a a smidge of casting, nothing fancy, just some knobs. Was awesome though, I'm tempted to build another furnace and melt away some cracked alloy rims to make some custom cast brackets.


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## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

Damn, sorry I dident mean to come across that way with my reply, sorry! Im just following the route which I know, and have studied. Lost foam becomes isent simple either by any means, as you still have to form the shapes needed but in foam, and since you have to form them going the timber pattern route too, at least the prints/patterns are then re-usable.
And your right, the sight of molten alloy is amazing, i thnk you should get back at it again!
Brian.


----------



## turbinepowered (Mar 19, 2007)

Don't worry about it, man. I'm kinda tired, I might have taken that a bit personally.
Props to ya, I'm out for sleep! http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


----------



## ABA Scirocco (May 30, 2001)

*Re: (chippievw)*

FWIW, General Motors is currently using lost foam casting for some of their cylinder heads in fact, the cylinder head in my Dad's 03 Cavalier looks like it's made of expanded polystyrene that's been painted to resemble aluminium. I believe their foam patterns are multi-piece laminations with each piece of foam being separately formed in a permanent metal tooling die and the pieces bonded together before being coated with a ceramic slurry and cast in dry sand. I'm not entirely sure why GM uses this method of production, in most respects, it's not any simpler than the conventional sand casting methods. I'm sure there must be some cost benefit but, it certainly wouldn't make sense for anything other than large production run.


----------



## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

*Re: (ABA Scirocco)*

Hmmmmm ok, sounds good. theres two types of this type casting, one is like lost wax, the wax part shape is sprayed with a slurry mix, once hardened the wax is then melted out of the ceramic shell and it is then filled with metal.
The other method using foam, the part is made from foam, it is then filled/packed into sand box, molten metal is poured in, the metal melts the foam on contact and fills the shape it once occupied. 
Another use for foam is it is sometimes used to make patterns instead of timber, it is carved/cut to part shape negative, it is the sprayed with phenolic balls suspended in epoxy to create a hard shell on the foam part, the sand can then be struck off this now stable foam print like you would above with the timber pattern.
Hope this helps with other process http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 


_Modified by chippievw at 9:27 AM 11-28-2009_


----------



## ABA Scirocco (May 30, 2001)

*Re: (chippievw)*

There are at least three different variants of the lost foam casting process that I can think of, the common thread connecting them is that the molten metal comes into direct contact with a polystyrene foam pattern. The foam pattern is vapourized instantly on contact resulting in a void that's immediately taken up by the molten metal. The particular lost foam process used by GM with the ceramic slurry is the one that results in the best dimensional integrity and best surface finish so that the raw casting requires less machining to finish than could be achieved by any other non-permanent mold casting process, save lost wax.
The only way I could see lost foam casting being viable for short run or amateur casting of a water cooled cylinder head is if one had ready access to a CNC mill so that you could accurately machine a foam pattern, in several sections which could then be glued together to form the finished pattern.
The other use of foam you refer to, I would consider to be conventional sand casting just using an unconventionally produced reusable pattern.



_Modified by ABA Scirocco at 2:05 PM 11-28-2009_


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## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

So onto the making the pattern for the flange.
Im going to make the pattern double so I'll get two flanges per pour, I could make it four but Im going to stick with two for the smaller flasks for the time being.
Here is a rough cross-section sketch of how the finished pattern will look once turned.
Remember this is for forming the shape of the main mould(s) and will be split after turning and both halves fixed either side of the parting plate.









So, onto the making the timber blank, I chose an off-cut of walnut I had because it was handy and near the size I need.
Any type timber can be used for this, but, It has to be one that cuts pretty good and turns easy on the lathe, soft wood for example is less able to hold fine detail.








I measured off-cut thickness and set the rip fence to double that and cut two pieces.
Chop chop.








Cut.








Now, onto the glue up.
Remember, a piece of paper gets glued between them in order to re-split them after turning, both halves mount either side of parting plate.








Normal water based Pva, nothing fancy.








Lay paper down on top of one, and drop the other onto it.








Like so.








Ill be able to mount that in the lathe once it has fully dried tomorrow. 
Back to the flange for a second, a closer look shows the parting line from factory, which in this case will also be the position of paper/centre line on my pattern blank.








Ill be turning up the blank to make the double flange pattern once its dry.


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## ABA Scirocco (May 30, 2001)

I can't wait to see more. I really should get myself a wood turning lathe and a jointer.


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## turbinepowered (Mar 19, 2007)

*Re: (ABA Scirocco)*

The few times I've seen a complex shape rendered in foam for lost-foam sandcasting, the shape was assembled like you mentioned earlier, from thin sheets cut into appropriate cross-sections then glued together with a polystyrene glue.
If you had stamping dies you could probably assemble a foam plug pretty quickly, honestly.


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## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

Indeed, but you would need one every time you wanted that particular part. With timber patterns, the time goes into making the first one accurately, then, hundreds of sand moulds can be striked off it.
Thats my view anyway, plus, I aint got a stamping machine lol!


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## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

Well, it dried!
The ends are trimmed square.








Next, two pieces of 6mm Mdf are screwed either end, these have two purposes, they hold the two halves together in-case they come apart on the lathe, ruining your smile for Christmas, and they also provide positive location for the lathe drive and tailstock centre, if you were to drive them into blank, they would be hitting dead on the glue line and without a doubt would split the blank.








With the centres are marked a rough max diameter circle marked.








The blank is planed down to match this circle roughly, it saves knocking the corners off it on the lathe.








The centres are driven home before mounting.








Tail centre.









Mounted on my home made lathe! Actually, a lot of people spend thousands on wood turning lathes, why I dont know, all a lathe has to do is turn the blank, and have a solid tool rest, the rest is upto the guy holding the chisels.








A couple of seconds with the 25mm skew and its down to round, or round enough for the time being.








Basic sizes are transferred off the flange plus a little more for the shrink rule.








The marks are then made heavier by turning the lathe by hand to mark all round the blank.








You can now see all the particular lines where the various diameters change.








When turning a blank like this that has a narrow central diameter all turning or as much as possible is done before the centre diameter is reduced, that way the blank stays solid and whip is minimised.
In the next few photos you will see how the various sections are taken to near their final diameter.
















Here Im turning the larger spigot that the core will hang on.








And the portion that the hose will clamp on.








Moving onto the spigot area in the centre of pattern. Note, always working towards headstock(left), that way keeping high cross-section to the left of me, ensuring that the blank can always transmit the torque to the area Im cutting without failing.








A screw is inserted at this point once centre is turned, that way clamping the two halves together incase of glue line failure, you do not want this blank coming at you.








Moving left always and onto the other flange pattern.








A quick check on all important dimensions is done and the part is then burnished, this involves holding its own shavings against it in order to shine the part, it works well.


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## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

Removed from the lathe the 6mm Mdf plates can be removed either end, and the screw in the centre. A quick datum mark is make before parts are split so you know which way they came apart.









Screws removed its given a quick tap, this splits the paper glue line.








The waste either end is trimmed off to provide spigots of equal length.
A very rough drawing now shows what shape the core cross-section needs to look like.








And left down on the parting plate to give you an idea.








You can now see the cross-section transformation from the drawing I did earlier, to the part in real life.
















A small bit of work on the flange area next and that will be the main pattern done.
For anyone thinking this was a huge job turning this, its approx 40min lathe time, so, not too bad.
(more to follow)


----------



## turbinepowered (Mar 19, 2007)

*Re: (chippievw)*


_Quote, originally posted by *chippievw* »_Indeed, but you would need one every time you wanted that particular part. With timber patterns, the time goes into making the first one accurately, then, hundreds of sand moulds can be striked off it.
Thats my view anyway, plus, I aint got a stamping machine lol!

And you need to strike a set of sand plugs from your timber part each time you want to cast yours, too.








They're approximately analogous, I suppose it's all a matter of which you want to deal with or have the tools to deal with.
Sweet lathing job, too! That's going to look good when it comes out. Why'd you leave the flange end of the water necks so big?


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## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

So now the with all the turning done the flange outline can be cut, I marked out the flange shape on a piece of card and transferred it to pattern.








Its positioned keeping the parting line in mind and the draft angles, if positioned wrong it would cause the sand to become locked on splitting the mould and ruin the moulds also.








Like so, the line is pretty faint..








The two halves are screwed together again for the cutting operation. 








Quick run around with the coping saw and they are ready for a quick sanding.








Done
















And un-screwed again.
















Thats that pretty much done, bar mounting them on the parting plate.
Next up, making the core, thats pretty handy.
(more to follow)


_Modified by chippievw at 1:59 PM 11-29-2009_


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## turbinepowered (Mar 19, 2007)

I need lathe skills. *Sigh*


----------



## cnbrown (May 31, 2001)

*Re: (turbinepowered)*

Best thread on the internet


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## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

Wouldent say that now cnbrown, but hell, Im enjoying it!! 

Onto the core pattern, 
Much the same process again, blank of correct size, centres marked, centres driven home, corners knocked off with planer.
















Next, the main points are marked out on the now round blank.
Not forgetting the extra material either end for the ''hanger spigots''.








Taking shape, care is needed at curve area to provide sufficient strength and wall thickness on the finished part.








Nearly done, diameters are checked and the ends narrowed down with the parting tool to make cutting off waste easier.








When held up against main pattern you can now see how the core will look inside the mould.








If you look at the plastic flange two dimples can be seen inside, these are clearance for the bolt heads holding flange to head, I have to make two hollows yet in core pattern to ensure there is sufficient material here after the pour for when I counter-bore the bolt holes. I could make the same two dimples in the main pattern doing away for the need to counter-bore, but Ill be boring the flange holes in a jig anyway so its only a matter of using a stepped counter-bore bit. That way, the flange holes are bored, and the clearance around them is also done at the same time using the stepped bit. You'll see that later anyway, its very simple.








Some of you may be wondering where the groove for the ''o'' ring is, I chose to omit it for a reason, on some heads pitting can occur at the flange area making sealing a problem when using an ''o'' ring, this way, I can face the flanges flat and use a gasket or sealer, or I can machine the groove with a simple mill jig. That way I have options. If you wanted to mould the groove you could very easily by inserting a removable core on that end, but doing it this way I wont need to.
Next up, transferring the core mould to a core box. The core box is basically a box with the shape of the core I just turned inside it. You then pack sand into this box tightly, the box is separated and you then have the core shape replicated, but in sand and ready to place inside mould.
(more to follow)


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## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

The core box is very simple, its exactly that, a box to transfer timber core pattern, to a plaster of Paris negative core shape. Once this is done the sand can be rammed inside it from the end, the plaster mould opened, and the sand core removed.
A rough box is made, the only real size that matters is the length, pins are used to hold it together, these should not be long, just enough to hold sides together, that way making taking the casing off plaster easy.








Next, pins are driven into the core pattern, making sure they are central, the heads are cut off after, bringing them to approx 10mm long.








It hangs central on the mould half, slots are cut to position it.
At this point I decided that I wouldn't bother making the indents in the core pattern for the bolt relief's, Instead it'll be way easier to just skim off a bit in that area with a small trowel before it gets placed in the mould.
You'll see that later anyway. 
A plaster mix is made up, this is moulders plaster I had for repair to crown mouldings, but Im sure any plaster or repair compound will do.








The core box and timber core pattern are given a wipe of release agent, I have used light grease for concrete moulds in the past so its not that important what you use, Im sure car/household wax would do too.
The bottom mould is filled almost to the top.








The core pattern is placed in and tapped down onto sprigs.








Any excess is taken off with the mini trowel.








The plan is once the bottom layer is hard enough to coat with mould release, its given a coat, that is, all the exposed plaster surface and again the core pattern.
The top mould box is then filled up level with plaster and allowed to dry FULLY. 
Once dry the sides are removed and the mould split, the mould faces are coated with sealer and it is then ready to use in order to create the sand core.








Because Ive never done this before I haven't a clue how long its going to take to set, but I do know that too much heat indoors will dry plaster too quick and it may crack. Not good!
So, ill leave that aside for the time being and go on to talk about the sand, mixing it, mulling it, and doing a practice mould mock-up to check workability, I need to see just how good it is and how fine a detail it can hold, and, whats its like to work with in general!

(more to follow)


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## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

There are a few different types of sand used for sand casting, the main ones Ill be using in this thread and the head thread are>
Green casting sand.
Oil bonded sand.
And Co2 curable sand.

+The green sand is made up of fine sand, bentonite, and water, its an ok sand and holds detail well.
The good thing about this sand mix is its pretty easy make, safe, fairly clean to handle and its also cheap to make.
The bad thing about it is it dries out, this can be a problem if there is a delay for some reason and the mould is left for a while, it can dry out inside and start to loose its detail as it starts to crumble.
+Oil bonded sand is made up of sand, bentone, oil and a catalyst, this is a very good sand mix for fine detail.
The good thing about this mix is it doesn't require frequent re-wetting like the green sand does, as in it doesn't dry out.
It also doesn't steam like green sand does, and therefore requires less venting to release gases around the hot new part.
Bad thing is, if you could call it a bad thing is that its a bit dirtier for handling due to the oil and is also more expensive.

+Co2 curable sand is a mix of sand and sodium silicate, this is a very useful mix as once Co2 gas contacts the sand mix it sets hard. It can be used for complex cores, and the main moulds themselves, it also has the added advantage of NO moisture content as no wetting or binding agent is needed since it is totally chemical. I will be using this alot on in the head thread.
Onto the Green type casting sand, Im going to see how I get on making the flange moulds from this, Im still waiting on my Co2 and oil bond sands so I might as well give it a shot first.
Below Im going to mix up the sand recipe, and mull it ready for use.
You can see the size difference between the sand used for casting and normal building sand, normal sand on the right. Casting sand is as fine as salt.








To get the correct amount I filled one flask twice, this gives me the correct amount of sand needed to fill both upper and lower flasks. I ended up with 12kg in total.








To this 12kg approx 1.75kg of powdered bentonite is added.








Mixed in.








Now, this is when the fun starts and the water gets added, approx 2-3litres.








The next few steps are called mulling, mulling is basically working the living daylights out of the mix with your hands, I only have one book on casting wrote in approx 1945 concentrating on train and ship building and even with pig Iron great emphasis is shown towards this step. The more mulling the better it gets. What your doing is coating each sand particle with clay particles(bentonite) making them sticky, and in turn stick to each other, and hold their shape in the mould(Hopefully!)
Machine mullers are recommended for correct distribution of clay particles, but I have enough things for making so Ill mix it by hand as much as I can for a while.








You can see it taking shape as it fluffs up after even a short while doing it by hand, it can already hold thin shapes and is pretty strong!








I let it rest for a while before giving it another mix. Its everything I thought it would be even at this early stage.









(more to follow)


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## BrothersinArms (Sep 27, 2006)

*Re: (chippievw)*

I don't know if it applies here but something I always do when making a multi-part plaster molds is to use a soda cap to put a small cylinder shape into the drying plaster. Soda caps are nice because you push them in maybe 1/3 the way and with a slight angle to the walls, you won't run into any overhangs. Anyway, when you pore the second layer it's helps to lock them all in line properly. 
as for your sand,,, I did ALOT of glass casting (my undergrad is in glass blowing and design) and we used a olivine sand mixed with betinite. I don't know if it would apply to your project as well or not, but just some more info.


_Modified by BrothersinArms at 3:22 PM 12-1-2009_


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## ABA Scirocco (May 30, 2001)

*Re: (BrothersinArms)*

Good tip, I'll have to remember that one


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## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

*Re: (BrothersinArms)*

Ya http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif Good point, Im gonna drill mine, or maybe just fit the core box on it/them the other way clamping them together. Its not too bad given you can see both ends, but on a big mould, with only the fill open then the caps are an ace idea http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 
Ive used threaded rod too in the past on a different setup, with drinking straws pushed over the section in the upper mould.
Whatevers handy really








Nice screen name by the way http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 
On the sand, Ive a whole pipe of cool stuff on route, you cant get damn all in Ireland, has to be shipped in










_Modified by chippievw at 12:24 PM 12-1-2009_


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## ABA Scirocco (May 30, 2001)

*Re: (chippievw)*

I know you've seen my core making video, in that, I didn't have any such thing for registering the two halves but, because I could also see both ends, just like you can, it really wasn't much of an issue, I just lined the two halves up visually and clamped them together. Pins or bottle caps or whatever would have made it absolutely foolproof and I think maybe I'll add that feature on my next core box.



_Modified by ABA Scirocco at 4:40 PM 12-1-2009_


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## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

*Re: (ABA Scirocco)*

Ya sure did, and a damn good video it is http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif I think Ill add them too on the intake plenum core just to be sure, ill have more room too for them. Your so lucky too, to have all these chemicals to had/not too far away


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## ABA Scirocco (May 30, 2001)

*Re: (chippievw)*

I had to travel about 60 km (one way) to get my silicate, with that supplier, I was restricted to one type of silicate and not the most ideal one for this application, the manufacturer of the stuff has a location another 25 km further down the road with a much broader selection of products, I'll probably go there when I need a refill.
BTW, any estimate on how much sand you'll need to mold the cylinder head, my manifold project required about 60 kg of green sand and the core was 1.4 kg.


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## autocross16vrocco (Jan 17, 2003)

*Re: (ABA Scirocco)*

Wow I am watching this.


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## nubVR (Apr 25, 2004)

*Re: (autocross16vrocco)*

Amazing thread, maybe best ive read! Keep it up! http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## sdezego (Apr 23, 2004)

*Re: (nubVR)*

Definitely an outstanding thread. There was a pretty good episode on "How it's made" (iirc) where they showed the whole process of casting engine blocks start to finish.
All very cool stuff http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif to you for this thread.


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## bdcoombs (Jul 28, 2002)

*Re: (sdezego)*

amazing


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## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

Thanks!
Back to the core box again for a minute, the plaster is now dry enough to remove casing so Im going to whip it off to allow it to dry further.
Top casing removed, it came off real easy due to the short pins, and probably due to using plenty of release agent.









With the bottom casing removed the two halves split very easy, I removed pattern from also.









When this are dry fully I'm going to clean off release agent and coat the mould area with lacquer to make removing the sand core easier.
You can now see the core former together, it'll will soon be ready to make some sand cores.








Ill be doing a mould mock up in a while on a random shape to check everything in the line of what the sand is like to work, the tools, and just to get a general feel for it regards cutting the gate and creating the fill sprue shape etc.
I wont be pouring this mould, its only a test run.
Then after that I'll be moving onto the flange, mounting the patterns to plate, making the sand moulds, core, and pouring. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 


_Modified by chippievw at 11:14 AM 12-2-2009_


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## ABA Scirocco (May 30, 2001)

*Re: (chippievw)*

I don't think you'll need the lacquer, I didn't coat my plaster core box with anything at all, I just very throughly cleaned off the release agent from molding process and I found that the core sand with the silicate binder pulled away from the plaster without any trouble at all.


_Modified by ABA Scirocco at 2:34 PM 12-2-2009_


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## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

Really? Im not going to use Co2 cure in this, just normal green sand with a chaplet pin down the centre, I may need all the release powers I can get, It should be ok though, its pretty small...
If not, ill wait for my proper sands to arrive, but I dont see why green sand shouldn't be able to pull it off on this core


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## ABA Scirocco (May 30, 2001)

*Re: (chippievw)*

For a relative small simple core like this, I think normal green sand should work okay, dust the core box with a little talc or other suitable parting compound and I think you'll get a good release
For the more complex and delicate cores you'd need for a cylinder head, I'm quite sure green sand will not be adequate. What type of core binding agents do you plan to use for those?


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## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

*Re: (ABA Scirocco)*

Oil bond along with co2 cure sand. I have to do a lot of testing yet but co2 will be my main choice. I have some talc here ill try that first, ive read though that it has to be water proof dust, like parting dust, I really dont know till I try stuff http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


----------



## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

*Re: (chippievw)*

This bit is just a fast ''get to know the procedure'' rundown for me, Im waiting for the core mould to dry out fully so I may as well. I want to see how the sand holds it shape and if I need to add more bentonite. I also want to get familiar with the tools, ramming the mould, and how easy the sand is to work when cutting the gate, removing sprue former, etc...
Its also a test as to how the sand comes up on camera and if the various shapes can be seen in it.
Everything is laid out on a clean board.
The cope and drag, the plate and the various tools. Even after studying casting for ages I still sometimes forget as to which is which with reference to the cope and drag, I remember them this way, drag starts with a ''D'' ''Down'' starts with a ''D'' also so I think of the drag as ''down'' or bottom so that kinda makes sense for me!! Im still going to call them the top and bottom flask for a while so no need to worry yet, actually, I may just write it on them so the camera picks it up to avoid confusion.









The tools used, I have seen these called different names so Im going to use the ones I know, from left to right:
The moulding trowel, The sprue former, The pattern screw(used to remove half a pattern from the sand), The mini heart trowel, The Gate trowel, and The vent wire.









The bottom flask(drag) is placed on a clean board and the moulding sand container behind it(which should be kept closed to prevent it drying out)









Its filled up a bit, paying attention to filling around the sides first.








The sand is rammed with a stick, but not too hard or this could effect the sands permeability, if its too tight the gas/steam may have trouble passing through it and the mould could rupture before the metal hardens.








More sand is added and packed.








Any excess sand is drawn off with a stick pulled along the top edges of the flask.
The parting plate is then fitted.
Of course in this mock up, I wont really be using the lower flask as I wont be pouring any metal, but its no harm to fill it to practice..








The upper flask is fitted(cope).








I placed in a random part with a bit of detail, the part has a good draft angle on the sides so it will release from mould no bother, its actually a seat winder from a Mk2.








Sand is sprinkled on first then the flask is filled around sides filling in to centre around the part.
At this point the sprue or ''fill'' former is also placed, its just a bit of tapered timber.








The sand is rammed and more is added.








Rammed again and the finishing top layer is added and packed.








Once flat or pretty flat a scoop or funnel shape is dug around riser with the trowel, this helps with the pouring and guides metal in.
Its actually hard to see it here which means Ill have to take the flange moulding pics a bit different or at a different angle to fully show things off fully, but thats what this test is for.








Once thats done the top flask(drag) is lifted off, you can now see the underside of the pattern, and the tip of the sprue former. The flask is on its edge here so you can now see how much of a hold the sand has inside it.
One thing I noticed is, some sand came out between the flask and parting plate as I rammed it, you can see it all around the edge, Im going to have to clamp the flasks together on the proper run.








Once the pattern is removed, You can see the sand detail, the shape got a bit lost when photographed so again Ill have to change the angles I take them at in the real run, but you get the idea. The detail was held very crisply so Im pretty happy with the sand.








The sprue former is now removed in a twisting action from the top, it comes out pretty easy. I cut a rough gate from the sprue to the part just to see how easy the sand is to work, it cuts real good and sand Is harder than you think!








Thats the test done, Im happy with the sand, it seems to be ok, Ill have to try photographing it a bit different for the flange run but I think I should be able to capture it a bit better. Its pretty hard see the detail in them photos.
Up next, Fixing the flange patterns to the parting plate. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


----------



## secondgen (Jan 9, 2004)

*Re: (chippievw)*

wow.


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## turbinepowered (Mar 19, 2007)

So the cope's the top one, right?
So maybe... "Cope" and "Cap," the cope's the cap flask?


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## ABA Scirocco (May 30, 2001)

*Re: (turbinepowered)*


_Quote, originally posted by *turbinepowered* »_So the cope's the top one, right?
So maybe... "Cope" and "Cap," the cope's the cap flask?

Correct. Cope (or a variation of it) is the word for head in several European languages, German, Dutch etc. I thinks that's probably where the word comes from. Your head's on top of your body, the cope's on top of the mold.
Here's a picture of one of my molds with a few of the parts and features labeled.









The box the mold is made is is referred to as the flask, they're usually in two pieces, top and bottom, cope and drag respectively, some more complex mold require a flask with more than two piece, the additional pieces are called cheeks. 
The sprue is a hole that runs all the way through the cope, you pour the metal into the sprue, from the sprue, the molten metal goes through the runner and fills the mold and the riser. 
The riser is a reservoir of metal which, if you've designed it properly is the last thing to solidify, metal shrinks quite a lot when it solidifies, the riser helps control/eliminate shrinkage defects. 
The core fills selected sections of the mold cavity thus allowing hollow castings to be made.





_Modified by ABA Scirocco at 6:51 PM 12-3-2009_


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## GTijoejoe (Oct 6, 2001)

*Re: (ABA Scirocco)*

wow, this is an awesome informative thread on casting..... brings me back to college


----------



## wantacad (Apr 4, 2003)

*Re: (GTijoejoe)*

wow!







http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 
Going to follow this thread.


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## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

*Re: (GTijoejoe)*

Thanks, Ill be giving it another update later on. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## Veedub_junky (Aug 13, 2005)

*FV-QR*

Bump for any updates? Watching patiently


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## mudanddust (Oct 24, 2007)

*Re: FV-QR (Veedub_junky)*

this is rad


----------



## mudanddust (Oct 24, 2007)

*Re: FV-QR (mudanddust)*

whats that alt flange in the beginning off of?


----------



## Agtronic (May 14, 2001)

Sickest thread on the entire internet.


----------



## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

@ Mudandust a Polo 6n classic I think! 
More updates soon ands loads more to follow, Ive Just changed cars to an Oakgreen Gti so that took up time, also pretty busy with work coming up to Christmas, stay tuned!











_Modified by chippievw at 12:10 PM 12-19-2009_


----------



## zippy_vw_gti (Nov 18, 2008)

*Re: (chippievw)*

Are there any updates? This is great information on casting, like all of the threads you create. You, chippievw, are amazing with all the information you post.


----------



## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

Updates coming in the next few days, Im re organising the cars around the workshop, and making the place generally more casting friendly so that its in turn safer as well. Im also making room to fab up the bigger smelter as it going to be quite big. We also had 3 weeks of very cold weather which pretty much froze everything inside and out. 
Ive to finish up the crankshaft post too but thats minor enough compared to the organisation needed for this thread in order to keep both the process and the pictures as clean as possible, and hopefully easy to follow. Thanks to all watching for your patience. Im looking forward to the next number of steps myself too.
Brian.


----------



## duffmanh06 (Apr 22, 2008)

*Re: (chippievw)*

wow. this has to be one of the best threads of all time.







looking forward to the finish product


----------



## Bazmcc (Jan 11, 2005)

*Re: (duffmanh06)*

Any more updates coming soon Brian?
I keep checking back just to make sure i haven't missed anything.


----------



## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

*Re: (Bazmcc)*

Update on the way soon guys, more info here(link) on what Im working at at the moment, skip through the pages, machine will also be able to skim castings etc. For anyone thats about to say a fabed machine will never beat a cast one, steps can be taken to make sure they can very much as good. In the mean time, read the link below I know you will like it, lot of stuff in there, and Talk soon Guys, 
Brian. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 
http://vagdrivers.net/forums/i...39794 

_Modified by chippievw at 1:46 PM 2-25-2010_


_Modified by chippievw at 1:47 PM 2-25-2010_


----------



## ABA Scirocco (May 30, 2001)

*Re: (chippievw)*


_Quote, originally posted by *chippievw* »_ http://vagdrivers.net/forums/i...39794 


That's just crazy! I LOVE it http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


----------



## melmer (Feb 15, 2001)

*Re: (ABA Scirocco)*

That's hardcore. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


----------



## wantacad (Apr 4, 2003)

*Re: (melmer)*

Holy moley!
The skimmer project is


----------



## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

Thanks Guys, Hope you can see all the pics on there? Ill be running the carriage via a stepper motor and the quill travel also. Slowly but surely....back on here soon with the rest of the casting thread, as you can see, its all go!
Updates on the link above daily. 
Brian


----------



## PeOpLeG60T (Jul 5, 2004)

dear god , most of my wonderings have been cleared up in a post. thanks a ****load !!!!


----------



## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

LOL, some of mine have been too!! Ive been meaning to do all this for a long time..


----------



## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

Finally located some oil bond sand for use in order to get a better finish over-all for finer items, will be pouring once it arrives. In the mean time, progress in the link above continues.
Brian.


----------



## PeOpLeG60T (Jul 5, 2004)

i've seen this thread on your mill , man ... you fawkin rocks


----------



## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

Small update, FINALLY got the exact sand I wanted for casting finer parts. I took an age to find a company that would actually sell this to a normal 5/8th..
I can now finish the casting thread with this, as it will let me get a feel for this sand too. This sand is oil bonded sand, and not water bonded which is used for rougher castings. The oil in this sand will not boil like the other, therefore pitting on part surface is reduced A LOT.
















Also got the flux off the same crowd, this helps bring any contaminants to the surface before you rake off the dross(scum) before pouring.








Ill update with pics later, going casting in the next few hours, at last....


----------



## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

*Re: (chippievw)*

As you know I got the sand I had been waiting for the last day, its a very fine casting sand and I had to try it out because I need to get a feel for it, and how it works.
These parts your going to see below are the first two parts Ive ever cast.
This sand is oil bondd sand and can hold finer detail than the previous sand I did the mock test with.
So anyways, onto the casting test...

The layout of the pictures below are in the order I did it in, so Ill host them in that order...
I fixed the pattern halves onto the parting plate, I had to make a new parting plate as I drove over the other one last week








One half fixed...








Turned upside down...








Other half fixed, must be fixed as accurately as possible to be opposite its other half or you'll end up with a massive parting line in the finished part...








All screws and holes filled...








I pepped the charge in the crucible, more smashed up water pumps, there great!!...








Test fit, and set up burner pipe...








Next, I made the cores for the flange using the plaster core box... I need two, as the main pattern is setup for two flanges...I put a nail in the middle to make handling them easier...remember, this sand is just bonded with oil, it doesn't go off or dry, its as Is once the core box is opened, Its amazing stuff when packed...








Full, and packed...








Out of core box...








And one more...








Next, I filled the main mould...








All filled and packed...








Turned over the whole lot and got to work filling the top...








Full...








Scooped out this area to funnel in molten metal to mould...








Lifted off top mould section...and removed parting plate c/w patterns screwed on...this is the bottom half of mould below...








Removed the dowels and cut fill gates from dowel holes into rear of flange...this is the top section...

__
Sensitive content, not recommended for those under 18
Show Content









Sliced a small flat area off cores as I need a bit of metal thickness in this area for flange bolt counter bores, so that a socket will fit onto bolt head, and clear flange its-self...








Placed cores in mould...








Made a few vent holds in top mould half before I fitted it, 2mm wire, job done, ... Top fitted, say goodbye!..








Lit smelter...








Takes a second to cop on and warm up then off she goes...








After 5min...








The next bit Ive no pictures of because Ive only two hands, and If I asked anyone to take pictures at 12 o clock at night they'd probably think I was actually demented...
What I did was scoop off as much dross as I could, added a spoon of flux, stirred it, little more heat for a min, then raked off the rest of the dross(scum) before I poured it into mould.
Full...








Now...the moment of truth, were the patterns correct, did the cores collapse in main mould, did I pack it enough...
Gave ten minutes and started digging...it filled perfect...nice...








Lifted up, its still very hot, vent hole did its job well...








Close-up of fill gate/runner...








I cut them apart broke off fill gates and shook out the core sand...








A quick run on the beltsander removed most of the flash/gates etc either end, the belt died half way through, I have to take down the flange face approx 1.5mm more yet, but thats minor...
Close-up of extra material needed for counterbore created by shaving the core moulds...
















Few random pictures, they still need a bit of grinding/linnishing, Im extremely happy with the over-all finish direct from mould...
















You can see the flange is 1.5mm too high yet, there's a bit of material left on there so I can finish them flat...








The bits and pieces...








Offered up to head, looking good, hose is real snug too, tomorrow, Im going to finish sealing face, and drill holes, that should be it then, sand testing done. I may pack it even harder the next time, and give it more vent holes, see if I can get an even better surface finish, although, I suppose, its not too bad at all, for the first time.

__
Sensitive content, not recommended for those under 18
Show Content









Im very happy all in all with the results to say the least, all went smooth, I can now get onto moulding/pattern making my intake parts. You can follow this on the link above to the Irish Vag website. 
There I will be doing more casting and loads more. 
This thread on a guide to casting Ive done here will hopefully give you a bit of insight as to whats Involed in designing, moulding, and casting parts.
Brian


----------



## Burnitwithfire (May 14, 2005)

*FV-QR*

Very cool stuff. You should cast some aluminum waterpump thermostat housings and sell them. VW used aluminum housings in MK1s and early MK2s then switched to warping plastic flanges. They fit on most VW 4 cyl with an external waterpump. I found one by luck in a JY and swapped it from car to car because they are hard to find.


----------



## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

yup, I sure could, and will be, Ive spent a fair amount of time cursing these too, they're terrible...
Thanks for the reply, and hope you enjoy the pics, 
Brian.G.


----------



## ABA Scirocco (May 30, 2001)

*Re: FV-QR (Black Smokin' Diesel)*


_Quote, originally posted by *Black Smokin’ Diesel* »_Very cool stuff. You should cast some aluminum waterpump thermostat housings and sell them. VW used aluminum housings in MK1s and early MK2s then switched to warping plastic flanges. They fit on most VW 4 cyl with an external waterpump. I found one by luck in a JY and swapped it from car to car because they are hard to find.


I've been thinking of casting one of those with a couple of modifications most notably, provision for a drain ****.


----------



## wantacad (Apr 4, 2003)

*Re: FV-QR (ABA Scirocco)*

Very cool http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 

_Quote, originally posted by *ABA Scirocco* »_
I've been thinking of casting one of those with a couple of modifications most notably, provision for a drain ****.

Now that's a good idea. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


----------



## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

*Re: FV-QR (ABA Scirocco)*

yeah true, would that drain block though, with stat still in, ive thought about this too...
Check out the pump for the aeb 1.8t, dunno has that featured over your side, but it has a built in drain, same as the 058 block pumps, (It is one) but there one outlet short...
I had one here, but melted it lastnight...


----------



## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

*Re: FV-QR (chippievw)*

Google pic, you can just make out drain nut in the rear view pic...
notice outlets though







I have a water plan of how they are different it would be easy adapt mind you...








Brian


----------



## Muffler Bearing (Apr 4, 2004)

*Re: FV-QR (Black Smokin' Diesel)*


_Quote, originally posted by *Black Smokin’ Diesel* »_Very cool stuff. You should cast some aluminum waterpump thermostat housings and sell them. VW used aluminum housings in MK1s and early MK2s then switched to warping plastic flanges. They fit on most VW 4 cyl with an external waterpump. I found one by luck in a JY and swapped it from car to car because they are hard to find.


i dont know about out there, but over here i can go to the yard any day of the week and get 2-3 of them... alot easier than trying to cast your own.


----------



## Burnitwithfire (May 14, 2005)

*FV-QR*

Yeah the AEB pump only has one outlet while other pumps have two.


----------



## ABA Scirocco (May 30, 2001)

*Re: FV-QR (chippievw)*


_Quote, originally posted by *chippievw* »_yeah true, would that drain block though, with stat still in, ive thought about this too...


It would be rather slow but it would drain. If you wanted to speed it up, you could drill a couple extra small holes in the thermostat, that would allow the block to drain faster without seriously compromising the function of the thermostat. 
On a completely unrelated note, that core made out of molding sand seems to have worked well for you. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif Do you think you'll be able to use it for larger more complex cores? Or do you think will you be forced to use some type of hard setting binder system such as sodium silicate/CO2? 


_Modified by ABA Scirocco at 11:38 AM 3-10-2010_


----------



## wantacad (Apr 4, 2003)

*Re: FV-QR (Muffler Bearing)*


_Quote, originally posted by *Muffler Bearing* »_
i dont know about out there, but over here i can go to the yard any day of the week and get 2-3 of them... alot easier than trying to cast your own.

I'll take one then. You should know by now parts are scarce anywhere outside of the west coast or PA.


----------



## PeOpLeG60T (Jul 5, 2004)

very nice results!!!!! nice to see those water pumps are reincarnated into water flanges lol


----------



## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

Mufflerbearing> ''i dont know about out there, but over here i can go to the yard any day of the week and get 2-3 of them... alot easier than trying to cast your own''
Not so here either, Ive never saw one and Ive have had my hands on a lot of Vws,,,,plus, this is a test item, Ive far crazier things planned.
@ ABA, sand is far better than ive ever dreamed, I currently have a 11/4 diameter tube 10'' long sitting on my bench, with just some coat hanger Wire down the centre, didn't stir yet and its there 16hrs. Supported either end.
The sand also can be carved like foam, with a knife when packed. Ill be keeping the c02 cure for special work only, Im very happy with the oil bond.
Brian.


----------



## ABA Scirocco (May 30, 2001)

*Re: (chippievw)*


_Quote, originally posted by *chippievw* »_
@ ABA, sand is far better than ive ever dreamed, I currently have a 11/4 diameter tube 10'' long sitting on my bench, with just some coat hanger Wire down the centre, didn't stir yet and its there 16hrs. Supported either end.
The sand also can be carved like foam, with a knife when packed. Ill be keeping the c02 cure for special work only, Im very happy with the oil bond.
Brian.


SWEET! I should see if find some locally. If you don't mind me asking, how much did you pay for yours?


----------



## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

*Re: (ABA Scirocco)*

I paid 11euro(Dollars?) for each 25kg bag. Its settles like hell to, when you spill it out and mull it theres twice as much!! Only took about 1/4 of bag to fill both cope and drag above!
Brian


----------



## ABA Scirocco (May 30, 2001)

*Re: (chippievw)*

One Euro's worth somewhere around $1.40 so that works out to $15.40 a bag, imo, that's an EXCELLENT price.


----------



## Muffler Bearing (Apr 4, 2004)

*Re: FV-QR (wantacad)*


_Quote, originally posted by *wantacad* »_
I'll take one then. You should know by now parts are scarce anywhere outside of the west coast or PA.









ive tried selling some of the extras i had for 10-15 shipped and had zero interest... i think i threw some of them away but i probably have 1 or 2 left. 
how that i know they're wanted, $45 shipped


----------



## ABA Scirocco (May 30, 2001)

*Re: (ABA Scirocco)*


_Quote, originally posted by *ABA Scirocco* »_One Euro's worth somewhere around $1.40 so that works out to $15.40 a bag, imo, that's an EXCELLENT price.

I'll modify that, that's an unbelievable price, I just got an email response from a local supplier and they want $160 for a 50 kg bag


----------



## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

*Re: FV-QR (Muffler Bearing)*

Wasnt it? I couldnt believe it, got them shipped from the uk to Ireland too, for damn all. They also had drossing flux too, in powder form which I prefer as the tablets are messy for breaking small bits off. 1kg of flux 6euro! 
Also, sand comes pre-mulled too, although I mulled it some more. 
I really like it. If you run Into bother locating some let me know, I mean even if you had to pay 100dollars postage if I were to send you some I still honestly think its well worth it. Id give 100euro per 25kg for it if I had too!


----------



## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

*Re: FV-QR (chippievw)*

Just another example Guys for this thread, may as well. 
Im making a girdle for my block, Ive seen and worked on blocks with these fitted and they really quieten the block regardless of hp. The metal ones you can buy are out of my budget at approx 380euro, and they are just 6mm steel so I thought I might as well have a shot at making my own. This engine will be dry sumped so it also suits me to drop the block skirt level below the swing arc of rods. Ill make the dry pan simpler for me. 
Anyways, enough chat, here it is> 
Onto the pattern, this is pretty simple, Ill be casting this using the lost foam method, that is, you make the pattern in the modelling foam taking all clearances etc into account, you then pack the sand around the foam shape, you can then pour directly down into foam to make the part. The molten metal vaporises the foam pattern on contact and fills the void it created in the sand, In this case the crank girdle.
Sump outline...








Mocked up with a 2.0l crank...you can see its pretty tight around pump body...
















The caps sit lower than the bottom lip of block, and the bolt counterbores lower again, this means Ill have to step down the girdle to meet it, but that wont be too bad...








Marking out...
































Fits ok...








Number 4 conrod nut hits it, but this is the 2.0l crank, so the 1.8l crank will drop it a bit more, Ill can sand the foam anyway for final fitment/clearance, and indeed the alloy with a carbide burr in spots if I need to...








Foam cut(Full thickness)








Cutting down to required thickness, With everything, it stays flatter if you take the same amount off each side, this applies to nearly all material incl steel blocks...
























Screwed down under template...








Again, 10mm bit and 14mm guide bush in router...








Cuts very nice, nearly as well as MDF...
























Laid down to see...








Needs a bit of clearance for pump body as it sits at an angle...








In...








I have to lighten it up a bit yet in spots where I know I can, Ill be using another template to do so, and a half moon router bit but its nearly there. Ill also be checking clearances for a final time as I should have the 1.8 crank in a day or two.
Girdle pattern finishing pics> 
Lightened it up in a few spots, just made up another jig to rout out the pockets. This is done both sides. 
































Sanded at all edges...








Screw holes plugged...








Approx alloy cc calculations, Ill need extra too for risers etc...








This is a complex pour in order for it to all come out ok, Im going vent it well, and put a few risers at the thicker spots. Ill also be feeding with 3 gates, and maybe 3 or 4 chills near pattern, in sand to aid solidification at the farthest points from gates. The problem is, you have to plan the best place for the colder metal flow fronts to meet, the bond isn't as strong at these points so they have to be in non stressed areas of the part.
I just have to attach the pads on the underside for the bolt pads and its ready for the hot stuff.
Sprue's...








































Tagged together while glue dries...








5 risers fitted...








The risers will be approx 2 inch below the surface of sand and a vent hole leading down to them to vent smoke. There will also be multiple vents around the part to also vent smoke from vaporised foam, failure to vent properly can lead to a ruptured mould. The 3 sprues(fillers) Will be fed from one trough approx 9'' long, and semi circular. This should keep the sprue's molten until last so that the part will be fed from it while it cools. The risers should stay molten the fact that they are blind(not coming to the surface of sand) Ill also insert chills, these are just metal block/off cuts, they are placed near the mould at whatever points you want it to solidify first. They are Important tools in the control of casting as you can then pick where you want to solidify first, usually the thicker areas, so that they cool rapid, and dont have to be fed until it is all solidified.
The pads on that will space down onto main caps, these are just little bits of pipe spacer in the commercially available Vw girdles... 
Pads were ran off in one length and I just cross-cut off ten of them.
















Cap in place, you get the idea...bit left on them for machining etc..








Cut up the AHW block a bit(1.4 16v, dunno if you guys got these in the Us?, got a surprise actually which slowed me down a bit, its got dry liners, which I never knew. I thought these were Nikasil(electro deposited lipophilic nickel matrix silicon carbide) coated alloy bores, but they aint, there cast iron dry liners. Ill also add that this engine that the block came from had the famous 1.4 16v knock, I can say that the liners, the rings, or the pistons had not an ounce of wear on them, ZERO. So Im not fully sure why these burn oil and knock like they do, Ill have to study the rest of the parts until I come up with a reason. 
The big end shells were also mint.
Also, before I pulled crank I datumed off points along the block around the main cap areas with the parallels and the dial gauge , on removing the crank I re-checked, there was no differences in both sets of figures, Indicating that ''the blocks will warp if you pull crank'' story may not be true. Im confident its not true at this point.
Anyway, a few pics of the famous 1.4 block before I start to melt it down to in order to make it into parts that will actually be good
























You can see here after one cut part of the liner chipped off, it was at this point I had to re-think things, I actually thought the lot would be useless but I discovered that the liner actually comes away from casting pretty easy. These are NOT pressed in like some dry liners, but moulded in at the time of pouring.








Alloy jacket on the left, liner sleeve on the right...
















Time to get down to it and split it right down the middle...








Split, and liners removed, they came out pretty handy with a small bit of help, back to 100% all usable alloy again, no waste.
































These are really odd engines, and the problems that go with them, the alloy block would not help in the deadening of any knocking or tapping that would occur though, unlike its cast Iron counterpart which is excellent at deadening. Which could be a lot of it, sounds that may go unnoticed in a cast iron block would show themselves easier in the above block. And twice as much given the fact that its open deck too. Ill have to examine the rest of the bits and try figure it all out. I have all the other parts incl head.
Bit off topic as always, but interesting non the less. Plenty of alloy in it I have to say, which is why cutting it up came about.

Filled any sharp corners with wax to give the finished part stronger lines where it changes thickness upto pads...








Making the new taller, larger cc crucible, the full guide is in the casting thread on the first few pages, its the very same construction, but done in 15min...
















Because this part has the little cap steps in the bottom and the indents I couldn't just leave it on a flat bottom bed of sand so I had to think of a way to reverse fill, and with the risers and sprue's in place, so I did...
Marking their positions on a flat board...








Drilled and chamfered...








Fits, and sits flat...








The outer lower frame test fitted...








Laid up on blocks to protect the risers/sprues from the floor level...








Filling...








I filled it as above and turned it over...








Lifted off board with all the holes and test fitted top frame, you can see it filled good all round pattern, tamping the sand is a boring job, but it pays off...








With the top frame test fitted I removed it again and raked a groove all round the pattern so that the top layer of sand would interlock with the bottom, and so that no metal could possibly find its way out...








Vents inserted, I just used welding rods, its amazing how hard it is to find straight wire when you want it, they'll be grand for re-use again after...








I removed a few later as they were in my way for the 3 sprues but theres still plenty.
Chills inserted(heatsinks) These suck the heat from the thicker areas that are not near the sprue or risers, remember these risers and sprue's fill the part as it cools(shrinks) so any areas away from them don't get fed, so they need to be cooled first and fast so they don't shrink. I guessed there positions with what felt right by spending a while looking at it.








Now, this is why it took me so long, and why its so late...I ran short of sand which led to a lot of problems. I couldn't reach the tops of the risers, vents, and sprue's with the amount of sand I had so I had to heighten them without sand...this wasn't fun and took ages. I've more sand on route but its not here yet. Keep in mind I had another pour going on at the same time as this which took a fair bit of sand too. I chose to compromise on my mould and used what I had because I wanted the other parts 100% and wouldn't take short cuts with them as they were for someone else.
You can see the pipes I used to rise everything in order to gain head height for the molten alloy, more head height is always good, both for pressure, and the amount of alloy you have stored to feed things as the part cools...even the vents had to be raised, as one low vent, and all your alloy (stored height) flows out it. Lowering the level across the full mould, = Bad.








Fits good, its now the same height as the refractory lining, the max I can go with this smelter, but it holds A LOT of alloy...
I didn't take any pictures of the melt, or it lit, sure your well used of seeing them now!








Poured, you can see the various bits in mould I used to try and take up space in order to give me more sand where I wanted it! Talk about running tight.
It vented very well, and I got flames in all the risers, I pretty much knew at this point that it was 100% inside mould. They all lit at pretty much the same time which also meant that the riser(fill positions) were pretty good also. I spent a long time thinking about there positions and how the metal would flow at various points inside the mould. Spending time doing this pays off in the long run.








Gave it about 8mins and started clearing...








Lifted out, you can see it filled perfect, with no voids, cold fronts meeting, or low spots, I was very happy when I saw this, makes me think that foam is a brilliant way to cast one off parts from now on as it holds detail very well, is easy machine, and is quicker to mould as you dont have to split mould boxes to remove pattern.








Gun was showing it was still at 400 degrees! Gave it a bit of a wire brushing to recoup as much sand as I can...








Topside, vents just snap off easy, the chills also worked well as you can see as there is no shrink in the areas away from sprues/risers.








Got the risers and sprues cut off and it brushed up a bit, 








The various light passes in the machining stages..
























Gave the indents a light pass to to clear them out if anything else, same template that I used to cut the foam pattern...had to finish at that as I ran out of wd40, Ill post pics when done, 









Enjoy folks, I certainly did. All the research on casting Ive done over the yrs is finally being put to use, I thought Id never get a chance B) 
Brian.G

http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 


_Modified by chippievw at 11:07 AM 4-7-2010_


----------



## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

*Re: FV-QR (chippievw)*

Also, using foam means you have no draft angles to worry about when it comes to removing pattern, cos you dont have to. Complex shapes can be made, I need to sieve my sand and re oil after this one as there was a lot of metal in this and it burnt off a lot of oil.
Ive another part which I cast also for my slide throttles which Ill add later, I cut the thread a bit short after casting the flanges as I was very busy, but I saved all my work so Ill share now that Ive a bit of time to do so again
Brian.G

http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 


_Modified by chippievw at 11:30 AM 4-7-2010_


----------



## ABA Scirocco (May 30, 2001)

*Re: FV-QR (chippievw)*

Brilliant as always, thanks for sharing.














http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


----------



## yeayeayea (May 29, 2005)

*FV-QR*

good lord.
impressive to say the least http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


----------



## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

*Re: FV-QR (ABA Scirocco)*


_Quote, originally posted by *ABA Scirocco* »_Brilliant as always, thanks for sharing.














http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 

Your pretty good at this type stuff yourself







http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 
@ Yeayeayea, thanks man







http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 
Another example, this time the top section of my slide throttle pattern, I drew out these first hence the drawing in some pics, its got my name on it, not an advert, just there because its my drawing http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 
Knocked this up in a half hour, its the pattern for the slide throttle top plate...
























Spars sanded, notice profile so it will all release from sand, the circles/trumpet stands are tapered too, as are sides of main plate...








Sanded and on...








First line of spars fitted, these will give the plate great strength when done, as the main body of plate is just 10mm thick...








Second line done...








And end bits...








Superglue applied to all internal corners, it provides a nice radius and takes away the sharp corner that could lock in sand...
















Nearly done...








One or two little bits to fix on yet before I pour, but its 98% of the way there...








going to give it a coat of shellac to make it nice and smooth and Im going to hit it with some 710 degree alloy then.
The two hooks you see along the top edge are to hold the idle and WOT stops. 
The 4 little square/pads are something I want to have on there too, They will be the base mounts for the two brackets holding the fuel rail when run in stand-off injector mode. I intend running that mode on my 16v head.
Going to pour in a while.








































The 2 new mould boxes I had to run off, the alloy ones I used doing flange are too short. The bottom mould box does nothing in this case really, its just a flat bed of sand.
Ill take a few snaps of filling them anyway.
















This part is dead easy compared to the flange, because I have designed it in such a way that its all on the top side of mould halves, therefore there will be no parting line on finished item.
The mould Prep, I couldnt be bother smashing more pumps as the last one flew and nearly took my head clean off so I chopped up the 2.0l intake instead, Vw would be so proud
















Notice where they split into 4....hmmmm...








They more or less all fit into crucible now...








Loaded, Ive worked out that the crucible has to be full to 115mm but I can add more scrap as this melts...








Bottom box tamped and raked off flush...








Starting to fill top box...








Filled...








Turned up on its edge to remove pattern...








Pattern out, gated, and vented...








Laid down onto bottom box again(flat sand surface)...









I forgot to add above, I had to make the lower box wider after that as the gate was very near edge and I was afraid it would burn through timber, that would mean Id have 1/2 litre of molten alloy around my shoes...not good, 5 min had it changed, and the same width as the top box...
Away we go again...








Lot of smoke in the next few pictures as they are taken as its happening, but there not too bad...
















I was a bit cheeky not using a riser too, but these will be bored out anyway so the little hollow doesn't bother me. Just to clarify, a riser is like the fill hole, once the mould is filled the riser fills too, you then have two reservoirs of molten alloy to supply part as it cools, alloy shrinks when It cools so it needs to be fed as it does so. I actually thought it would sink deeper on the ones farther away from fill hole but it didn't. These will be bored out but its worth a mention.








Things are still extremely hot so forgive the tools all over the place, its way too hot to touch yet...








Close-up of stand-off injector bracket platform...
































One poor pic trying to display its flatness...there'll be more...








Should all look pretty 'new' with the kevlar trumpets, not that you'll see them as the carbon fibre plenum will cover them...








The throttle stop adjuster brackets turned out in the right place...








Small bits of flash to clean up with a small file, gate to grind off, and a few other bits to do to it yet but Im very happy.
It should be starting to make sense now...I hope...!








set to work datum machining top plate...
I left plate down on a piece of 12x4 teak Ive had for ten yrs, its perfectly flat and conditioned.
Under plate there is 2 pieces of .5mm shim steel under one end, and one piece the other end. This is done on the first machining operation with all cast parts in order to get a datum face. The 3 shims ensure the part sits flat, you'll never see a 3 legged stool rock







Which is why they have 3 legs.
You'll see these 3 datum points cast into a lot of parts if you look hard. 
Heres an oil pump bottom section, you can see the 3 tabs they used to fix it on when milling the top face...these tabs were cast on, but I just used shim steel underneath as I had a pretty flat surface to go off unlike the oil pump.








In the jig, shims underneath plate, I used screws and washers to hold down onto plank, these are out of sight under the guide runners for router...








First roughing pass followed by I think 3 more...
















Finish pass, again taken at .25mm...








Laid out and marked positions for stand-off brackets...








Pilot bored...








Taken out to 5mm, these will be tapped for an M6 allen hex bolt...








Plated turned over and 5mm holes countersunk, the plate is now perfectly flat on the top face (checked with 10mm glass and water) so I can now datum machine the bottom face off it...








First pass at .25mm shows the slight high spots...








Second pass taking off .5mm and the plate is completely surface machined, minimal material removal to get it all surfaced with is good. A small bit of shrink exists on the bottom too under trumpet stands, this will be bored out so its no harm. Combating this shrink is mentioned above earlier.








And laid down on bottom plate shows they are 100% true to each other...








Im going to pin them together later with some positioning dowels so I can set out Idle hole drilling's in both, I can then start tapping holes, etc, Im going to clean up the small bit of mould flash around edges, and bore the two Idle and WOT tabs too.
Youll never look at a machined cast part in the same way again!! Its the very same process In the factories, but with mass production machine and jig lines.

Brian.










_Modified by chippievw at 4:37 AM 4-9-2010_


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## Bazmcc (Jan 11, 2005)

Excellent work as usual Brian.
I'm looking forward to seeing how the trumpets go on there. It's amazing to watch how stuff like this gets made and how small details can be quite often overlooked by some aftermarket parts manufacturers.


----------



## turbinepowered (Mar 19, 2007)

So... you have a backplate that will have holes in it, and slide that backplate to open and close the throttle rather than turning butterfly valves in the throats, am I right?
How are you going to seal that sliding contact? I'm curious about the reasons behind this.


----------



## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

*Re: (turbinepowered)*


_Quote, originally posted by *turbinepowered* »_So... you have a backplate that will have holes in it, and slide that backplate to open and close the throttle rather than turning butterfly valves in the throats, am I right?
How are you going to seal that sliding contact? I'm curious about the reasons behind this. 

Ya kinda right, 3 parts, lower machined plate, middle brass throttle plate, and the top cast plate as I showed here. 
The bottom machined plate will bolt to my runners to head(when I cast them) the brass plate slides, and the top plate is what the trumpets and airbox bolts to. The brass plate slides on PTFE slide runners fixed to brass, running in grooves in machined lower plate. Approx .2mm exsits between brass slider and lower plate so the ptfe takes all the thrust at closed throttle(high Vac). Ill post a few pics to help you see the full picture, its not done yet but you may get the idea. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 
(Thanks Baz, I take it your looking on Vagdrivers? You'll see it al pan out there. It is cool desiging stuff, exactly how you want it, I feel experience with these engines helps a lot, takes away that feeling that goes with generic tuning parts off the shelf altered to suit many makes...ya know what I mean
Now this is off another forum Im posting my project on so it may read funny In relation to time, order etc, but youll get the idea.
Its drawn in the idle mode, its pretty basic, top and bottom alloy plates, brass throttle plate in the middle, bottom plate machined to brass plate thickness so that it sits into it. 
Below the brass plate there's 2) 12mm grooves cut, in these grooves goes the ptfe bearing plastic so the brass slides nice and easy.
Below these ptfe strips are the counter bore holes to hold the whole lot onto the manifolds.
I have to draw in spring mounts, Idle stop, full throttle stop, and linkage yet, but ya get the idea. Ill also have to mount an Idle switch, wot switch, and a potentiometer fixture too, but thats fairly minor.
























Slide plate highlighted...








Ill prob be machining away alot of the top and bottom plates too where the material isnt needed on the outsides to get rid of a bit of the bulk.
Hope to finish plans later tonight, 
Finished off drawings this eve and milled out the main bottom plate as shown above.
I could have done this on the bridgeport, but I used the router to show what can be done with basic tools, not everyone has a bridgeport...
So, onto the job, all this milling took around 30min, so the router is by no means slow.
You will need a very good quality one though, that is one that did not come from aldi...Its needs to have a strong spindle, and good bearings. German ones are good B) 
A normal tungsten tipped bit can be used to cut the plate.
Heavy cuts can be taken to rough it down to near final dimensions, rough being 1.5mm deep, and finish up with a light cut of say, .25mm to bring you to final dimension, this will ensure the best surface finish. wd40 or something like that is used as a cutting fluid, and cuts are taken very slow.
If your not used of using a router, then dont try it, or it could kill you, or take out your eye if your not careful and Ill get the blame....
....anyways, onto the pics...
The plate, the bit, and my coffee...(most important)








Heres the approx shape Ill be milling to give ya the jist....








Zie bit...








The router, just zeroing bit before I start...








Ill let the next few pictures roll, there just showing the various stages of cut/depth etc...these are all rough cuts to get down to near my sizes...
































Finish depth cut on slide slots..
























Bang on including clearance...








Time to start roughing down the centre section...
























Nearly there...finish cut to go...








Oiled up ready for last cut...








Finished...








Silky...
























Getting there...








End view, ptfe strip sit into grooves, brass throttle plate sits onto them, the ptfe keeps the brass up approx .15mm of the bottom alloy plate to make sure it slides nice n easy.








Punched main hole centres and drilled them out...








Bored with a 3mm pilot...








How it looks from the other side...








Open them up to 6mm, this bit has a 3mm auto pilot tip built in...








Drilled...








The holes in the grooves need to be counter bored for hex heads that will hold the assembly onto the runner pipes...
Counter bore bit...








Cuts a square shouldered recess...








Done...
















Next, I want to get rid of some alloy on the underside of bottom plate, this will take some weight away for me, Ill be keeping to the shape of the runners top flanges which Ill also be making...
One router bit and guide bush, the bush runs along an edge of any sort, and the bit is automatically guided, the bush is 14mm and the bit 10mm so Ive 2mm to take off flange drawing dimensions when marking template. That way, the 2mm difference between the bush edge and bit will be compensated for and the cut line will end up in the right spot...Its handy, it just sounds a bit complex.
Bit and bushing...








Marking out flange profiles...








Coping saw, chop chop...








Template screwed on using the port centre 3mm pilot holes to fix...








Bit and bush fitted...








Height bar placed in-front to rest router on when doing the outer cuts, keeps router base level at all times and stops tipping...








First roughing cut...








Second...
















Final super light finish cut, the camera picks up the surface funny, makes it look all over the place...








But its flat...








Jig off, one side done...








Ready for other side...








Rough cuts....etc...same as first side...








Few shots of it cleaned up, marking fluid gone...








Underside...
































Runner side, and hex fixing screw...








Surface finish...








Major machining done, and not a cnc in sight -_- 
I have to fit the independent Idle control screws/drillings next, I want to have one on each port for total balancing control.
The throttle stop adjuster brackets turned out in the right place...








Small bits of flash to clean up with a small file, gate to grind off, and a few other bits to do to it yet but Im very happy.
It should be starting to make sense now...I hope...!








Tapping stand-off bracket holes...








Tapped...








Pilot boring bottom plate in the marked positions...








Laid down on top plate to drill through on 2 end holes...








Drilled and pinned...








These pins will hold both plates bang on for when Im boring the other 6 holes...








Bored...
















5mm bit ready for tapping...








Tapped...








Top plate holes drilled to 6mm and counter-bored...
















Time to wash off cutting fluid and do a few checks for Idle holes on drawings...



_Modified by chippievw at 7:28 AM 4-9-2010_


----------



## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

I made a great job of washing them







..anyway...
























Getting there slowly, Idle holes and brake booster vac line to do yet, and stops, and brass throttle plate, and trumpets, and and and.....
Onto the Idle drilling's, these are probably the most confusing thing to photo but Ill try and explain how they work, the drilling's are pretty complex and hard to get shots of to show how they work, but anyways...Ill try...
All they are is a drilling from the head side(Vac side) of throttle plate(brass, not in the photos) to the top side(atmosphere) side of throttle plate, but half way along this drilling is an adjuster screw to set the amount of air each cylinder gets at tickover. These are to fine tune each port, before I set the overall Idle speed with the main throttle plate stop screw(the two sticky out bits on top plate). They are a by-pass around plate.
First, I marked the bottom plate up...keeping drilling's as near to clamping screws as I can, as on second drawing(youll see why later)...








This is the line the bit will take, once the main port hole is drilled, the 3mm hole will be entering the side of it, you can see that by the rough scribed circle...








Drilled...








Next, I had to drill the top plate, same idea, but I had to move these holes slightly to stop them breaking out into the clamp screw counterbores on the top plate, This would mean they would suck air here, no harm, but I want it coming from inside the trumpets. The holes on the lower plate(the first on I drilled) did skim the plate to port counterbores, but this is no harm because these are below the throttle plate, and are airtight because the ptfe strips will be on top of them(Hex allens and counterbores).








Ill drilled the port centres too while they were together, drilled from the bottom through the pilot holes, and through the top plate, the way to make sure there all in the right place...








Took them apart and drilled the top plate down to meet the main drilling...the hole is offset in respect to the other one to get it as near to the bolt as possible, both drilling's skim each other by half, spot on...you can just see the other hole in the picture...








Same with the bottom plate, these holes are opposite so it was just a matter of drilling them to meet...








I counterbored the 3mm hole out to 5mm ready for tapping, its around 10mm deep...again you can see the other hole at the bottom meeting it...








Tapped with a plug tap(square at end, taps all the way to shoulder)








Both plates together again, you can see the holes in the top plate will be plugged with 8mmx3mm plugs(have to cut them yet and epoxy them in) And the bottom holes have the idle adjustment screws in them, these will be grub screws with lock nuts...The tips will be pointed and will meet the 5mm to 3mm counterbore as above...








The reason the holes are so close to clamping bolts is because they both meet each other at the join, so I want max clamping force there.
A fast pic of how the brake booster line will be, I have to machine out a slot here that will join all ports on the Vac(head) side of throttle plate, Ill fill in the top 1mm of this slot again with a strip of carbon fibre, that way Ill be left with a square slot all the way along. Once the plate is bolted down to flanges, the last 8mm of carbon fibre will be under flanges, so they'll stay there, as well as being epoxied...








Ill stop the slot short one end and drill a hole into it for a barbed fitting for brake booster hose, etc...I could link the runners with some hose and tee's, but thats a cat way of doing it.








Onto machining the slot for the tab on the brass throttle plate to exit out, this tab will be what the acc cable goes onto, and the return springs...
Fixed down in jig...Limit stops either end...








Sub base fitted to router...








You can just make out bit in there, maybe...








First pass...








Second, third, finish, the length of this isnt that Import, but has to within a mill or less...








Last cut is .25mm below the slots as I want to get a bit of epoxy below the ptfe strip here...
















Together, roughly...


----------



## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

Got the throttle plate cut out this eve, I had forgotten how nice brass is to work as its been a while, its kinda hard to make a mistake as it files and works so good.
Hacksaw is out the window though on brass this thick, so unless your still a student and bound to the hacksaw the jigsaw is the only way to go








The plate... 








Marking Fluid and Marked out...








3mm holes drilled at internal corners...








Zip...








I cut this rough, to be finished by hand in the vice...








Finishing by hand in said vice...
















Light edge polish all round, drops in there...








Height looks good...








All edges finished by hand, its the only way to get things perfect I feel...








Gave it a quick mop with the dry wheel...








Mopped machine finish off lower plate also...








Cut up the ptfe strips to 1mm narrower than the tracks...
They will be pinned and epoxied on like so to the underside of brass T/plate...








Height looks good here also, just enough clearance under plate, ptfe runners will take all the thrust, and not the alloy around ports(Second Pic below)...It slides extremely smooth even half finished...
















The strips will also run on the inner raised section at the edges, that way the brass plate wont touch the aluminium at the outer edges...








End view, this has to be closed off yet, once micro switches are fitted but ya get the idea...








Cable and spring tab...








Nearly done on the plate, looking forward to doing plenum and trumpets, and the plate to head runners of course.


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## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

got the vac line machined, and the plenum surface machined too...
I had to machine a slot joining all ports on the Vacuum side of throttle place in order to run the brake booster. I could have done this by linking all runners with a hose and some tees, but thats messy and not the way to do it if you have a clean sheet custom designed part to do. Its easy incorporate it this way. All it is is a groove joining all ports below plate, this groove has a step which Ill fit a strip of carbon fibre to in order to form a square tube. At the end of this tube the lower plate will be drilled in to meet square groove and a barb fitting screwed in.
The camera had a massive bit of swarf on the lens that went un-noticed so I had to bin some photos, but most of them are there...
Drilled a 12mm start hole for cutters, these cutters cannot plunge cut into alloy, so you plunge them in the open hole and then start moving, they are side cut only.








Screwed down...








13mm wide slot cut 1mm deep(Thickness of 5 layers of carbon fibre, thanks to the spoon test!)...








And then the 6mm groove routed, its a bit hard make them all out, I stuck in a red line to make it clearer, you can see the step on top where the carbon will sit, and seal it off...








Template for the ends, I need to leave a bit on these for mounting the spring brackets, cable brackets ,etc...
































Done, and I did the same the other end...








Next onto the surface that the lip of plelum will sit on, the cast was good enough, but machined is better...
The jig in place...always working of the port centre holes as with all the jigs, ensures accurate placement...
One pass was enough, round about .60mm deep...
























Here is where I have to drill in to meet groove, and fit barb fitting...
















Few other shots...


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## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

The plans of trumpets, the drawings are a bit busy in spots but you'll get the Idea, these were actually fairly time consuming to draw as there was a lot of things to consider while doing so, they have to fit, be the correct size, have the correct taper, and base size, etc...I need these drawings in order to strike my templates off when making the trumpet form/mould. With these I can check the form at any particular point and ref it off plans.
The trumpets will also kiss each other half way up, which is what I want so I can tie them together with a bit of kevlar to stop them vibrating.
Due to the plenums design and location Ive curved them towards the opening. Once the plenum is made it'll make sense. I may index each trumpet a bit yet, Ill see how it goes.
































Ive thought about the former too, I was originally going to make it in one piece, add one layer of kevlar, cut trumpet down one side and remove former(The former hasn't a hope in hell of coming out without something due to shape) and then epoxy up cut in trumpet again and add more layers(1) but I came up with another way where I wont have to cut trumpet.
Ill make the former in 4 pieces, a flat bit will form bell mouth that can be screwed off the other 3 parts, The other 3 parts slide together, the centre being a removable core. Once the epoxy is dry, the top flat bit is screwed off, the core is slide out ,and I can then collapse the 2 outers bits together and remove them. (pic below)This is the best way I feel as its easier to take kevlar/carbon direct off a mould as opposed to slide it out/off it. Even if there is a lot of release wax on there, wax breakdown, and its shape may make it Impossible to get off any other way other than cutting.
So Im going to tackle all that tomorrow eve.


----------



## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

Had a rethink about former with removable core, I was afraid that wouldnt work as any resin that could seep between parts would be a disaster, and Its a chance I cant take, so Ill be adding one layer and slitting down one side to remove one piece core. Ill then add another layer after epoxying join line, Id say 2 layers should be enough, if not Ill add another...
Onto the former...
























A run on the belt sander and its almost there...








Checked for diameter at 8 points and hand finished...
















Making the bell-mouth form...








Few rough cuts to get rid of the bulk of material...
















Tidied by hand, shape matches template...








Screwed together...








Checked, and checked again, bang on off drawing when checked with square...








Hard to photo right over it... but ya get the idea...








Im going to now give it some isopon to blend mouth to body...
















Very thin skin all over to act as a primer/filler...








Also got clay for making the intake runner patterns...
















One thing that amazes me with this whole build is how cheap these sort of materials are, and what you can make from them...


----------



## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

Got it all sanded and sealed...
Started with 180 and went all the way to 2000 paper...
































Waxing...2 coats of shoe polish clear...








2 coats of 5yr old car wax...








I went a step further and gave it a coat of ptfe spray _just to be sure_ I cant see how anything could stick to all this!
















Now I came to cutting the kevlar..... ..... It nearly beat me I have to say....Its Nothing like cutting the carbon fibre, its tough as nails and scissors just dont cut it, or a snips, or a tin shears, or a pinking shears..I had to abandon it all last night as I was just making a mess of fabric trying to cut it, its INSANE stuff and is hard to believe it could be so tough to cut.
I had a think and thought the dremel would do it, so I fitted a mini disc








I thought that if I layed some hardboard(3mm) either side of cut line with just the width of disc that it would work....well, it didnt, It just pulled up some strands around spindle and jammed the whole lot...
I got on the net and had a look for some kevlar scissors, found some, 16 dollars, from the Us, with a ten day delivery time, ad 25 dollars postage...no good, to long to wait.
The kevlar scissors looks exactly like a normal scissors, so where's the difference? I played around with the diamond stone until I found out, it didnt take long!
All I did was flatten the tops of the blades to give it a more guillotine action, worked perfect, success!








You can see the terrible edge on last nights top and bottom trumpet bits, even cutting circles was out of the question...but still, these were two sample bits so Im not worried, I still have my main roll untouched...edges were flayed to provide a good bond where they meet the main tube body section which will be wrapped, as this stuff doesn't like going around complex shapes as the weave doesn't move on itself too good to let it do so and it ends up all puckered...unlike the carbon fibre.








Next I cut a long strip off main roll, with the scissors reground it was a breeze...








I then teased 3 strands from the edge, this causes it to fray as ya can see below, these should give it good overlapping edge when wrapped, as opposed to just a straight square edge. These will also blend easier and leave less of a step. (Id say/hope)!








Thats as far as I got, the scissors was a major problem for a while, but thats sorted now so I hope to resin this up later,


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## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

1st layer...
























Main section wrapped...I taped it after to tighten even further, thats the layer that matters really as its internal surface has to touch form all over, I can add the other later in what ever way I want now pattern-wise...Ill have a run with some cloth templates once this is dried and any rough spots sanded off, see what kind of patterns I can come up with, Ideally Id like to wrap it using just 4 pieces, top doughnut, bottom doughnut, and two bits on the centre section, but the centre section may run to 3 bits depending how much the kevlar fights me...I could just wrap it again with an 1 wide strip, Ill see how it feels.








Got the spring bracket done...
































The springs will sit towards the top inside the bracket so access to the idle grub screws isn't hindered too much...
Water papered, waiting final papering/wax...








1 small bolt will fix it there because if its shape...








Going to leave it at that, I hope its gives a bit more insight now to how this will work. As I said You can see the lot in the projects section on Vagdrivers, named 'No boundaries'.
Ive more casting to do on my dry sump pump, Ill add it here when done.
Brian.G


_Modified by chippievw at 7:24 AM 4-9-2010_


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## MikkiJayne (Jan 1, 2007)

*FV-QR*

Nooooo I need more!!!








Using a router as a milling machine is just inspired http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif You do awesome work


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## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

*Re: FV-QR (MikkiJayne)*

Ha ha!! I guess I can post more so...I have to say though, the thread title is becoming less and less relevant the more rambling I do








Router works good, as long as its a good quality one with tight endplay tolerance you'll be grand. Its all about how you setup, the jigs, measuring, checking etc. Ive not had any problems yet. While I will save major tight work for the bridgeport, the router works good for work which can only be done on a cnc machine(curved work, etc) Plus, its pretty easy setup, and Im all my life using one!
Brian http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 


_Modified by chippievw at 8:31 AM 4-9-2010_


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## Slayer (Aug 8, 2000)

*Re: FV-QR (chippievw)*

man this is awesome stuff


----------



## Agtronic (May 14, 2001)

You are so baller it hurts. I have a lot of respect for what you do. You seem like a very patient person too. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## polov8 (Apr 14, 2004)

*Re: (Agtronic)*

Please post more of this as it happens, this is one of the most fascinating threads I've ever read on here, and better still, it's all doable, it doesn't depend on expensive machinery, or spending a fortune on parts! Loving it! http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## wantacad (Apr 4, 2003)

*Re: (polov8)*

Everytime I check back on this thread I am more amazed at the work you do Brian, you truly are a craftsman. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

@ Slayer, thanks, Im enjoying it too!
@Agtronic Yes, Patient I am, I guess Im used of it spending so long being a cabinet maker, suppose Im at it 15yrs or so...
I think Its the best trade you could have when turning your hand to making performance parts. Theres a lot of similarities(spelling,) Care in marking out and attention to detail the main ones, and being able to picture the finished functioning item before your even ready to draw/design it.
@polov8, ok, I will so, Another instalment coming after I hit reply here, I really didn't think it would interest so many. Although it doesn't look like it, this is how may one off parts get developed or made in a lot of the smaller market race/rally supercar places where time or cost doesn't matter. Its as basic as this, clay, raw alloy, fire, filler, all used in the quest for finding the finished part.
A lot of people rant on about cncs, but they are just tools and can often get in the way of your aim as to what exactly you want. Its the part your after, anything between the idea and arriving at the finished item isn't Important its just clutter. Dont get me wrong, cncs are great at what they do, and accurate too, but there sole function is mass production.
@wantacad, thanks, I really do appreciate it, Ive spent a long time thinking the last few yrs on what Id like to make, or see made. I always figure that if you can first, figure out a design and how to make it in your head, then everything else is easy once you have that bit done. Its just a matter then of telling your hands what you have in mind which should be simple as your around your hands since you were born.
From memory all this work has been just done using a bench saw, welder, drillstand, jigsaw, and coping saw. There may be a few other bits but not many. I have the access and ability to use my mill here but I get a kick out of not using it at this point, just to see what can be done.
Im using the most brain power on design, and after that the process of manufacture without complicating things too much. The mould for the intake manifold has been the biggest challenge and is actually harder in ways that my proposed 16v head casting mould design. There are compound curves involved in the runners but I have the mould box figured now and Ill be starting it in ten days or so.
About 5% of the emails I get on all this are asking wheres the point in all the trouble the fact its an 8v, well its not really about that on this one, Im getting a feel for everything in the run up to my 16v build, head incl. The 8v is still great, I hope to make nice power too, Ive always loved them, 150hp say in a mk2 is loads of fun on the twisties. A 1.8t could be fitted and mapped to say 220hp, but I hate them, and the power band they have, I like an engine that can be revved out to the limiter all day. Plus Id have it all done in a weekend, and what would I have for thinking about then.
I suppose its fair to say that engineering has also been a major point in my life, nearly more-so than timber so I guess that helps. I do the sums where I need to or apply materials science to particular parts etc in stressed areas, limits, fits, etc...its all one complete package really. Spending half my life taking apart engines and parts, seeing how they are made, jigged, machined, and where, how, and why they wear helps too I guess...I cant leave down any new part without figuring out how it was made from start to finish, or what the moulds could have looked like.
Of course the main point in all this is, I can make exactly what I want, how I want. And more or less free too.
Ill add more to this in a while with a few more thoughts Ive had through all this fabricating.
Brian.G
_Modified by chippievw at 7:02 AM 4-15-2010_

_Modified by chippievw at 7:08 AM 4-15-2010_


_Modified by chippievw at 7:13 AM 4-15-2010_


----------



## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

Got the part lines inserted and filled on the plenum former. 
These will end up being the carbon fibre flange faces where the two halves(top+bottom)will be screwed together once the top and bottom are separated off the former.
The carbon will be laid over the former and out onto these timber slips before being vacuum bagged tight onto the full form.
Once dry Ill trim the flange surfaces to say 12-15mm wide, a neoprene gasket will sit on the lower flange which should form an airtight seal once the two are bolted together again. 
Melted a centre line all round the form, the front I had to angle down in order to get the top and bottom mating line down and away from the inlet hose/neck.








































Superglue! No need for dovetail joints here
























Filler, just normal board filler/plaster crown moulding filler...








































This is good gear and sands easy, Ill sand it once dry, check it, and give the whole lot a thinned down wash of the stuff again in preparation for the final flattening for the release wax.
Just working on the shape/design of the scavenge pump foam patterns now...pics up later.


----------



## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

The start of the scavenge pump build...
Its a 2 section pump, that is two scavenge sections, Ill be getting my pressure feed from the internal factory pump, but feeding it remotely and doing away with the pickup and sump. It will be fed into base of pump where the pickup attaches normally.
This idea struck me one night, and once its done, Ill have a dry sump system, cost free, bar the fittings and hoses. It will be a bit unusual but I want to try it out and see how it comes together.
Im using four pump rotors and two vw casings also for the scavenge pumps, Im doing away with the bottom part that holds the pickup and relief valve. 
Ill just be using the main bodies and rotors.(x4) After looking closely at off the shelf dry sump pump plans this will do the trick nicely. 
Theres just one catch, Ill have to make the divider sections between them, and also the pulley end section. The end section on the pulley end will hold a bearing and oil seal, and so will the section on the other end. The middle section will have a hole through it(like the pulley end)but it will be a clearance fit with the shaft.
All the bits will be then bolted together with four long bolts/rods, the whole assembly screwed to a back plate, and then mounted where the pas pump would normally go. Thats the plan anyway.
The sections will also hold the fittings, and some oil ways into and out of rotor chambers, the chamber below the rotors will be connected to the dry sump pan, and the section above them to the oil tank(supply to main pump).
Ill explain further once I have the dividers cast, but this bit below is just mocking up the rough basic shape of the foam patterns. Ill be casting them using the lost foam method again, like the girdle.
The pumps, this is all Ill be using of them. Thats the shaft you saw earlier running through them...
















The end the pulley will be...








The chambers, top is the pressure section I need to send to the tank, and the lower is what I need to connect to sump...








Foam...








Marking out rough outline...








Basic shape cut out ready for fine tuning/lightening...
The square bits top and bottom are where Ill be threading in the fittings to connect hoses...








Ill need two...








Pulley end section rough cut...
















All three ready for fine tuning/sanding shaping etc...








The inlet and outlet to pumps will be on the same end of rotors, but this is not an issue Ive discovered after looking at other oil/dry sump pumps.
Thats as far as I got, I want to keep the bottom end of engine moving as well as the top half/head so itll all come together at roughly the same time(probably not







)
Thats all for the minute, Ill update every eve on here so. This is live now to the point where the pics stop above. I have nothing pre made or rehearsed, Im posting as it happens.
Brian.G


----------



## yeayeayea (May 29, 2005)

*FV-QR*

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU at my lack of skillz compared to chippie


----------



## turbinepowered (Mar 19, 2007)

Looks good, dude.
Are you using two pump bodies for volume throughput, to keep the sump empty?
I'm familiar with the concept behind a dry sump, just not necessarily the execution.


----------



## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

@ Turbinepowered, yep thats pretty much the deal, they pump the oil back to oil tank. 

More from this eve> 
Bit of a boring update but cooler stuff to follow... 
Got the form rough sanded in prep for the slurry coat of filler, I may give it two coats yet, but I may hit it all smooth first time, Ill see when I start sanding once the slurry coat dries.
































I mixed it about as thick as soup...
















Paints(slobbers) on pretty good...dries quick though, ten minutes and the brush was starting to resemble all my other 'used' brushes...
























I have a few checks to do once its finish sanded...that is, measure in from timber slips to plaster above and below part line, to make sure the plaster is exactly opposite itself so that there wont be a little step when both carbon fibre halves are brought together, If ya know what I mean...
A quick pic of the 1.8 crank, c/w trigger wheel...








Brian.


----------



## ABA Scirocco (May 30, 2001)

*Re: (chippievw)*

Is that the plug to make a mold? Or, do you plan to use it as a mandrel and form the CF part directly over top of the foam?
A couple years ago, I had occasion to make a quick and dirty air box for a DCOE carb. I made a polystyrene foam mandrel and coated it with joint filling compound much the same way you did but I used a joint compound that dries rather than setting up, the advantage of that is after it hardens up, you can make soft again by soaking it in water. What this allowed me to do was to form the air box in one piece, after my resin had set up, I used acetone to dissolve out the foam, then soaked the air box in warm water for a few hours and rinsed out the softened joint compound leaving me with a nice clean hollow shell.


_Modified by ABA Scirocco at 7:51 PM 4-15-2010_


----------



## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

*Re: (ABA Scirocco)*

I plan on laying the fibre( 2 layers) right onto it, vacuum bagging it, removing from bag, another 2 layers and that should do it. I hope they will come off form, they should* but if not, I can hack out/dissolve the foam and filler as you did. I have a good feeling I wont have to considering its in two halves, but ya know how things can change...


----------



## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

Few updates, Had to sieve and oil the sand before I could do any more casting as it was gone a bit dry and lumpy...
Passed through the riddle...
















Also mulled it after, engine oil works fine...its a slow job doing it by hand/trampling I need to make an automated muller soon...









Got the patterns finish sized and smoothed...








Moulding it up...I did these two first as I was a bit tight for room to do the three at once...








Filled...








Turned over...








Raked out around edge radius to make sure It fills with sand ok since it was filled face down on a flat board some sand didn't make it tight around and under pattern...
Fitted a very crude sprue also!...








Vented...








Filled...








Charge ready for ignition...lining in smelter is holding up pretty well for home-made refractory...








Poured...
































Moulding up the third part...same as above, 
















Poured...
































Something like this> 








Bit of machining to be done of course, and a few other bits made, back plate, mount brackets, but ya, that's them three parts cast and out of my head anyway.
Got the plenum sanded also, gave it one more light coat, that should do with regards final smoothing...Ill know tomorrow once its dry.









Brian.


----------



## sdezego (Apr 23, 2004)

*Re: (chippievw)*

I don't want to keep posting this, but WTF, you are insane. ...and this is coming from someone who previously thought they were insane, LOL
Your talent and attention to detail is absolutely amazing. I am constantly watching your threads, so please keep it up.
Also, I am 1/2 Iti and 1/2 Irish with ancestors from Galway. So, if I ever make it that way I am looking you up and taking you out to get faced


----------



## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

*Re: (sdezego)*


_Quote, originally posted by *sdezego* »_I don't want to keep posting this, but WTF, you are insane. ...and this is coming from someone who previously thought they were insane, LOL
Your talent and attention to detail is absolutely amazing. I am constantly watching your threads, so please keep it up.
Also, I am 1/2 Iti and 1/2 Irish with ancestors from Galway. So, if I ever make it that way I am looking you up and taking you out to get faced









Ha ha!! Post away my man, thats what forums are for! .
Galway ya? Im about 20min from there, if your about sometime drop me a line sure, was out sailing on the Lough Corrib actually today, Im sure you've heard of it. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 
Few snaps, why not, its nice to get out of my cave once in a while
















Ashford Castle bay>
















Inchagoill Island>

































Castle kirk Island and Castle>








Real craftsmanship







and nearly 800yrs old, Irish weather included
























And one last one
http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 








Enjoy, thats about as Galway/Connemara as you'll EVER see on Vortex








To everyone else, sorry for posting off topic pictures but the man has Galway connections, which is rare on here http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 
Ill return to my cave now and resume my normal day to day fumblings








Sailing is great peace and quiet for thinking though http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 
Brian.


----------



## Issam Abed (Feb 12, 2004)

*Re: (chippievw)*

Brian,
You are truely an asset to the Volkswagen community. I have always loved your documentation and all I have to say is POST MORE!







http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


----------



## frechem (Oct 19, 2002)

*Re: (Issam Abed)*


_Quote, originally posted by *Issam Abed* »_Brian,
You are truely an asset to the Volkswagen community. I have always loved your documentation and all I have to say is POST MORE!







http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 

I agree with Issam. Keep it up. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 


_Modified by frechem at 7:41 PM 4-17-2010_


----------



## sdezego (Apr 23, 2004)

*Re: (chippievw)*

http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif Thanks for the friendly detour and amazing pics. Now, back to work


----------



## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

*Re: (Issam Abed)*


_Quote, originally posted by *Issam Abed* »_Brian,
You are truely an asset to the Volkswagen community. I have always loved your documentation and all I have to say is POST MORE!







http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 

Nice to hear that coming from you Issam http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 
Update, the ecu, megasquirt, want to give this a try for a change, Ill be able to play around with it which is good!
Opened it up to check soldering, these are hand built, its spot on>
















The enclosure, Ill be binning this for a higher automotive spec enclosure, this one isn't fully sealed> 








Loom>
















One temp sender I got with it> 








The knock controller>









The communication's cable> 








Got the former almost ready for fibre, nearly all smooth now just to go over a few bits. I had hoped to fibre this this week, hopefully my vacuum bags will come in time so that I can.(volcano dust cloud holding up air transport)








Im going working on finishing the slide throttles now, there aint a whole lot left to do really so I better get them out of the way before I start the throttle to head runners(Which will be a pretty complex mould layout)








Brian.


----------



## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

@ frechem, forgot to say thanks also, thanks!
@ sdezego, glad you enjoyed the detour, lol. Im back at it again now, youll be glad to hear!!
Brian.G


----------



## MikkiJayne (Jan 1, 2007)

*FV-QR*


_Quote, originally posted by *chippievw* »_ Im back at it again now, youll be glad to hear!!


http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


----------



## sdezego (Apr 23, 2004)

*Re: (chippievw)*

You will love Megasquirt. It was by far the best thing I ever did. I am also running knocksense as you have and have and had a great experience with it.


----------



## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

*Re: (sdezego)*


_Quote, originally posted by *sdezego* »_You will love Megasquirt. It was by far the best thing I ever did. I am also running knocksense as you have and have and had a great experience with it.

Thats what I like to hear http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif Im looking fwd to it too, and the flexibility that goes with it


----------



## PeOpLeG60T (Jul 5, 2004)

..... im just blown away . like having hard time just breathing ... this thread is so full of AWESOME!!!! man i thought you were nuts when i saw you make the water neck, now it turned out to be a totally other game 
all of this made with relatively low technology and stuff hangin in most garages/shops. it's truly amazing. wood , rulers , chisels , i really like how you use the router and jigs/stencils to cut tje contours and shave the stuff , wow im kinda even feeling weird seeing all of this been done this way , then now just like it wasnt sick enought you are pulling out some mad trumpets and plenum.... woah never seen someone work this well . i mean there is alot of good fabricators on this website but it's just not the same arena
congratulations for the man you are , mad skills


----------



## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

*Re: (PeOpLeG60T)*


_Quote, originally posted by *PeOpLeG60T* »_..... im just blown away . like having hard time just breathing ... this thread is so full of AWESOME!!!! man i thought you were nuts when i saw you make the water neck, now it turned out to be a totally other game 
all of this made with relatively low technology and stuff hangin in most garages/shops. it's truly amazing. wood , rulers , chisels , i really like how you use the router and jigs/stencils to cut tje contours and shave the stuff , wow im kinda even feeling weird seeing all of this been done this way , then now just like it wasnt sick enought you are pulling out some mad trumpets and plenum.... woah never seen someone work this well . i mean there is alot of good fabricators on this website but it's just not the same arena
congratulations for the man you are , mad skills

Well be sure and breathe anyway







LOL at your whole reply actually








Ah its handy enough, just a matter of putting your mind too it http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 

Onto fitting the throttle stops>
Trimmed the plate to length first> 
























The fixing hole for spring pillar> 








Fibre bored fine...








Tapping> 








I have to get washers and nyloc nuts for everything in general but Ill mock it up with normal nuts for the time being. Some bolts are too long also, I have to size these once done...








Sizing the phosphor bushes> 








These locate snug in spring eyes, even though they(springs) will be pre-loaded in the rest position I do not want anything rattling(ever), this is a major point throughout all the design with everything> 








I know what your thinking, its very near the edge!! I tested an off-cut of carbon, there's no way in hell thats going to pull out of there, its fantastic stuff>
















Bored also>








Bolted>(Ignore the overly big nut for the time being)> 








Time for the idle stop> 
Bored> 








Counter-bored> 








The lower part is off a racer bike(pushbike), 316 stainless> 
I based the stop(s) design around them> 








The bush is there so I can get a spanner on the small nut in order to adjust it, and lock it off without spanner snagging cast stop tab>








Tightened up, end of bolt bearing fully on brass throttle tab> 








Quick end view>(Plenum form needs final finishing)> 








And from the front> 








Time for the full throttle stop and cable guides> 








Bored> 








And counter-bored, I counter drilled to the same depth as Idle stop as drill press was still set, but used a washer to bring height to where it needs to be> 








You can see the outer diameter of ferrule bears on throttle plate. This ferrule does two things, acts as an adjustable stop, and also acts as the cable guide> 








Cable passed through, it comes in just at the correct height under brass throttle plate>








Bored for cable grip, the nut on the grip is being replaced with a nyloc> 
























Hole drilled for cable sheath stop, tapped also> 








The holder widens in diameter after the threaded portion, I had to counter-bore down this depth removing the threads in alloy so it would seat on its shoulders> 








Bored> 








In and cable guided through> 








Getting there with this now at last. Once I get my throttle pot ill deal with that also. 
Stay ''Tuned''! 
Brian.



_Modified by chippievw at 4:46 PM 4-23-2010_


----------



## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

Got the reamer for the scavenge pump. These are used by hand to accurately ream out an undersized hole to the correct size, and very precise too.
Got an extremely good deal also, its a Dormer reamer, the normal price was 68euro, I got it for 25euro as I got other stuff too off the same guy.
You could get one for a tenner but they tend to be crap.

















Onto mounting the throttle potentiometer(pot) and link arm...
The ecu uses this sender to gauge throttle opening in order to calculate how much fuel is required. This senders range is I think 80 degrees, or just under a quarter turn from idle to wide open throttle. This can be all calibrated with the ecu software but the linkage still has to be near right. 
It works similar to a volume knob on a radio.
I have no idea what this is off as I found it in my parts bin, its the same as many generic Pot senders and its new.








You can see the shape my spindle needs to be to fit into it and turn it internally>








The sender also has slotted mounting holes to enable it to be clocked if its a touch out of range.
Onto the link bar to fit onto throttle tab and attach to the crank arm which will turn sender> 
6mm aluminium plate, spec, 6061> 








Although this link bar has no real load on it it needs to be stout enough so that it does not vibrate, something I saw once where a guy had used some 2.5mm wire as a link from his butterfly throttles to a remote mount sender, at around 2200rpm the wire started to vibrate much like a bonnet stay does sometimes. This vibration could be seen when looking at the pot input values while the engine was running, I made a better linkage setup for him and he had no probs after that. I don't want that happening with my setup.
Marking out> 








Drilled out and reamed to 9.80mm>








Pressing in the bushes> 








In> 








End radius cut and linnished> 








Bending, first bend> 








Second bend, checked and adjusted> 








Lightening hole centres marked and centre punched> 








Drilled, ready for clean-up>
















Ends reduced down to bush width> 








Water-papered> 








Buffed> 








Link is very light and extremely strong.
Ill be mounting the pot sender next and making the second crank style link to attach to the link above.
Brian.


----------



## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

Mounting the pot>








Bush pressed in either side as with link>
















Finished ready for ream>








Reamed to 6mm>








Holes drilled for the m4 fixing screws, tapping>








Tapped>








The spindle below, this is from a 20v head, its pretty hard get a bolt with a 6mm shank, any bolts I had here had m6 threads alright, but the shank was just 5mm, due to how the threads are formed. So I had to go another route that left me with a 6mm shank, and m6 threads also. Hence the stud. 








Screwed a nut on there and tightened it until it bottomed out, rounded nut after> 








Down to 8mm> 








Because Ill be cutting off a 1/3 of nut I had to tack it on there> 
















Cut> 








Now fits into pot> 








Trial test> 
















In, and turns free> 








Next up the short link onto pot, this is a crank arrangement and although a crank style link like this is not 100% linear in respect to the rate of throttle opening to the rate the pot will turn because of the crank angle at the start and full open position, its hardly worth worrying about, but worth a mention.
Im making this in Carbon fibre with a foam core. I could just make it in aluminium but I want to try out carbon over foam also including inserts.
















































The bush sticks out .5mm either side, once the carbon is applied and vacuumed this protrusion amount secures the bush in the carbon skin. The carbon can then be sanded leaving the bush flat with the surrounding fibre. It is then both stuck there, located, and with the case of the bush going onto the pot spindle, unable to turn in the link.








Serrating the pot bush so it gets locked in place> 
































Before I hit this with some fibre Im going to heat the pot bush to remove all the oil I can from it so that it bonds better(Phosphor bronze has oil in it for better bearing performance) The pot bush wont be turning on shaft but locked on so it doesn't matter if I do this.








Im also Interested for down the line projects, in the weight comparison between the above carbon/foam link when done, and a link the same shape, but in alloy.
Hope to carbon this up later.
Brian.


----------



## polov8 (Apr 14, 2004)

Most win ever!


----------



## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

*Re: (polov8)*


_Quote, originally posted by *polov8* »_Most win ever! 

Keeps me out of trouble Andy








Onto the fibre...
Because this is a small part going in a small vacuum bag I thought the vacuum pump(its big) was a bit of an overkill to suck the air out so I improvised>
1 old silicone tube...plunger removed, 








The longest wood screw ya ever saw in your life!> 








Vacuum pump done! >








Nozzle taped into cut corner of ziploc> 
















Done, works good, and holds vacuum, 








The various bits you've seen before> 








Bit of shoe polish on the inside of bag> 








One side laid up> 








Turned over and onto other side, Ill be leaving about 5mm of a lip/flange around edge when trimming where both sides meet> 








All done and inside> 








Checked, then I pulled out plunger as far as I could, worked really well for a basic setup> 
























Ill crack it open tomorrow and trim her up, from looking at it, it looks like it'll be ok.








Brian.


----------



## wantacad (Apr 4, 2003)

lol...that is awsome...


----------



## RRSB_1971 (Dec 8, 2009)

*Re: (wantacad)*

You do some all-some work with your router. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 
Can you show us a Picture of your router stand setup & some measurements would be nice as well.
Until this I have never thought of using a router to this, could have used this idea 10 years ago, when I was using a drill press to try and mill stuff down. What a pain that was.
Where are you getting your bits to fit your router.
I was wondering how come you don't chamfer your the holes you drill especially the ones you are tapping. It would keep the threads from being pull above the surface. Just a though, not try to be rude or anything like that.


----------



## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

*Re: (RRSB_1971)*


_Quote, originally posted by *RRSB_1971* »_You do some all-some work with your router. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 
Can you show us a Picture of your router stand setup & some measurements would be nice as well.
Until this I have never thought of using a router to this, could have used this idea 10 years ago, when I was using a drill press to try and mill stuff down. What a pain that was.
Where are you getting your bits to fit your router.
I was wondering how come you don't chamfer your the holes you drill especially the ones you are tapping. It would keep the threads from being pull above the surface. Just a though, not try to be rude or anything like that.


Picture of router below, hope it explains it, if not Ill take more for you http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 
The bits are normal tct items for wood, twin straight flute, bits must be good quality though, that is, plenty of tungsten, and good support behind the tungsten. 
When tapping 6061 alloy I noticed on a test bit, if you do countersink/de-burr it pulls a ridge up in the countersink when tapped, and I ended up with two con-centric circles then. You cant smooth these flat as the pulled up bit is in the countersink and level with the surface, and it looks messy, Im going to go over the lot when done and smooth out everything, then chase the threaded holes to clear them. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 
I probably could get my hands on a better countersink bit thats a bit more controllable but the shops around here have limited types, and most are cheap/crap







.... Hope this makes sense..
Dried good, going to give it another day to harden up fully then Ill start trimming> 








Did a bit with the scavenge pump, as I said, I want to keep the bottom end parts moving along as well as the bits for the head...
Cut off the sprues and marked drill holes, theres a fair few stages involved with these in the line of boring and jigging so it all has to be thought out> 








First bout of drilling> 








A picture of the reamer, its a perfect fit...








With the parts pinned together I drilled the other hole...








Drilled> 








All drilled and counter-bored for screw heads> 








Notice its the three hole deal again for mounting when machining, three legged stool never rocks...
















Starting into it...








First pass at .50mm>








And the second and final pass> 








I got them all machined as above, either side, three parts in total> 








Ill be drilling the 6mm holes in them larger later, which will mean they'll then be 90 degrees to the newly machined faces...
I might lap all the faces yet Ill see, although the camera doesn't show it, they're dead flat despite the crazy appearance!> 








You can kinda see where my inlets and outlets need to be above and below rotors> 








Two 6mm rods> 








Its now possible to drill the inlets and outlets> 
















I had to pack one side to get the correct angle on the opposite side> 








Enlarging for fittings, Ill be tapping these later, hole is 32mm deep> 
















All done, inlets and outlets on both> 









Brian.



_Modified by chippievw at 7:26 PM 4-26-2010_


----------



## turbinepowered (Mar 19, 2007)

Are you at all worried about porosity of the castings?


----------



## [email protected] (Oct 6, 2009)

1am....i went thru this whole thread...i love u. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


----------



## frechem (Oct 19, 2002)

*Re: (turbinepowered)*

I love how you only have to do stuff just once and it comes out perfect every time. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


----------



## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

*Re: (turbinepowered)*


_Quote, originally posted by *turbinepowered* »_Are you at all worried about porosity of the castings?


Im not really to be honest, the degassing operation when melting reduces not only hydrogen but oxides as well, that coupled with good stout risers, sprues, and vents help a lot. On bigger castings more precautions have to be taken but on small stuff its really not an issue. So far when machining I haven't come on any pits, pores, or voids so so far so good. I did come on a few when cutting up the alloy block mind you, small bubbles, maybe 1mm in diameter here and there. I dont know if this answers your question? 
From what Ive seen with my own from working them, drilling/tapping/cutting/milling, they dont differ from oem castings at this point.
http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 
@ [email protected], you picked a bad time to start reading








@ frechem, no mis-haps or failures as yet, so I aint hiding anything, it would be pretty easy spot if I did though as a new part would differ slightly from one if I did screw up due to the uniqueness of each part. If something does go wrong for whatever reason Ill post that up too, I believe mistakes are great teachers, so Ill share as with the rest of the stuff http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 
More later this eve, 
Brian.


----------



## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

I cut the flange bit off a spare pump case to get a better idea of where the inlet and outlets need to be> 
















Rotors fitted, inlet/outlet shape is very clear> 
















Bit too close of a close-up...
















Inlet drilled to 16mm, it meets the first drilling below it> 








Bit of porting with the 12mm carbide ball, handcleaner works good to stop it clogging, or wd40 if its a small job like this> 
















Poor picture...








Quick check> 








Drilling the outlet, 12mm hole fitted here, Ill be opening it up to scribed line> 








Ported it, and moved to the dremel to get into the corners> 








Like so! >








Top view, bit of fettling to do yet but almost done on this one, the other one (cast section) will be the very same. Picture of the tap there too, for the fittings>








Brian.


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## MikkiJayne (Jan 1, 2007)

*FV-QR*

http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif
I may have missed this, but how are you going to seal up the brass throttle plate in the aluminium housing? Is the PTFE strip good enough or is there something else? I've always wondered about this aspect of slide throttles tbh.


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## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

*Re: FV-QR (MikkiJayne)*


_Quote, originally posted by *MikkiJayne* »_http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif
I may have missed this, but how are you going to seal up the brass throttle plate in the aluminium housing? Is the PTFE strip good enough or is there something else? I've always wondered about this aspect of slide throttles tbh.










Yup, ptfe is bonded to underside of throttle plate, and that sides in tracks, and has a nice bit of pressure on it too at idle to help it seal. Air will have to take a long route to actually get past it if you know what I mean. By which time the engine will need more air at that stage anyway. I do expect a bit to go by but Im hoping and wont stop until I see a 900-1000(cam) idle speed. Looking at how its all fitting I dont see any problems, I hope








Moar!> 
Got the second one done(ported) the same as the first> 








Tapped the inlets/outlets>








The cast taps real good> 
























All pinned for a quick look at things> 








Drilling holes to 8mm and counter-boring the lower hole> 








































Time to dowel them together for boring the mainshaft pilot hole, Ill be reaming this, and also cutting a large counter-bore in the first section for bearings and oil seal, 
The spring pins> 
These are spring steel and almost impossible to cut up in this state, so a quick run with the blow torch to red and let cool naturally anneals it back to semi soft again, making it easy cut.
















Counter-bored the 8mm holes to 10mm for the dowels/positioners 








Heated the cut pieces again to cherry red and quenched them in water, this makes them attain there 'spring' again, 








Tapped in, 








Section placed on, 








Sharp tap, 








Two more tapped in, 








You can see how they now locate casing, 








Another intact casing tapped onto them, and an oil oil pump drive spindle...








Ball bearing held into factory centre drilled hole with some grease, fitted spindle down into casing(its the fit for hole!) as above and gave it a tap, the ball left an indent where the shaft centre will now have to be drilled, tomorrow hopefully...
















Brian
http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## MikkiJayne (Jan 1, 2007)

*FV-QR*

Nice trick with the ball bearing!


----------



## RRSB_1971 (Dec 8, 2009)

Thanks for the shot of the router table, I was always trying to slid the vice in my vertical drill press - what a pain. I have a router table - but it would be hard to do what your doing. Your way makes allot more since with a router. I was thinking the router was stationary like my table. 
Guess what tool I'm building next.
About how big & thick is the Plexiglas.

So simple


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## chippievw (Dec 5, 2006)

*Re: (RRSB_1971)*


_Quote, originally posted by *RRSB_1971* »_Thanks for the shot of the router table, I was always trying to slid the vice in my vertical drill press - what a pain. I have a router table - but it would be hard to do what your doing. Your way makes allot more since with a router. I was thinking the router was stationary like my table. 
Guess what tool I'm building next.
About how big & thick is the Plexiglas.

So simple

Ah its about 14mm I think, around 5/8 approx. Its tufnol too. I find it the best way to do stuff like this, make sure your two sleighs/battens are exact your leaving it down on and away you go, you can even screw a batten to the plastic and run it off sleighs to give you parallel machining, a mill would do this in a second and I should prob really use mine instead, but I get a kick outa doing it this way







Alloy cuts like cheese
http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 
Boring update...> 
Got the main shaft holes bored...
Pilot drilling, 








Reaming, 
















You can see the finish the reamer leaves, 








Compared to the drill bit...








Stacked to check clearances,








Checked holes for squareness in respect to shaft and rotors using a small bit of lapping paste between rotor and section, its a very fine grinding paste much like valve grinding paste used for jobs like these, a couple of turns of the rotor highlights a circle an etched and that it is indeed square/ok, 








Did this with all sections, 








The oil grooves milled to oil rotor/section interface, also done on the two section, 








And the oil drilling from outlet to end hole where the shaft spins, I thought this was the best place to tap it from as the pipe up to tank will always be full of oil even after shutdown so the bearing should always be wet even if the car is sitting for a while, again, also done on the centre section. The same pipe up will also seal the rotors with this same back feed/head pressure so they'll never run dry or not pump on startup. There will always be a small amount of oil in the pipe to run back and keep things wet.








Stacked and all spins free.








Ive to cut two more oil grooves yet, and also drill out the end section for the bearings/oil seals. I can then lock the rotors to shaft, bolt the lot together and machine the base where it sits onto the mounting bracket.
Getting there slowly...
Brian.
http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Well its nice to have this place back!! You may have noticed I changed my profile name at this time also. I prefer it this way from now on as it is my 'real' name after all. Nothing has changed otherwise. I have the change noted in my profile also. This does mean Im back to 0 on the post count but that doesn't bother me a bit. 

More stuff> 

Scored these on ebay last week, I got them for around 2.50each, cheaper than hydraulic fittings at the time on there! They're m18x1.5 one end, and an -8 the other. There also alloy, anodized black. 




























Screwed in temporary, Ive to face off the cast yet under hex portion on fitting... 




























I had an insane job trying to find bearings with a 14mm bore but I got them in the end, these are open and not shielded as I intend oiling them from the pump itself, that also means that they need an oil seal, like your crank/cam oil seals so I had to get them too, funny enough, I had no bother finding oil seals for a 14mm shaft... 




























These have to be fitted/pressed into a counter-bore of course in the section itself. If I had the skimmer finished the boring set would be ideal for this job, but I haven't it finished yet so I had to come up with another plan to keep things moving, so here it is> 

One old oil pump shaft, remember this is also 14mm, 










Rotor driven off/removed, 










You can see its a bit bigger in diameter than the rotor... 










I cut off all but one tooth... 










Grinding to cutter profile, 










With shaft inserted and bearing dropped on I can see were my ballpark cutter diameter needs to be, 










Checked and finished with the diamond hone, Im pretty used of making cutters for the spindle moulder so it was pretty quick grinding this, 



















With the oil shaft cut at the waisted section I can now mount it in the drill stand, drove on the rotor again, 










Test, fits snug, and it should too! (reamed) 










One turn by hand to check cutting angles are ok, 










Mounted in the stand, went down approx 1mm to check diameter, I need it a bit smaller than bearing for a press fit, it actually came out at 25.750mm(I think) 










Boring, 










I got It bored to my depth but the memory card was full, I now need to counter bore the top section of hole for the oil seal, much the same plan as above.


----------



## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Time for the oil seal counter-bore, the diameter of this was bigger than the rotors so I couldnt use them as a cutter, so I made a basic fly cutter using the same oil pump shaft/spindle as I did when boring the bearing housing, 

Tapping shaft, 










12.9 m8 bolt threads in, tip ground to cutter profile, 














































Bored, 










Tip reground to form a lip at bottom of hole to provide seal there too as oil seal counterbore just hits m8 allen head counter-bore, 










Done, 










Snug press fit, 










And the final bore on the bearing counter-bore to provide pressfit, 










Brian.G


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## turbinepowered (Mar 19, 2007)

Wow... I wouldn't even have the slightest idea how to make a cutter profile. Bravo!


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## polov8 (Apr 14, 2004)

The HUGE problem with this thread, is that the more I see, the more things I can think of to make, and the fact that all your stuff is being made without expensive or complex equipment just makes it worse! Do you not know I have enough to do without giving me evil ideas? 

Very inconsiderate......


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## wantacad (Apr 4, 2003)

putting this thread back in my watched topics.


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## sleees345 (Dec 31, 2009)

Amazing work. I'm in love. 

Subscribed.


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## rweird (Apr 10, 2004)

i love this.


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## secondgen (Jan 9, 2004)

Are you going to have those oil pump (cast) pieces hardcoated or anything to resist wear? Curious as to just how dense the metal comes out with the self-made parts. Looking great as always! Love your ingenuity with the cutting tools!


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## turbinepowered (Mar 19, 2007)

Are you going to cast your dry sump pan, too?


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## MikkiJayne (Jan 1, 2007)

Amazing stuff!

Your ingenuity is inspiring


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Secondgen
Im going to anodise to protect a little more yes. Heat treating is no good once the part sees more than 130 degrees c for a period of time, which this will internally(It should anyway after a hard rip)

Turbinepowered, Im not sure, I always hated alloy sumps for breakage reasons, since this will be up a little more and the fact all my Mk2s always run standard ride height I may cast it, but Im not sure, I originally thought of making it from 316 stainless, no rock would crack or go through that. I need to decide on that one yet.

MikkiJayne, its pretty basic stuff really, I think? Maybe its not, I cant tell whats 'normal stuff to be at' anymore...

Moar> 

FINALLY got the bolts i wanted(got 4), I could have used threaded bar, but its a bit agricultural i feel. These are tidier but a bit harder got than I had expected...










They fit the counterbores fairly snug, 



















They end just flush at rear of pump. I could have tapped end section but Im going to sink a steel nut in there instead, doing it this way made boring the sections easier as they were all done in one drilling operation.










Counterbored>










Nut points marked> 




























Dremel



















In, 



















Mocked it up to see if it all lines with shaft inserted, thankfully it does spin free with bearing pressed in also and everything in place, 




























And on its side showing the bases of sections where I can now mill them flat the fact its all bolted together, the pulleys Im using are off an AHW 1.4 16v engine, the bigger sprocket is off the camshaft, and the smaller the crank pulley, I reamed the bigger one to 14mm so All I need do is lock it on there. Ive to groove shaft for a circlip between bearings, and also lock rotors to shaft, drill one more oil way, mill and tap the base for mounting to bracket, clean them all up do a final assemble, strip them all again and I think Im going to clear anodise all parts to save them a bit. Not too bad really, sounds a lot, but its handy enough.
I also have to make up two shoulders on the crank pulley to keep belt on there.











Updates regular again now that Ive all the bits I need for the next few weeks, 

Brian.


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## MikkiJayne (Jan 1, 2007)

I will hazard a guess that you have some way of anodising the parts at home that will be equally impressive as everything else you have done so far?

(and no, to 99.9999999% of people including, I suspect, most of us on here what you are able to do with limited tools and resources is not "normal" - its verging on black magic! )


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## ABA Scirocco (May 30, 2001)

Unfortunately, cast aluminium doesn't anodize very well, it has something to do with the crystalline structure of the metal and the other elements that are alloyed into the aluminium to improve it's casting properties such as fluidity etc.

But you're right about Brian, his resourcefulness and skills do border on freakish. However, I do understand what he's talking about when he says he's not sure what normal stuff is. I'm always amazed at the whole world of possibilities that open up when you learn a new skill, like casting or welding, what once seemed freakish suddenly becomes doable and after a little practice, seems normal.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

I put in the last two pictures above that I somehow forgot yesterday...

@MikkiJayne, yes Ill be anodising them here of course!!!!! Point taken on the 'normal' stuff!!

@ABA Scirocco, Lm25 anodises just fine and its the 2nd best casting alloy to do so with(I verified this to be sure with a few guys in Hong Kong as I was unsure). The problem lies on if you try dye it after you anodise, it dyes patchy and speckled because of the silicon. But That wont bother me, because Ill just be clear anodising, which I believe leaves it more or less the same stone/sliver/grey colour. I wont know until I do it on a test bit first though.
I still feel though that there is no need to treat these for wear issues but I will all the same for external protection if nothing else. Lm25 has a good bit of silicon for its great antiwear properties as is.
I cant agree with you more on the above, once you start doing stuff you cant stop.......building an entire engine seems very possible at the minute to be honest, pistons, rods, block the works...hmmmmmm...I may need to cheat and use the bridgeport for some parts but its very doable I feel.


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## ABA Scirocco (May 30, 2001)

By not anodizing well, I actually meant the uptake of colour. I've done a bit of anodizing, undyed anodized aluminium is a dull gray often with a slightly goldish hue.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

I get ya, well as you know on this part Im not worried too much on colour, but Ill be colouring some of the throttle bits once I make up my mind which colour/parts, black Id say but Ill see. There all 6061 alloy so Ill have no probs colourwise there.

Im still undecided on what material to make the sump from...


----------



## MikkiJayne (Jan 1, 2007)

Now I'm going to be like a cat on a hot tin roof waiting for your post on DIY anodising....


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## ABA Scirocco (May 30, 2001)

DIY anodizing's really easy. Probably the reason you don't see it very often is that it requires a large enough quantity of sulfuric acid to completely immerse the part you're working with and most people don't like having that stuff lying around their home or shop.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

ABA Scirocco said:


> DIY anodizing's really easy. Probably the reason you don't see it very often is that it requires a large enough quantity of sulfuric acid to completely immerse the part you're working with and most people don't like having that stuff lying around their home or shop.


''Most people''
(my, the smilies arent what they used to be)


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## ABA Scirocco (May 30, 2001)

Brian.G said:


> ''Most people''


I think we've already established you're not "most people" so, when do you start anodizing?


----------



## frechem (Oct 19, 2002)

Ahh glad to see you're back at it. Your thread on VAGdrivers is the first thing I check when I get to work. I see you switched your Vortex screen name. Is that because of the new Vortex switch? Also, interesting you went this route with the nut instead of using a Time-sert or a Heli-coil. Any particular reason?


----------



## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

frechem said:


> Ahh glad to see you're back at it. Your thread on VAGdrivers is the first thing I check when I get to work. I see you switched your Vortex screen name. Is that because of the new Vortex switch? Also, interesting you went this route with the nut instead of using a Time-sert or a Heli-coil. Any particular reason?


I changed my screen name because I couldnt remember my old password for chippievw, I mailed the guys a few times for a password reset but I guess they were too busy with more important stuff. Its a bit annoying it says noob under my name mind you but Ill live with it 
I setup my proper name as the screen name so I could continue posting here as soon as I could.
As for the nut, no major reasons, it allows a tiny bit of movement for positioning, is easy to get, an insert would have to be ordered from the Uk Id say which means more time....I can also pick a high quality nut doing it this way too(not the one in picture).


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Time to mill the base of pump flat for mounting to bracket, this wasn't as easy as it seems as the base has to be parallel with pump shaft so that the belt runs true and so that its flat in general. Due to the shape of the pump body I had points to datum off directly to fix it for machining so I set about making two plates to hold pump parallel to shaft, 

Two bits of brass off cuts soldered together and bored, 










Reamed, 










Bolts holes drilled in there approx positions, 










Parts split again, 



















Laid down for marking plate height,










Cut and plate bolted in between end section and casing, the shaft running through the reamed hole in brass, 










End plate slid on, pump now sits parallel to shaft, 










Clamped down with an off-cut of chain and milled, three passes did it, 










And turned over, 










Milled, the flat sections here will let me sit it on the drill table to allow the fixing holes to be drilled square, 










Like so, 










Brian.


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## turbinepowered (Mar 19, 2007)

Looking good! I take it that your blocks of wood are fairly well indexed, then? And certainly identical, I would hope...


----------



## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Indeed they are, they may not look it though, LOL. Now if you wanted extreme high accuracy I would have to move to the bridgeport, but so far, all I need is flat faces, and the glass and wd40 test confirms that, so, so far so good!!


----------



## turbinepowered (Mar 19, 2007)

Glass and WD40 test?


----------



## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

some 3/8 float glass lightly misted with wd40(penetrate fluid) leave it down on your part you want to check be it a head, milled face, datum points etc, you can see through glass and wd40 shows you all contact points, or high points if there is any, you should be seeing a thin layer/none of fluid between them all over if its perfectly flat. Does that make sense?


----------



## turbinepowered (Mar 19, 2007)

So... what you're looking for is basically no stipple pattern or mottling; if it's flat then the layer will look uniform across the whole glass?

That makes sense, thanks!


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Yup pretty much, once you try it it makes sense, its very easy, fast, cheap, and exact. Its not as scientific as it sounds, a non flat face becomes very apparent even if your not sure how it should look under the glass.
Ill do a demo later on the pump base to show you.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

I got a few chemicals for the anodising process that Ill be carrying out on a few parts over the next while.

*The next bit deals with very dangerous chemicals so If your going at this yourself read up on them and take all the safety measures needed, this stuff will kill or seriously hurt you.*

Im pretty familiar with chemicals and chemistry in general as it was one of the few subjects I paid heed to in school but Ill say it again, if your not, *read up on them*.

First up is sulphuric acid this is 60% acid and Ill need to water it down for anodising. 
If you are diluting acid always add the *acid into the water* and not the water into the acid.










Id also suggest leaving the container in another container, and leaving them on the floor where they cant fall.

Next is the etching agent Ill be using to clean the parts before I anodise. This is almost pure Sodium hydroxide (NaOH). Also called caustic soda, its actually the stuff you can use to unblock drains. It can be got anywhere for cheap.
This is just as dangerous as acid as it is a very strong metallic base.




























Ill be mixing this with water to form my solution for etching. 

When this is mixed with water you also get a reaction called an exothermic reaction, that is it gives off heat, lots of it.

For the first test I mixed it approx 1:1 with water and it reacted around 80 degrees so you have been warned.










I dropped in a bit of cast aluminium as a test piece to see how the 1:1 solution etches it.










The reaction was instant and violent, 










Another important thing you need to be aware of when etching aluminium in Na0H is that the reaction gives of hydrogen, and lots of it, because the alloy takes the oxygen atom from sodium hydroxide(NaOH) which takes the oxygen atom from the H20(water), and lets go the two hydrogen atoms. 

You can see the ample hydrogen given off below, enough infact to light it. So you might want to do this outside, and keep the ***s in your pocket.










With the test piece taken out after around 30 seconds you can see its well and truly etched, far too much infact so ill need to water down the solution way more as I don't want the etching to affect my dimensions, just provide a key for the anodising process after.
Parts need to be washed in water(distilled if your dying parts) to stop the reaction with the sodium hydroxide otherwise you'll have no parts left at the end of it.










Im going to try 6 parts water and 1 sodium hydroxide later, should be ok I feel, I can give it more time in there if the etching isn't enough.

So thats the chemistry lesson over, you have been warned *its very dangerous stuff*, both acids, and strong bases(caustic soda).

Brian.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

BTW f.ags comes up as not allowed in the swear filter, lol.


----------



## polov8 (Apr 14, 2004)

Yeah, taking a long hard suck on a f.ag in the US means something TOTALLY different than what it means in the UK and Ireland.........................


----------



## turbinepowered (Mar 19, 2007)

polov8 said:


> Yeah, taking a long hard suck on a f.ag in the US means something TOTALLY different than what it means in the UK and Ireland.........................


Oh yes. Not even remotely related usages... you could give some locals around here a fatal heart attack just by using said term in the UK sense...


----------



## wantacad (Apr 4, 2003)

what is wrong with a bundle of sticks and a cig? lol...


----------



## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

polov8 said:


> Yeah, taking a long hard suck on a f.ag in the US means something TOTALLY different than what it means in the UK and Ireland.........................


 Ill keep that in mind so for future ref
Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!! I cant wait to see the look Ill get if ever buying ***s in the Us, LOL.


----------



## turbinepowered (Mar 19, 2007)

Brian.G said:


> Ill keep that in mind so for future ref
> Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!! I cant wait to see the look Ill get if ever buying ***s in the Us, LOL.


 Buy them in SC, they're cheap here.  Not to mention people around here are so religiously conservative you may just get some a****exy for even mentioning that word.


----------



## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

turbinepowered said:


> Buy them in SC, they're cheap here.  Not to mention people around here are so religiously conservative you may just get some a****exy for even mentioning that word.


Id probably have to watch every second word I said at that rate of going

More>
I feel this might be getting a bit boring at this stage but the pump is nearly done so Ill be back into new/more interesting stuff after and pretty soon. I have to have all angles covered though as theres no point in making something that wont work, or that Ill have to strip/finish/redo at a later stage. 
Im just looking at the pump section in my photobucket acc and its showing 193 Images....wow, it feels like about 20...
So hang in there folks.

I set to work marking the bolt positions for fixing pump to bracket, 6 m6 bolts in total, they are small but I feel they're plenty, the holes are deep and the bolts good quality. I plan on loctiting nearly all bolts anyway so I dont see any problems.

The brass plates turned 90 degrees to mark the holes , 










Marking with the callipers, 










All marked up, I should mention too that Im noticing that the camera is pretty poor this eve, I dont know why, maybe its having enough of all this. Ill check it out later, the close-ups are the worst ive taken so far...










Drilled to 5mm, 










Tapped, 










Now, onto securing the bearings. The plan is to cut a groove in the shaft, into this groove will go a circlip, the circlip will sit between the bearings to prevent the shaft from coming out. 
The top bearing will then be held in and given a touch of preload with 3 screws around its perimeter. These will be given a touch of loctite and the bearings will also get a touch too. I have just the loctite for securing/assembling bearings to alloy, even when they are a press fit I feel its no harm. 

So...

Below you can see the bearings pressed tight onto each other, there's the thickness of a circlip above the top bearing to the shoulder. 










I must also add for those of you having nervous breakdowns at all the swarf on everything, Ill be washing everything very clean when Im done messing with them.

Dremel came out to mill 3 flat spots to start the bit. This is very tight in here but it went ok, this is one of the photos Im talking about, the bores look pig rough but they're actually smooth...? It seems the milled surface throws of the macro setting or something, I dont know.










Holes were drilled on these spots, 










And tapped, 










And the oil hole drilled, this feeds from the top side chamber in the first pump case, this is the pressure side but given that the pressure is going to be just the head height up to tank It should be ok when it comes to the oil seal, and it blowing out. They are high pressure oil seals but still, worth a mention. I may drill another hole out of the bearing section yet to the low pressure side in order to keep the oil refreshing in there, but of course this would hurt pumping volume to tank as it would be a direct by-pass, I have to have another look at it yet and decide then.










And a view from the rear, you can see(just about) oil hole entering down at rotor face,










Brian.


----------



## turbinepowered (Mar 19, 2007)

I'm watching to see how you positively secure the rotors onto the shaft.


----------



## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Watch away

Ive thought of a way to make another hole into the bearing, it will be a groove of small cross section leading to the low pressure side. I think a hole would be too much in that it would possibly suck air if the pipe to tank emptied over time, this would have a bad effect on things and I doubt the pump would be able to prime itself due to this by-pass, more on that later,

Just a Small update this eve as I was busy making room for two lathes Im getting, 

Gave the top of section one a quick linnish on the belt sander, I want this semi flat as Ill be mounting the belt guard onto this section, 










Drilled, and tapping, 




























I also flattened the sections under the threaded fittings, 










Brian.


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## melmer (Feb 15, 2001)

Language differences are funny. The first time I went to Ireland somebody asked me if I "was going down to the pub for a bit of craic." I was confused. I was just looking for a pint.

Your thread rocks. And your advice on caustic substances is well heeded.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Ah yes, the good aul craic!  Im sure theres other words that could lead to dramatic confusion or disappointment also, Ill have a think!

Been busy the last while rebuilding these two little machines I picked up. There out of a college and have never seen much work so I had to buy them, they also cost just 180euro for the pair so I could not leave them after me. Im nearly done rebuilding them, there tidier than the M300 too for smaller stuff. They werent a bit worn but I stripped them to clean them and check everything, I also gave them a very quick coat of paint to make them a bit more photo friendly. You'll be seeing a lot of these in the next while as I intend making them sing 





































Back at the usual lark in a day or two.


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## turbinepowered (Mar 19, 2007)

Ha! I was just about to tell you I was jonesin' for my fix here... Now get on it! 


Just kidding. Great work saving a couple lathes. Really wish I had a good sized lathe, and the skill to use it.


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## frechem (Oct 19, 2002)

Ahh nice. More toys to play with.


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## NintendoKD (Feb 9, 2009)

*CNC prototyping*

This is AWESOME!!! I always wanted to know about this stuff 
I would love to do an IDI diesel head in cast Iron or steel, anyway that I can get a digitized version for rapid prototyping? CAD etc. I would love to CNC a head, and I know a Machinist ho is hurting for work and if the demand is high enough and he has the specs He can CNC anything.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Cnc heads are extremely hard to design due to tooling access above the combustion chamber where the waterways are. You could drill it and insert heat pipes as used to cool moulds in the injection moulding industry but that gets complex and messy. For every axcess point you make to get a tool in to cut a waterway you need to close it up to cover your tracks. 
Below is a typical core for forming the coolant path inside the head, as you can see its complex, and I have to say figuring how to make a mould box for one of these, and getting it out of there took me a while to figure out. But its very possible using removable parts and slides along with co2 cure sand. 










You could perhaps make the head in 3 layers and pin/bolt them together but that gets messy if you have to jig up a lot of times. 

I thought about billet for a long time, but put it out of my head and am going cast instead, just my two cents, maybe you could come up with a way.


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## dubCanuck1 (Apr 1, 2005)

So, you haven't cast one of these yet? It's been like 4 days since your last post. I figured you'd have made at least 2 by now. :beer:opcorn: 



Brian.G said:


> Cnc heads are extremely hard to design due to tooling access above the combustion chamber where the waterways are. You could drill it and insert heat pipes as used to cool moulds in the injection moulding industry but that gets complex and messy. For every axcess point you make to get a tool in to cut a waterway you need to close it up to cover your tracks.
> Below is a typical core for forming the coolant path inside the head, as you can see its complex, and I have to say figuring how to make a mould box for one of these, and getting it out of there took me a while to figure out. But its very possible using removable parts and slides along with co2 cure sand.
> 
> 
> ...


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

I said it was going to be slow The lathes took a bit longer to find space for than I thought, My workshop is about 12ft x 23ft, yes, very small, hence all the close-up pictures of parts to hide the mess


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## NintendoKD (Feb 9, 2009)

heres to wishing that I had all of the machines and equipment that you have:beer:


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## ABA Scirocco (May 30, 2001)

Brian.G said:


> Cnc heads are extremely hard to design due to tooling access above the combustion chamber where the waterways are........
> 
> You could perhaps make the head in 3 layers and pin/bolt them together but that gets messy if you have to jig up a lot of times.


 I agree with you concerning CNC machining a billet head, in most if not all cases, it's just not a viable option. However, several car manufacturers are now making cylinder heads and other complex parts using the lost foam casting technique, it would be possible to CNC machine multiple pattern sections out of foam, glue them together to make the sacrificial foam pattern for a cast head.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

I have a router.......just...and ok Ive 3 lathes and a mill but I use them only when I have to, which I think I haven't so far 

If you stare long enough a the tools you have you'll figure out how to make them work for you! 

I seem to be doing a lot of talking of late Ill post up the latest asap:thumbup:


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## ArpyArpad (Jan 4, 2002)

people always say "best thread on vortex!" for cool stuff but this has to be the most unique diy here. hands down. 

like always, can't wait for new updates.:thumbup:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Here you go so 

Onto the pulley.... 

Standard crank pulley off a 2.0l, this will end up being my pump pulley as it has the correct amount of teeth I need so Im going to use it. I will have to make the pulley for the crank but thats minor. 

Ill let the pictures do the talking as the pictures were taken at the important cutting steps, pay no heed to the homemade cutting tools for the time being, Ive a few insert tools on order... 




























The boring head, I talked about this before, its adjustable via the screw on the side, everyone should have one! 




























Turned and checked with the dial gauge, onto cleaning up the outside, 



















And finished up, pulley is a lot lighter now and the width I need, 










Next up, the centre of pulley, this will be alloy and mount onto pump spindle, I could use some billet here but Im all out, so, its the perfect time to do a casting test by casting a blank from some scrap and seeing how it turns, check for internal gas pockets inside the blank, etc. I have noticed a fair few bubbles inside the heads I cut up for testing/analysis so I want to see If I can get my parts as good as them(if thats how you'd say it) 
Bubbles inside the castings are a result of turbulence as the alloy is poured into mould and also the temperature of the metal both as its being heated, and the temperature its poured at. 
So onto the blank, the pattern for this is an old aerosol can I taped the ends up to rid the concave ends and negative draft angles. 
For anyone just joining this thread now its a good insight into casting again as I photgraphed the stages a bit better since I was in no panic as such as the part was basic, and didn't really matter how long the mould was left closed for(sand can collapse inside mould if left for too long before pour) 










Cope(top) filled and lifted off, gate and riser cut and fill sprue also, 










Closed, 










The scrap metal, 










Approx 3min after ignition, 










You can see the amount of dross on top after alloy has melted, this has to be raked off and is useless and not good inside your part, 










And raked off, 



















Flux is then stirred in, this de-gasses the alloy even more and gets rid of more impurities(dross) 










You can see the extra that has now come to the top again, 










And raked, you dont want to touch the alloy anymore than you need to, the metal skins over by its self, stirring it breaks this skin allowing more air to contaminate the molten metal, 










And out, not good to boil the metal either, just enough dwell time and no more, 










And poured, pic taken approx 10 seconds after pour, 










Did someone say ''The T1000''!.. 










Blank removed, its dog rough as the tape made lines but it doesnt matter a bit for this as its being turned anyway, its nice converting useless scrap into usable blanks(free) I have to say! 










Gates cut, and blank cut in half and mounted in the 3 jaw, 



















Slow speed until its a bit truer, it wasnt that far off surprisingly, 










Trued and end parted off, all rough cuts as yet, 



















Getting there, no voids or excessive pores to be seen, 










Boring the bore hole, I have to get a chuck for the tailstock yet for holes under 12mm, but Im doing fine as yet! 










Boring hole to shaft clearance fit, 










Done, Ive have to finish up this tomorrow, wont take long, and then I can set about locking rotos to shaft, that'll be the pump done then bar chemical treatment which Ill prob do last when Ive all the other bits done to save setting up all that lark multiple times. 










Oh, and heres a picture of the gearbox, 02A, Ill be converting this to fully sequential with some carbon fibre and titanium thrown in now that Ive figured how to bond titanium bearing housings to composite. Thats a while of, but its something for you to think about sure, Ive the thinking bit done on it! 










Brian.


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## zippy_vw_gti (Nov 18, 2008)

Great updates as usual. This thread remains one of my favorites to read. Have you finished up with the slide throttle intake? I can't remember if that was on this thread or a different one. 

I have also been thinking, or more like dreaming, of converting a standard transmission to a fully sequential, but I still have more to learn about transmission design. 

You are inspiring and an amazing engineer/machinist. :thumbup::thumbup:


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## websaabn (May 23, 2003)

Awesome work:thumbup:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Ive very little to finish on slide throttles, I was going to wait until I had skimmer done to precision bore the 4 intake holes, but, I can do it on the lathe too so I might, I want to start finishing out each unit part so they dont run into eachother too much, and making it easier to follow also...maybe not


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## wantacad (Apr 4, 2003)

Loving the updates Brian. Can't wait to see the gearbox project startup.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Im going to just put it all in here to keep things handy, so you shouldn't miss it. The title of thread isn't too relative sometimes but who cares sure:thumbup: 

Finished out the pulley, 

Parted off and turned around, 










Removing a bit of excess material that has no business being there, lighten it up a bit, 










On, 










Im going to lock this to the shaft by grinding a slight flat spot in it and using a grub screw to secure, when I also know correct position I may apply some bond lock too, designed exactly for this, but Ill see, things are a good fit as is, and once the grub screw is tightened It wont stir. 

Boring head this time in the chuck and the pulley centre bolted to tool post, you can use the boring head as a mill/flycutter this way also. 










In progress, this flat makes it easier to start the bit for grub pilot, Notice the fine pores present in the cast, this is normal and Im happy with there size, below this Image is the lifter bore of a 16v vw head, notice the pores there too. 



















Drilling on the vee-block, 










Tapped, 










Filing out the 'U's for the bolts, 










Done, 










Like so, the bolts just keep the pulley together, the centre bore keeps it true, a small bit holds it really, 










The rotors have to be locked to shaft obviously so I need to cut keyways if you like into the rotors to be able to locate them on the shaft, I did not want a solid fixing as its the bearings that will take the axial force and not the rotors, so the rotors will float axially slightly on the shaft, but still stay engaged. I feel doing it this way is safer as they will take there own positions then inside the casing, and will have an equal oil film both ends. Ill be driving the rotors with 3mm case hardened ductile pegs installed in the shaft, protruding say, 2mm. 

Anyway, onto the cutting, 

Rotor clamped lightly in the toolpost, I was lucky, it clamped up directly, 










The cutter, this is a diamond and tungsten grit 3mm ball, these are pretty dear(10euro) but worth it when it comes to stuff like this. I could have broached the keyway in the rotors too but that would not be easy. Broaching is basically a file with teeth like a rough hacksaw blade, you fit a centre to rotor, the centre has a slot in it and you drive the broaching blade into this, as you drive the tapered broach in it cuts a bit more as each tooth is higher, in the end your left with a slot 1mm deep, you pull the broach up again and fit a spacer shim behind it and start again until you have a 3mm deep 'saw cut' made for key. Broaching these would not be possible as they are hardened, I would have to remove this via heat treatment, cut the key, and then case harden again, not ideal as the final grinding is done after all these treatments are carried out so it may change dimensionally after the re-treatment. 
So ya, thats why I did it this way.. 










Four light passes and its cut, 8mm deep, 










And both cut, 










Brian.


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## PeOpLeG60T (Jul 5, 2004)

your techniques and skills are endless , like i said before , i want my own machine shop !!!! 
with good deals on stuff i could equip myself for less than 10k$ but then i would need a space !! 


hey im very interested in the 02A transmission sequential transformation , i want details on how you will modify the existing parts. are you gonna mess up the internals or engineer the shifter arm in order to drive the forks in a sequencial manner? ?


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

10k.......you'll do it for 1k if your smart! 

As for the gearbox, Ill be totally re-engineering the entire box but using the shafts and gears, its going to take a long time and be pretty complex but thats what Im going to do.:thumbup: 

Decided to bore out the slide throttles as I needed a 3mm bit to bore pump shaft which I hadn't got and cant get until Tuesday. Its probably no harm as the throttles will then be ready for treatment then also. 

Im boring them out on the lathe as I haven't skimmer finished, I need to finish this off soon now too for when the time comes to tackle head, but Ill get it done... 

I had to make a mount in order to bolt throttle assembly to tool post, 










Tapped, 










Setting height of carrier, 










Tacked, 










Braced square, 










Assembling slide throttles once more with some water paper in there to clamp brass for boring once assembled, 










Boring hole to pin all three to make sure the brass does not stir, 










Bored them all out rough first with a holesaw, its the nearest size I had as the next one up was too big, I could have got a bigger one next week but thats more delays...the boring head will make quick work of the excess... 










You can now see the tickover drillings, 










Onto the boring, mounting the rear plate on the jig making sure everything is bang on, 










And the brass throttle plate, 










And a poor picture of the top plate bolted on, and the lot pinned again with the small drill bit, 










Boring, 










All heavy enough cuts at this stage, Ill finish up with a fine cut on the last pass, the drillings are now easier see, one above and one below plate, by-passing it in order to fine tune idle speed independently, 



















Ive bring them all to the correct size tomorrow, but thats where I left it for this eve, 

Brian.


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## turbinepowered (Mar 19, 2007)

Really loving all this. What's your final diameter for each throttle bore? 

Planning to anodize your head when you're done with it, too?


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## Boosted2003! (Mar 10, 2009)

Simply amazing work....


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Thanks guys, finish size is 41mm. 
As for anodising head, ....no....to bling for me, and it would look weird as its cast

moar....

A few more snaps of the finish bore and operation, 

One pair finish bored, 










Taken apart again to re-mount in order to bore the other pair of holes using the same jig, 










Looks ok, 










With the bits held roughly in place and the plate now at half throttle you can get the idea, 










And Idle(approx)










With the top plate removed and wide open, 










Part throttle, 










And at Idle, notice I still have a few mm between throttle plate tab and alloy to allow adjustment further closing air space to valves, 










The rear, needing to be de-burred but you get the idea, Ill be cleaning this up and cutting the o-ring grooves next.










And remounting/setting to bore the other pair, 



















Done, 










Brian.


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## frechem (Oct 19, 2002)

Brian.G said:


> Thanks guys, finish size is 41mm.


Looks great! I can finally start to see what the finished product is going to look like. Just curious how/why you chose to go with a 41mm bore as this isn't a typical size. Do you think it will be sufficient? I myself went from 45mm to 48mm to allow for enough airflow with all the head-work I have.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Its not a typical size you can buy you mean.. I ran a lot of figures and did a lot of calculations, as well as simulations(for this combo) and thats what I arrived at on all them. As always throttle cross-section a compromise, but the 41 will hold in the lower rpm range also, when I say lower I mean high 3ks, For what I was gaining up high going larger I was loosing more lower down, air speed is everything.
(your car is 16v also, these are going on an 8v dont forget, then Ill be tailor making a 16v set, same design, different bores!)


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## Jeebus (Jul 8, 2001)

> heres a picture of the gearbox, 02A, Ill be converting this to fully sequential


Although I follow all your threads... I'm very interested in this. Amazing work as always.


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## frechem (Oct 19, 2002)

Brian.G said:


> Its not a typical size you can buy you mean.. I ran a lot of figures and did a lot of calculations, as well as simulations(for this combo) and thats what I arrived at on all them. As always throttle cross-section a compromise, but the 41 will hold in the lower rpm range also, when I say lower I mean high 3ks, For what I was gaining up high going larger I was loosing more lower down, air speed is everything.
> (your car is 16v also, these are going on an 8v dont forget, then Ill be tailor making a 16v set, same design, different bores!)


Ah yes that makes sense. I was thinking it was a 16v for some reason. Thanks for the response. :thumbup: And as always, looking forward to the next update.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

:thumbup:

Pretty boring update....

Got the parts de-burred and the plate blended a little for when its in the tickover position, Im not sure but Id imagine the sharp edge on the plate would make tickover air choppy with the possibility of it whistling a little so I smoothed it over, 

The plate, 




























Rounding over with the sanding drum, 










Pre-hand finish, 










Hand finished, 










And a quick buff, 










Got this de-burred too, 










The brake booster vac slot again, this will be closed off with a 'lid' to form a rectangular 'tube', 










And a close-up of it in the idle position, but this time with the plate rounded over as above, 










And to give you a quick update of what I plan to do next, 

The slide throttle is more or less ready for chemical finishing at this stage.
I have to drill the oil pump shaft and insert pins to locate rotors and do one final check and assembly, it will then be ready for chemical finishing them also.
Once that's out of the way Ill be making the patterns for the intake runners from throttles to head and casting them, the throttles wont be chemically treated at this stage so I dont mind handling them for the mock up/patten making, that way I can give them a final check after all that's done and then treat them. 
Ill be mounting the block to the engine stand then and figure out where exactly Ill mount the pump, Ill then make the pattern for the bracket and cast that. 
After thats done Ill be making the sump pan, Im still not 100% sure if Ill cast it or not, but Im veering towards casting at the minute, but Ill see.

Its a bit all over the place, but as I said, I want to try and do all the treating/anodising in the one go as its not something you can easily set-up and tidy away in 5min. 
Theres plenty of variety that's for sure... Im looking forward to the intake runners as the mould setup is not something Ive done before, the 'tubes' curve slightly in both planes which makes mould set-up 'interesting'.
Ill get there though, sometime.

Brian.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Something I forgot that I carried out last week, Its the angle test for the Titanium valve retainers, I had figured it was 7 degrees that was needed in order to lock the collets but wasn't 100% sure, nor was I sure of how accurate my angle settings on the top slide were, so a basic test confirmed things, 

The retainer, standard item, removed from the digi head, 



















Topslide set to 7 degrees, 










Off-cut of bar turned with a 7 degree taper, the last cut being a light one, 










Now for the ''science'' bit, I got a permanent marker and coloured the tapered portion, 










With the retainer pushed on and spun by hand it will then show me of the taper is correct, or incorrect depending on how much of the marker it rubs away, 










Bingo, 7 degrees it is, and it also means the lathe is cutting 7 degrees when set to 7 degrees. (The end bit of marker I rubbed off with my fingers when spinning the retainer)










I also performed a test cut to see if the tooling I have would cut the titanium, it cuts it nicely thankfully, some people seem to have problems with this stuff but my tungsten carbide brazed tool cuts it just fine. The swarf is flammable mind you so only light cuts are taken to avoid heating it, small drop of coolant and that should stop that. Ti swarf burns similar to magnesium strip, very bright(I had to see!)



















I dont know how I forgot to include the above, but there it is anyway, I can now draw up the retainer in my 'spare time' given that I know the angle, and that I can cut the stuff with what I have.

Back to the usual tomorrow...

Brian.


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## LT1M21Stingray (Sep 14, 2006)

You are nuts, in a very good way!


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## turbinepowered (Mar 19, 2007)

Cutting your own valve retainers now? Daaaaaaaaaang....


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

@ Mtl-Marc, Im calling this as normal behaviour anymore, its the only way

@ Turbinepowered, Indeed I am, sure they're just small round things, cant be that hard. I may end up making the valves yet as I cant seem to get the ones I want(as always), Ill see yet.:thumbup:

Got the pump finished but for some reason Photobucket is acting complicated this evening so Ill get them up as soon as its ok again, I did manage to get these uploaded so here they are, 

I was looking at the intermediate shaft when doing a bit of a tidy up and noticed a fair bit of run out on it, its a handy job to sort out and since the lathe was in ''long'' mode I trued it up, but first, I had to make a centre for the tailstock as I didn't get one with the lathes. These are about 20euro on ebay but when I need something, I need something so I made one.

Enter, an old steering rack, the shaft inside was perfect, you may have noticed at this stage I don't throw out or waste anything, ever....its a disease I was born with....

The centre I made is a dead centre, that is, it needs oil when running to keep it happy, I probably should have made a live centre(tip runs on bearings) but this will do for a while, but like all my other stuff Ill probably still have it in twenty years...



















This locates into the end of the intermediate shaft to keep it steady as its pretty long, 










Onto the shaft, I didn't really set out to do this yet but I was just in the form for it and the lathe was set-up,(which I have to clean down as its pretty messy now)










With the dial gauge mounted and zero'd, 










And the chuck turned by hand, you can see its out around 36.5thou, or just under 1mm, now this 'hop' doesn't matter too much as its pretty small, and its turning half engine speed, but still, Id like it to be right, it also gives me a chance to take a bit of mass off it, 










This much out,










Turned, few passes and it was trued, 










Quick run of emery paper to blend shoulder radius at pulley end, 



















And the pump end, wasn't too out of true this end, hence the cast marks showing through, I cut the entire shaft at a 1 degree taper also, this should disperse any vibrations that may ever build up in the shaft as this way, its cross-section is not uniform along its length, Its also cast this way too so I must be on the right track with my thinkings...










And finished and out, 










Ive checked it for trueness at bearings with the dial gauge after in-case it shifted a bit turning some of the material away, its still ok and good to go.

Ill stick up the pump finishing pics as soon as photobucket allows, 

Brian.


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## PeOpLeG60T (Jul 5, 2004)

nice ! you make me want a lathe so bad !


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## megaDan (Jul 11, 2007)

Cool as hell dude. I need to find time to read through everything you are doing.

I went to school for metalcasting and currently work at an investment casting foundry so I love all this home-made stuff


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

In that case Dan turn a blind eye to everything you see that makes you cringe, Im doing my best with what I have:thumbup::thumbup:

Brian.


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## RRSB_1971 (Dec 8, 2009)

were the picture of the Titanium burning 

just kiddin.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

If it was worth seeing I would have posted it up, but it was boring...just fizzles out And all the warnings I read about it going up in a big blaze...

The pinning of the pump rotors pics, as you know I had to lock the pump rotors to the shafting, This was trickier than it sounds as they could not be locked solid as I wanted them to be able to float axially a bit for assembly, and so that the bearings were taking the trust, and not the rotors against the divisions.

It was a bit hard to photo as things were pretty small and hidden but I took a few pics, 

The pins, 3mm in diameter, 










Driven into the holes, 










They locate to rotors like so, 










Because one division lies between the two pins I chose to groove the divider so that it would slide down over the first pin, I could have slid it down first, and then driven in the pin but this would mean if the pump had to be split I would have to remove the pin, and I didnt particularly want the pins a loose fit, but instead driven in, the groove in the section is very shallow, and in a non bearing area of the bearing, that is opposite the side where the shaft will lie when the belt is tensioned. The tolerances of the hole are high, but it will tend to take to the side its being pulled too all the same. The groove will also act as an oil way too.



















And onto stacking them to mark groove position in shaft for locking circlip between both bearing races at pulley end, 



















The grey casing also had to be grooved to fit over pin, 



















With the first race in I measure from end of shaft to face of bearing, this is where my groove needs to be, it was 93.5mm, (poor pic)










In the lathe I marked where the groove had to be cut, 










I made up a thin cutter and cut the groove for the circlip, the picture looks like it has stepped sides but that's just my hand shaking when on macro mode and from the lack of coffee!










Ive since assembled the pump again and am now choosing a place to mount the pump and cast its bracket, which Ill upload later. 

Brian.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Did a bit of mocking up to see where Ill place pump, just basic mock-up nothing more, I have to do more this eve and get the alternator bracket on there to have a proper look, I've a few alternator brackets so Ill play around with them, if I'm not happy I can cast one anyway. I'm trying to get the pump In the area where the p/steering pump would go roughly, as there's room there, 

Zie block, 










Pump on, 










P/s assembly, you can see it a pig of a set-up hanging out there, 





































Two possible fixing locations on the edge of block, Ill use these Id say for the new bracket, theyre good points to work off,










The original p/s set-up hangs very low so fixing the oil pump within that space should be easy, 










And on my old 16vG60 you can see how far out I got away with hanging the alternator below the charger bracket, there was still 30mm between alternator and cross-member, so I'm not that stuck for room here, 










Getting closer now...










Somewhere here I think should do, 










Ill dig out the alternator bracket later and the crank nose pulleys to get an Idea of off-set, and any other possible bracket fixing points I can tag onto, it wont be too bad I feel, plenty of scope there. 

Then its just a matter of designing a bracket in timber, to use as a pattern, and casting off that. The design must be cast-able of course, that is, the pattern removable from moulds, but of course its do-able.

That power steering set-up weights a ton also....see crude scales below...










Why anyone would want p/s on a mk2 is beyond me, but each to their own I guess, 

More later once I 'locate' the alternator brackets, looking at my 16vG60 picture, I think Ill sit it where the alternator is in that picture. 

Brian.:thumbup:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Made a start on the oil pump bracket pattern, 

Ill try not bombard the place with pictures of timber, but the few shots that are in at the start are there to show the angles necessary so that it will withdraw ok from the sand, the draft angle is 5 degrees, it works for me, 

This is where I chose to put it in the end, 










Cant be too hard...










Turning some bits on the lathe, these will be the bracket mounts/stands, 



















Like so, 










Cutting the ribs, again, 5 degrees on each side, 



















And finished, 










Again, 5 degrees needs to be cut on the ends to match the 5 degree angle on the turned 'stands',










And they also need to have a radius scribed on the end at that 5 degrees to fit snug, this seems like a lot of trouble, but in the end they'll bond better, and take less filling, plus, Cabinetmaking is what Ive been doing for a long time, so this is quick and easy when your used of it, 










And glued up, Im using superglue, not very 'pro' but its fast, 










And now glued lightly to the pump to make it easy build up, 



















I allowed a bit for shrink on all three pads, you can see its a bit past the spot face on the pump, 



















7mm for the flat parts, 




























And the spine onto top of rib, 










My parting line will fall where the walnut meets the yellow pine parts, its not all on the same plane so Ill have to mould down to it, you'll see what I mean later, 










Still a good few ribs to go in to strengthen, but the backbone has been laid out, 










Ill also be putting a 'lid' on the rib up-to top bolt and it will meet the pad nearest the outlet side of pump, 










Once that's in I can add the last pad at the timing belt end and brace with ribs from the middle pad, its far from finished, but its pretty handy and I hope to get it wiped tomorrow eve so I can transform it into alloy. I want it as strong as I can where it needs to be, but at the same time as light as I can.

Brian.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Got the pattern almost done, Ill let the pics do the talking as they're pretty self explanatory,





































Glued,









































































Fitting the pulley backwards made it easy to stand on end and swivel-able, 

Same sliver underneath, I had to but in the small little wedge piece after to give me the draft angle I needed there, 










More ribs added also In different places, 





































Onto the last pad, 



















With the pulley the right way again you can see how it lines, I want it as close as I can, If I have to machine end pad to clear I will, but I wont have to too much,










Off and flipped over to fit the curved ribs, space is very tight here on one bottom rib so Ill be feathered in half way as below, 




























A half hr tomorrow will finish this out, then Ill sand the draft angles on all the pad(s) perimeter as its currently a 90 degree edge, once thats done Ill clay up any spots that need blending and also fillet all sharp meeting points with clay also(modelling clay). After that its onto moulding it up and pouring, I hope to have the finished part in my hand by the end of the evening.

Brian.:thumbup:


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## frechem (Oct 19, 2002)

Interesting little piece. Lost of complex geometry going on there. Looking forward to seeing the finished cast part. :thumbup:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Indeed, Interesting draft angle intersection points in two spots which ill show later before I mould it up:thumbup:


Got the draft angles sanded in on the top pads, gave the lot a mist with water to raise fibres and went over it with some 320 paper when dry, started claying in the fillets then with modelling clay(Pottery stuff). I found the clay works better if the pattern is damp as it doesn't suck the moisture out as fast and stays workable for longer. Small fillet knives, a 5mm ball on wire, and fingers were the way ahead here, finished up with a damp brush to smooth any corners. This clay is to be kiln fired, but it air dries pretty hard too so it should be ok. Ill run over it with sand paper once hard to get things perfect if it needs it, then a coat of sealer and mould her up.

The clay, 










And the pattern as it sits now, 





























Edit, few snaps of the nitric acid Ill be using for alloy surface treatment, 




























More to that when I get to that stage.

Brian.


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## PeOpLeG60T (Jul 5, 2004)

this is some sick work of art Brian !!


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Its looking a bit mad Oliver in its 'finished' state but what the hell!:laugh:

As luck would have it I ran out of gas half way through moulding this up, I couldn't believe the smelter shut off just when I had the bottom moulding flask full, but Ill have to get over it I guess and just get more gas tomorrow, why they dont put a gauge on the cylinders I really dont know, but anyway, I lost interest filling the top flask with respect to packing the sand but continued anyway just to test it out. Itll also save me taking pictures tomorrow of the process and it also gave me a chance to take more photos of the moulds in there open and finished position as I dont really like leaving them open too long, especially this sort of mould, for fear they may collapse, so enjoy the pictures.
I will take one or two tomorrow of the gate and risers on the live run all the same.
The good news is the pattern is fine and all draft angles are ok also thankfully, time spent checking them paid off.

The finished pattern, filled again in places with white filler, and then sealed with sanding sealer, and sanded again, looks funky at this stage!



















You wouldn't think it but its smooth...










And in the flask(bottom flask,(drag)










And dusted with parting dust(plain white flour, it works fine)










Filling, 










Filled and dragged off, 










And turned over, the right way up, you can see some of pattern is buried and I now have to dig down to the parting line all around, steady hands and a small trowel, 










Half way through clearing down to parting line, for anyone that's trying this out, just lift up the whole lot and turn upside down to shake off any loose sand, or blow small bits out of the way, don't try and clear them by hand or you could damage the finish surface with your nails...if you haven't worn them away by now...










And done all round and covered in parting dust, 










It was just about now the smelter went off...........but I decided to keep going given that I was this far and also that It only takes around 15min to mould up in total....

The next photo is missing due to the smelter chaos but I just fitted the top flask and packed it full, then lifted it off as below...










You can see it crumbled at some edges because I didn't pack it too much since I knew it was going to be a non runner at this stage because of the lack of metal to pour into it...










But the bottom flask has all its details intact as this was filled before the gas crisis...

With the top flask off as above the pattern is now revealed again and has to be taken out, this is the test of most of the angles as nearly all the detail is on the underside of pattern, I bored a hole in pattern before I started for threading a screw in there to rock it out and up, tapping it with the trowel helps loosen this up also, 










And out!










You can see the detail the sand is able to hole where the two top and bottom parting angles intersect(poor Q picture..)










More pics from different angles, its pretty amazing to see first hand, considering it was a pile of sand ten minutes before this...





































So that was that...Shame the gas ran out, but I don't see it as major really, it was a good test run for the pattern if nothing else.
I dont intend having the same problem tomorrow though, or ever again, 

Brian.


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## PeOpLeG60T (Jul 5, 2004)

sweet , i was actually worried about the other plane in the 3D shape not being flat , was wondering how you'd make the sand mold for it but you made it easier than i thought ! very interesting !! ilike the two halves seperated in an odd way ( for the non linear 3D with the powder ) 

be sure that ill build my own smelter and stuff and get my hand on sand when ill have the space !!

i have a question who may once been asked maybe but this thread is too large , why do you need 2 oil pumps for your sump system? kind of failsafe strategy ? im not familiar with dry sumps and im sure you have a relatively short and quick explanation for me heh


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Its a bit large alright, out of hand we'll call it, but anyway, who cares, its all here! As for questions, ask away! 
Im using the pump in engine(factory one) for the pressure, as normal. But this will be fed from a tank mounted in the bay, sump will have a fitting to take this pipe from tank and it will go into where the pickup goes. Now, thats fine, but then all the oil drops into sump, with the pickup gone(remote feed) it woul fill up, this is where my scavenge pump comes in, it has two pump sections, these connect to the sump pan, one fitting either end, to each pump. These pump the oil back up to storage tank.

Im doing this because here there is a corner, its not too tight but when taken a x speed the oil light will sometimes flash as the oil goes to one side of sump and up the sump side away from pickup, its annoying, and bad, this system will cure that problem forever:thumbup:


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## PeOpLeG60T (Jul 5, 2004)

oh i see , i thought the pumpin would be completely out of the pan , so now ya got 3 pumps going


since you use 3 of the same pumps , two pumps do suck more than one could feed , so is the rpm of the outside unit slower at all or it just gonna suck up tons of air when the pan gets empty ? bubbling up the oil tank , foaming maybe ? or am i worrying too much ?


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Ill answer that in a while Ollie its pretty simple, just want to lob this in here first, 

Finally got around to moulding it up at last, Ill show a few pics of what you didn't see in the last ones, mainly of the sprue and riser.
I chose to turn some dowels to form them to save me cutting them out once the mould was packed to avoid the risk of surface damage.
The bits are simple and taper down to 10mm at the top(gate) this leaves a small mark on the part so its easy machined off, I also mounted them where Ill be drilling out for the bolts, so you wont actually see any gates on the finished part, gates are ugly, and you'll find them on many parts incl plastic ones if you look hard. The best designed parts I feel have the gates positioned on areas that will be machined or hidden, but its not always the case.
Turning the end down to 10mm quickly on the last 10mm also ensures that they remain 'fat' 10mm above the part so they don't solidify before the part does, this is bad as there purpose is to feed the heavy areas as they cool.

Onto the set-up, I also made a video of the pour so you'll get an idea of how the alloy behaves, 

You've seen this before...










Here are the formers for the sprue(fill hole) and riser, I placed them above the heavy areas on part, Notice the shape on end, it looks simple, but its important, 










And filling and packing, Ill let the pics roll, 










And the sand scoped out to form two joined basins above part, 










Twisted and pulled up, you can just see the pattern in the sand below, 










Turned over and racking down to parting line again, 










And dusted, 










And top flask on and filling into it, sieved sand for fear any lumps would sit near pattern, I want this perfect, 



















Packed all that and lifted it off, and lifted out pattern, the gates into part can now be seen easy, 










I have no picture of the top flask but you saw it yesterday, I wanted mould closed as soon as I could, heres yesterdays pic to refresh, 










With the lot together again I turned it over so that the sprue and riser was looking up at me in order to fill. The mould will automatically choke for me now too turned this way, that is that the metal will have to climb uphill to fill the thin brace up to top most bolt fixture. It would be bad to have this pointing down as the metal would run down it, and would have to fill back up it again as the mould filled. This would lead to a cold base surface over-laid by a hotter shot as it fillls up again, not good. Doing it this way, or keeping it choked means as it fills, its filled. That sounds complex but it just means if you cant have it level, have it running up-hill at all times. The mould flasks can be set on a batten one side to get around this also.



Here is the video of the pour, I didn't realise the radio was so loud, its my first ever video and it appears the mic on the camera is better than I though!

Take note of all the safety gear and lack of timber about the place, tut tut...

You'll notice that it fills with minimum turbulence, and that the cold front coming up the riser from the thin arm meets the hot metal mid way between both on the bridge. Its hard to see the cold front in the video but its greyer than the rest of the metal and I had hoped they would meet there, 
I also built up a wall of sand on the top mould incase it would spill as I poured from the right side. Theres a lot of over-melt on top, but the extra head height of the molten melt is always good, 





And knocking it out after 5 min or so, 










And cleaned up, I forgot to mention I vented it in two places also, the thin spikes are the vents, 


















































































Thats that anyway, I forgot to say before I closed the moulds I stamped my Initials on there too. Ill de-gate these tomorrow, bore it up and get it mounted and machined to mount pump, 

Brian.


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## Brycejoseph (Jul 9, 2008)

I like the "BG" cast in there you should do that with more of your stuff  So when your tales of pure amazing custom casting spreads the globe you will get some credit 

:thumbup: been checking this everyday for updates!


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## Bazmcc (Jan 11, 2005)

Using carbon fibre as a background..... flash bugger 

The last cast is very clean looking. Excellent bit of work.


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## sdezego (Apr 23, 2004)

Bazmcc said:


> The last cast is very clean looking. Excellent bit of work.


With out a doubt!


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Baz, it was the quickest thing I had to hand to cover the mess on my desk

Ollie, the pump in engine spins at half engine rpm, the scavenge pumps outside spin at about half that again. The oil will foam a bit, but I think Ive a good design pegged down for the oil tank, and where the aerated oil enters it, swirl plates/mesh to de-aerate etc.. Smaller lines from scavenge pumps to tank will also help a lot, I think may pick too big a return lines.:thumbup:

More for ya Bryce:thumbup:

Got the bracket machined up pretty fast, 

You've seen the method before, 





































Sits correctly, 



















Holes marked and drilled to 6mm, 










And counter-bored, and taken to 8mm, 










Bolt tightened through hole, 










And mounted in lathe for surfacing, checked for run-out with the dial gauge on all surfaces, both stationary and rotating chuck by hand, 6 thou was the max I saw so I machined at that, 




























First cut at 2 thou, 










And another 2 thou, 










And 1.5 thou more, nearly there










And approx 1 thou as a finish cut, 










Out of chuck and done, Im going to leave face down and machine bolt spot faces with a very light cut to make sure they are now totally flat to face surface, I intend taking no more than say .25mm, if I even need to.










Ill bore it up to mount pump next, 

Brian.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Bit of a slow down the last day or two, I had mocked up the pulleys to run everything, but a friend wanted a few pulleys and he brought one I had wanted to use, now he cant find it so I have to make another. Due to the diameter of the pulleys I have no billet that size to spin one from, so I've set about designing and building a centrifugal casting machine in order to pour round blanks.
This machine differs from normal casting in that the round mould rotates while pouring.
The effect of this is that the molten metal gets thrown towards the outer walls of the mould cavity with high force due to increased G-force inside the mould.
The result is a far tighter grain structure inside the part with little or no pores/gas pockets and no dross inside the part either because the denser material tends to got to the outsides> Alloy. Any impurities in the metal finish up in the centre bore area of pulley where they can be machined away later.
It may seem simpler to just buy some billet but Id have to wait for that and of course buy more if I wanted more. 
Doing it this way means Ill then be 'self sufficient' in respect to forming round blanks of high purity and strength compared to a normal round blank gravity poured the way Ive been making the other stuff.
I intend pouring one blank centrifugally and one gravity(normal), breaking both blanks, and comparing the grain structure. The difference and toughness will be very noticeable Im hoping. 
Approx mould rpm speed is 1400rpm.

More later, I intend having it finished this eve, its pretty simple and will give me great insight to the benefits of making parts this way. Parts with very thin fins or walls can also be made this way where the molten metal would not normally flow into these thin areas. Its surprising how a few G helps things along!

Brian.:thumbup:


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## MikkiJayne (Jan 1, 2007)

opcorn:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Fast update on the centrifuge setup, nearly done with it, 

The main mould carrier/drum, the base is a 4mm thick saw blade plate, this is very strong, 










The outside of drum is an old motor case, very strong also, both are welded together,










The lid, another saw plate, slightly thinner than the base plate, 










Turned on lathe to fit as lid, there a 45 degree bevel on the edge to locat it to the 45 degree bevel on main drum, 





























The studs holding down lid, 










I have to weld bigger washer tabs to lid yet to keep the sides of drum in check when going 1400rpm, they probably would be ok, but I'm not taking any chances, 










The safety/main frame, 










Welding...










Legs on, 










This is actually finished now, Ill update with finished product later, it will make sense then, 

Brian.


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## frechem (Oct 19, 2002)

Four legs? Instead of your famous "A three legged stool never rocks."


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

A stool doesn't contain something spinning at 1200rpm:laugh:
Or maybe some nights it does actually:laugh:
:thumbup:
Completed pics up soon.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

The rest of the pics, ..

Drop spacers welded on, 










Motor mounts cut and bolted on, 










Welding, 










Welded, 










Fill funnel arrangement, it just enters spinning mould box say 20mm, the metal then drops down sprue in mould and fills void inside, centrifugal force pushing the metal outwards with high force, a correct amount of metal is poured in and once pattern void is filled you end up with a blank with a hole in the centre due to there not being too much metal poured in to come up and fill the sprue also.










Bolted to lid, 










Tapered washer to secure drum boss to shaft, pulley is also tapered underneath to fit shaft, 










Poor pic of underside taper..



















Together incl lid mounting bolts, I fitted O rings to stud shanks to stop lid from possibly vibrating, I painted it too in the hope that I dont cut it up someday to make something else, I find if I paint a machine I wont attack it with the grinder again, worked so far on my panel saw, LOL, 



















I have to make a mini crucible as it will be easier to measure out correct amounts, then I can start pouring pulley blanks.
The uniformity and density of this type casting is nearly that of wrought alloy, with the advantage that the properties are nearly equal in all directions.
I intend using this machine a lot on parts Ill need for the finish, very fine details can be cast using the centrifugal method, and I intend finding the limits too.
Ill shoot up a vid of it action when I have crucible done, it runs as quiet as a mouse, 

Brian, :thumbup:


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## MikkiJayne (Jan 1, 2007)

I look forward to your updates on this every day :thumbup: (no pressure lol!)

How are you going to make the moulds in this since it doesn't split in half like your other one?


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

MikkiJayne said:


> I look forward to your updates on this every day :thumbup: (no pressure lol!)
> 
> How are you going to make the moulds in this since it doesn't split in half like your other one?


Youll see how:thumbup: Lets hope it works as I think it should






:thumbup:


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## Lord_Verminaard (Apr 6, 2004)

This is mind-blowing stuff!

Brendan


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## wantacad (Apr 4, 2003)

The coin standing on edge is a nice touch..:laugh::thumbup:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Brendan, once you've read over it its all normal stuff thats gone out of hand, but Im figuring a lot out as I go as you'll see below, testing is the only way:thumbup:

Wantacad,  I couldn't resist,


Well I found the limits of my oil bond sand and the limit is 600rpm at the drum diameter. Above that the sand can hold its shape and gets thrown outwards, ruining the mould. At 600rpm the grain wasn't dense enough though.
I did a run at 1400rpm to see if I could get a test piece out of there in middling shape, and although it turned out ugly, I got the dense grain and toughness I needed.

First off the lathe switch gave problems making the pattern but a rewire had that sorted,










The new smaller crucible, again, 316 stainless, 










The test blank pattern, 



















I poured two of these test blanks the normal way, one to break and look at grain, and the other to re-melt and centrifuge, 



















The test items, 










Sprues cut off, and marked for gravity cast(normal) tracked blanks and broke in half, took one smack with a large sledge in a large vice. 
Bored the other to get the correct amount of alloy for re-melt for centrifugal casting, I could calculate cc exactly, but I was being lazy, It was a handy way of filling the correct amount, 










The grain structure is pretty rough in its raw cast state, 



















Below is the grain structure of the test piece I spun cast at 600rpm, its a little better, but not much, I have no pictures of the 600rpm test spin, 










And here is the mould up for the second 1400rpm test spin, this is where the sand gave up which I was half expecting, its a lot to ask of oil bond sand, 

12mm bed of packed sand in the base of drum, 










The round mould flask, pattern location hole in centre of base plate, 










And test pattern out, mould is pretty rough, but fine for this test, 










Left onto main drum, 










And pushed from flask down into drum and onto base sand bed, grinder disc was the perfect 'ejector pin' size!










Flask off, lid on, 



















Safety lid tighten down, 










The test piece re-melted, automatically the correct volume, 










Pretty tiny in there!



















The minute I had it poured I knew the sand had been thrown out, some alloy splashed out the centre hole, the turned down lip on lid prevented it from exiting, 1400rpm was far too much for it to hold together, I was 'interested to see what shape it had taken all the same...










And here it it, pretty ugly, I cut it as before with the gravity cast test blank, and although ugly, and pretty useless it told me a lot, and that 1400rpm was where I need to be at, 










And the cross-section, interestingly it took 3 cracks to break this with the sledge, given that the actual cross-section of material there is say 4 times less than the other blank tells me its extremely tough, the grain structure is very noticeable also, and approx 6 times finer than the gravity pour on the right, 










Im now going to get to work on a permanent or semi permanent mould that will hold its shape at this rpm. I may try co2 cure sand(chemical bind) or something else, I could machine them from graphite, or perhaps thick slate once I find out its properties at high temps.

Either way the test checked out, Im happy to now make a proper blanking die from which I can make my pulleys with now that I know speed is where I want to be at, and get back to building my engine before I get side tracked....again...


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## PeOpLeG60T (Jul 5, 2004)

opcorn:


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## MikkiJayne (Jan 1, 2007)

My exact words as I was looking at the pics of the mould: "ooo you clever bugger!" 

Thats a nice trick with the two halves :thumbup: 

So 1400rpm is right for the metal but not for the sand? I would have expected the sand to stay together just as well as at lower speeds since its a round mould? Or does it collapse under its own weight from the centrifugal force?


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## PeOpLeG60T (Jul 5, 2004)

i am actually very impressed by the no vibrations of the whole rig. are the welds on the drum been evened with the lathe at the end to balance it out or you are a superhuman precision welder ? nice work again Brian ! im sure your next sand mould wont crumble hehe


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Mikki, It collapses under it own weight, the oil in it actually travels right to the outer edge ALL THE OIL! I did some(A lot) of calculations lastnite on a bit of paper and I remember 63 G coming up, I dont know if that was at the edge of drum, or edge of mould inside, I forget, it was late, but its a lotta G!

Ollie, no welds were not evened, I laid down fairly equal runs, I did A LOT of welding yrs ago, guess I still remember it...:thumbup:

At the minute Im waiting on so sodium silicate to arrive, mixing this with beach sand means the sand can be hardened rock solid with some co2 gas. Ill try that then. Im not that happy with that setup as it then means all the mould is junk once done, but its cheap I guess, but takes more time. 
Ideally Id love to spin moulds from graphite, that would mean I could use it 100s of times, but Id then be stuck with once size....Its really hard get graphite plate here, and if I do get it it would cost around 90euro for just two bits(top and bottom of mould)

While Im waiting for the sodium silicate, Im working on the flanges again, I have to make 30, I have 4 patterns on a tree so that I can get through them quick:thumbup:
A bit unrelated to my build, but its casting all the same, and for the 8v Gti:thumbup:
Ill throw up a few pics as I go, hope to get them done rapid so I can get back to the normal ' my engine stuff ' 

Brian:thumbup:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

And here they are,
A rough fill runner and gate test set-up in order to find out ideal gate locations. Parts filled out perfect and pattern for gate and runner system can now be made and included in the mould box.:thumbup:

Should make setting up and general production of them easier and faster, 




























:thumbup:


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## PeOpLeG60T (Jul 5, 2004)

have you modified your wood plug for those flange moulds ? didnt they had a little step at the end to keep the hose from slipping ?


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## syracusegli (Jan 22, 2005)

^ he purposely made them bigger so when he puts them on the lathe and turns them down they will be the exact size of the OEM piece



:thumbup:


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## PeOpLeG60T (Jul 5, 2004)

oh good , it was actually what i was thinking of , i can see em already , all shiny after a pass on the lathe


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

syracusegli, bang on the money:thumbup:

I think people are happier if they fit onto a machined neck, not saying a cast neck would not seal, but I know how guys think:thumbup:

PeOpLeG60T, I can see them now too, I have a test one done I want to play around with these and mark up the lathe handles/slides so I can machine them rapid:thumbup: I modified the flange shape itself as I found out vw had that angle bit added on at the lower back to get room for the part numbers. There is draft everywhere else and a long part number would have locked it into the mould tool. If you speed long enough looking at something you'll figure out why they did stuff:thumbup:


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## frechem (Oct 19, 2002)

Brian.G said:


> If you speed long enough looking at something you'll figure out why they did stuff:thumbup:


Good old reverse engineering. :thumbup:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Indeed:thumbup:
Busy converting scrap to ingots yesterday eve, 
80 Lm25 5oz Ingots. Re-melted from scrap alloy to reduce dross quantity, makes remelt easier as there's very little dross the second time around, plus, quantity in crucible is measurable. One ingot per flange Incl runner system.










Brian,:thumbup:


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## turbinepowered (Mar 19, 2007)

Brian, I thought your water neck mold was shaped spout-to-spout for a pair? Or did you at some point cut it and turn it around so we get what we see here?

Neat work as always; I really wish I had the time to give this a try for myself. 

You wouldn't happen to know what alloy is used in soda/beer cans, would you? I could have a never ending supply of free aluminum from the college near work...


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Ya, I did have it done that way, Still have that one, just made four more on a 'tree' so I can cast more at a time in the one pour:thumbup:

Can alloy is normally a 5xxx spec alloy, not that ideal for casting as it lacks some properties you need for casting, theres also alot of dross involved in melting them as they are coated on the inside to prevent attack from liquid, and painted on the outside, theres damn all metal in them by the time they are melted. Why not try an old cylinder head, or casings etc, plenty of nice metal there:thumbup:


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## turbinepowered (Mar 19, 2007)

Ah well, it was a thought. Thanks for the info!:thumbup:


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## Bazmcc (Jan 11, 2005)

Brian I have an R32 block and another 1.6l complete MK1 engine here if you need anything for cutting up and melting down. I'm probably just going to scrap them anyway.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Baz, hold onto the r32 Block for me, I want to have a good look inside of those, no panic with it:thumbup:

So while Im waiting for the sodium silicate to land I set about perfecting batch casting the flanges, a bit off topic but it shows the effects of runner size and gating so Ill share as I know there's a few keen to see the results, a lot of people call casting a black art which I feel it isnt if you think about things and whats happening inside as the metal is poured.

For batch casting these I set about on making a tree of four patterns instead of the two which I had set out in the casting thread, actually, this thread which seems to have turned into my build thread...anyway....:thumbup:
For batch casting I wanted the runner and gate system pretty well figured out and I also wanted to do away with the riser, as this is waste once they are poured, and requires energy to melt, and re-melt. 
Therefore, I wanted the sprue, runner, and gates as small as I could get away with to save on hot metal, which directly relates to how many flanges I can pour per melt.

The patterns are basic so I made up them pretty quick, then played around with runner cross-section, the results and findings are below, 

Here is the first test to see if the actual patterns are ok, I modified my design a bit on the hose area as Im going to spin these on the lathe to form a totally smooth surface for pipe. Ive worked out how to do it in 2 operations, that is, face off the flange, cut the groove for O ring, and then turn the hose portion and bore and spotface the two fixing holes.










Now, the runner and gate test, remember my aim, as small as possible, I cut them rough In the sand to get my Ideal size, the first test I cut each runner a different size to find the smallest one I could get away with, and keep the flanges filled as they cooled, 

I quickly found what was too small to get away with as you can see in the runner junction below, the one facing you was too small and the flange on that line shrunk back as it solidified. The reason this happened was because the runner solidified before the part, cutting off its feed from the main runner and riser..










The shrink, 










I set up another this time with a thicker runner to parts, a quick and dirty test mould up, and no problems this time, 










I now had my approx runner target size, so I set out fixing the lot to the parting plate, the gates and runners included also, 

Like so, 

The portion on the right where I will leave my sprue dowel at time of mould packing, minimum sharp turns with the runner too, less turbulence.










And inverted, 










Another test fill to see if runner system releases from sand ok, its grand, no metal poured this time, just a fill test, 



















Out of interest, the approx flange weight is 5oz not machined, the weight of the runner and gating system when cut off is also 5oz, and, my ingots are 5oz each, making metal calculations in the crucible very easy.

And that was that, job done, all set for multiple pours, got it sorted in just two test pours, 



















Brian,:thumbup:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Few videos of batch casting the flanges, not too exciting but here they are all the same. Its the first time Ive realised I sound like a proper bogger too...anyway...enjoy, 

Core insertion to main mould, 

Cutting the sprue, 

Closing them off, 

Dross removal from molten metal, 

Knocking them out(very short at end..)

Brian,:thumbup:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

The first few pictures of the machining process, this would be simple if I only needed to do a few flanges, but Im doing more than a few so proper jigs were needed to save on machine time. 
I can also get very accurate results this way, and also repeatability, an at any time should I need to do more.
I spent a good while thinking on the quickest way to do them to have the least amount of setup and also to insure no inaccuracy's.
Being a cast part, and pretty hard to chuck, I came up what you will see in the next post or two.

First, the list of things that need to be machined per flange, 

The face that mounts onto head must be flat.
The groove for the o ring must be cut.
The outer hose portion of flange must be trued round and also have a hump at the end to stop hose slipping off.
The two holes must be bored.

Thats a lot of stuff if you think about it, and on a manual lathe, and if you have to do 50, no mean feat, so thats where the jigs/tooling come into play.

First off, truing the flange face. Due to there being no easy way to chuck flange to turn the hose portion smooth I came up with an idea to bore very lightly the bore/portion directly inside the hose area. This will allow me to use an expanding collet/mandrel to clamp the piece when turning the outer hose portion. Im taking just .5mm off the wall inside.
There is no other way to accurately clamp the flange quickly. Sure, a 4 jaw independent chuck would work on the main flange bolt area, but to do 50, thats out of the question, it takes time to setup a 4 jaw on a casting, and also, I want the hose portion concentric with the o ring groove, just to have it bang on.

The flange chucked, as cast, 










Two passes with the cross-slide, one heavy, one light finish cut, finish cut position taken of the dial on topslide hand wheel, easy, done, very fast.










Next, with the lathe still running, I bore the centre out with a very fine fast cut, this is done with a long boring bar in the boring head fitted to the tailstock, its a very light shave to true the internal bore for the next stage.
Once the long boring bar is finished its cut, the shorter bar starts cutting the groove for o ring, this is all in the one pass now, I fitted an adjustable bearing to the far side of head also. This I set at my correct cutter depth for o ring. It happens to be 2.1mm. Once the cut depth is reached, the bearing will just show signs of spinning. This also means that I datum off the piece every time and not a point on the machine. Again, its a cast part, so tiny variations exist axially, working off the face ensures o ring cut is the same depth every time on every part/batch. 























































Cut, and bearing just starting to spin up, 



















You can see the little notch cast in also at 10 o clock, this will face the bulkhead and is an easy identification for fitting. The two holes in the flange to hold it on are not in the middle/axis intersect the centre point, but instead, they are a bit to one side in respect to centre bore. This notch will insure correct fitting.










!









I machined 50 this way to this point in around an hour so Im pretty happy with speed and set-up ease.

More tomorrow, 

Brian,:thumbup:


----------



## Brycejoseph (Jul 9, 2008)

:thumbup: Very cleaver on the tail stock jig.opcorn:


----------



## turbinepowered (Mar 19, 2007)

Fifty in an hour, I'm impressed! :beer:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Quick video:thumbup:


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## PeOpLeG60T (Jul 5, 2004)

opcorn:

i really like what this tool holder can do ! !!!


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

And onto the outer section where the hose hows onto, as I mentioned, the flange slides onto an expanding mandrel for ease of chuck up, its also the most accurate way to chuck up this irregular part, using just a 3 jaw chuck. 

Chucked up on the mandrel, 



















And the very simple tool I designed up to turn the hose portion, it also turns the section at the end to hold on hose in the one operation, 

The jig, 



















The cutting edge, 










And how it works when turning, this one is turned as I hadn't a right place to mount a camera steady to video it, but its pretty simple as to how it works, 

I start here, 










Cut across to here using the top slide, and stopping at 0 on the handwheel, 










Then, the top part of jig is rotated to form the part on the end, the pivot bearing of jig is slightly infront of the cutter tip, therefore forming the cut radius, 





































Done, and off the mandrel, 










It took just 20min to do thirty using this jig, 










Just have to bore the holes and thats them done, another jig will be used for that to make the whole machining process very fast in total, 

Brian.


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## J.Owen (May 31, 2001)

I envy your ingenuity. Everything looks great.


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## Jeebus (Jul 8, 2001)

Awesome as always... 

Question though, regarding your last post... why wouldn't you just make it that way with the mould and cast it that way since it's just for a hose? I understand machining the base but that parts seems like an unecessary step.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

People would think a non machined surface may not seal. It would seal, but the people are always 'right'//:thumbup:


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## sdezego (Apr 23, 2004)

Looks great. Now make some transverse 20v ones and some 12v Vr ones and you will be able to fund a lot more of your projects 

...really wish I had the time to do some casting. I have been wanting to do it for a very long time.

Keep up the good work!


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

I intend making all the common ones, I have most of the pattern plates made:thumbup:

I might look into a cast crack pipe too, maybe....A lot of people find billet too bling in oem+ builds:thumbup:


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## dubCanuck1 (Apr 1, 2005)

x2 on this one. I've got 4 VRs I'm working on currently and my pile of crappy thermostat housings is almost as populated as your fresh-cut water necks. 



sdezego said:


> Looks great. Now make some transverse 20v ones and some 12v Vr ones and you will be able to fund a lot more of your projects
> 
> ...really wish I had the time to do some casting. I have been wanting to do it for a very long time.
> 
> Keep up the good work!


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## syracusegli (Jan 22, 2005)

can you weigh one of those?
no reason... just wondering

nice work!


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Yup, no probs, at a rough guess 3.5ozs but Ill double check! (Ill weigh after I bore holes and spotfaces)


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## MikkiJayne (Jan 1, 2007)

Brian - a question for you if I may?

Would your casting technique work for copying something fairly thin like a headlamp reflector? I have a Corrado which has useless plastic reflectors, and the silvering is way past its best at 20 years old. Its prohibitively expensive to have the plastic re-plated, and new lights are NLA, but it occurs after reading this thread that an aluminium reflector could be cast, polished then chromed relatively easily by copying the original plastic one? 

An aluminium reflector would also let me run high power bulbs, which normally would burn off whatever silvering was left.

What do you think?


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## frechem (Oct 19, 2002)

Why leave that little extra "step" there instead of running all the way down the o.d. to where the outer radius starts? It looks a little strange leaving that unfinished bit there.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Mikki, You can only really cast 3mm thick, die cast(injection) would be more suitable for thinner sections:thumbup:
I would have thought stainless folded or stamped would work better? I dont know? Havnt seen one in a while to remember exactly what they are like.

@ Frechem, I wanted to stay out from the bigger section, if for any reason the cast there was a little off, an oval cut line where it starts to get bigger would occur, this would be noticeable when viewed from the end.
The clamp length is also the same on the 16v flange, so its enough also at that. Plus, Im cutting the 16v flanges with the same jig, on the same settings. 
If you look at the 16v flange, it stops also, granted, the diameter does not enlarge, but my point being, that it has to stop somewhere so I chose to have the cut lengths the same on both:thumbup:

Ill throw up a pic later of what happens if you machine upto the wider bit on the 8v flange, any irregularities on the cast wider bit lead to an uneven finish machine all round, and that looks untidy.

Keep in mind that Im doing a good few, so if the one jig and settings can be made do both flanges then all the better so I dont have to remember a ton of slide measurements.

I hope to get back to this in a day or two(my own engine) Ive been pretty busy with other stuff in the eves the past week..


----------



## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Time to kick this back into gear now that my eves are free again, got the sodium silicate so Im good to go on that now. 
Ive been thinking that I may setup the megasquirt on the current digi engine to get a feel for it, and also to make the loom etc. I dont mind practising on the cars current 8v engine as the lot is scrap anyway, so If I have a period of lean out on the mapping stage it wont worry me. Ive never mapped megasquirt before and I dont really want to practice on my new engine. A tps and pickup is all Ill need to fit to the digi to have a play around, and air temp sender too. 

Ironically after a fairly long trip yesterday eve the coolant flange on the side of the head started leaking badly to cap things off. The engine is pretty dirty and leaky in general as Ive done nothing with it since I bought it, but I want to keep as much water inside it all the same as its my daily! So I have too keep it going as long as I can until the big swap. I should probably throw a rocker gasket on there too, but I probably wont...

The bracket holding pipe wasn't under the nutted stud, but a bolt in its place, and the earths had been relocated also..anyway...I threw on one of my own flanges for the time being(shame not to  ) to keep things semi reliable.

Tidy isnt it... . complete with water leak, 










Drained, 










Old flange, same as all the others go, 










New flange, head surface was ok so I felt just an o ring would take care of things, 










On, and everything in the right place, the lower bolt should be a stud with a nut holding bracket, but I hadn't one, Itll be grand for the time its there, 










Filled, no leakies!!










I cant wait to rip out all that mess incl wiring and perhaps paint bay too before I fit the new stuff, I found a great site that do connectors for my new complete loom, here. I cant wait to tackle the wiring as Im pretty fond of it, and making it neat.

Back to the engine 'building' lark in a day or so, 

Brian.


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## Svedka (Jul 4, 2008)

This is cool stuff opcorn::beer:opcorn::beer::beer::beer:


can i ask why you made the side 8v water jacket in aluminum? I thought these were easily source able from old rabbits.

regardless this is cool:thumbup:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Because the plastic ones crack and leak.......as for getting old ones, they are thin on the ground here, very thin! Plus, you cant get them new:laugh::thumbup:


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## MikkiJayne (Jan 1, 2007)

Brian.G said:


> Mikki, You can only really cast 3mm thick, die cast(injection) would be more suitable for thinner sections:thumbup:
> I would have thought stainless folded or stamped would work better? I dont know? Havnt seen one in a while to remember exactly what they are like.


3mm would work - it'd make a nice heatsink  Die cast or stamped would be best, but also financially impractical. 

I think it would be simple enough to build up the stock plastic reflectors to 3mm thick with filler or fiberglass, so that it could be used as a form for the mould. I'll take one to bits at the weekend and have a good look at it :thumbup:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Id like to see some pics if your taking some:thumbup: The brackets may need to be remade as Im sure the alloy would be heavier, which could lead to them breaking if you came down on a bump hard due to higher loads exerted on them with the higher mass/inertia of the new reflectors.


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## wantacad (Apr 4, 2003)

Brian.G said:


> I intend making all the common ones, I have most of the pattern plates made:thumbup:
> 
> I might look into a cast crack pipe too, maybe....A lot of people find billet too bling in oem+ builds:thumbup:


Do you have the 8v crossflow style? ABA here in the US.

http://www.autohausaz.com/search/imageexpand.aspx?imageurl=../secure/PartImages/037121144H.jpg

This is a pretty popular motor to swap into the older generations here but one prob comes up is that people don't need the extra sensor ports. So having one without those would be great. or even just having a boss in place so one could add a screw in type sensor if they wanted would be nice too.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Yup we have them here, but they are fairly thin on the ground in terms of conversions, actually, Ive only seen one in person, theres prob a max of 5 here running crossflow, at a guess

Got a new 6'' burr for doing cylinder head, its pretty aggressive for roughing out, 










And installed megasquirt software to pc, Im pretty happy with how it all looks and feels so far, its great having full control on everything, I cant wait to start into the electrics side of things also, 










Hope to get a lot done tomorrow in the line of making more swarf. Located alloy for my new flywheel also  

Brian,


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## sdezego (Apr 23, 2004)

Check out TunerStudio http://www.efianalytics.com/TunerStudio/. It is what is recommended now and waay better than megatune.

Also, it is written by Phil Tobin who also wrote The VE log analyzer. So, the software can pretty much tune itself as you drive (provided you have a wideband). Or you can log and then analyze and merge your VE from the logs. Best to do it slow and iteratively though. I can get a 98% tune in under an hour.


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## ArpyArpad (Jan 4, 2002)

Brian.G said:


> Mikki, You can only really cast 3mm thick, die cast(injection) would be more suitable for thinner sections:thumbup:
> I would have thought stainless folded or stamped would work better? I dont know? Havnt seen one in a while to remember exactly what they are like.


why dont you just whip up some kind of stamping machine? its not like its that hard for you.


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## PeOpLeG60T (Jul 5, 2004)

sdezego said:


> Check out TunerStudio http://www.efianalytics.com/TunerStudio/. It is what is recommended now and waay better than megatune.


 humm just a little question , does it handles the msns Extra stuff ??? cant figure it out by the website


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## thebigmacd (Aug 17, 2004)

PeOpLeG60T said:


> humm just a little question , does it handles the msns Extra stuff ??? cant figure it out by the website


 Yes, it supports everything that MegaTune supports. It has become more or less the official replacement for MegaTune.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Thebigmacd, thanks, Ill check that out:thumbup: 

More doings, mainly concentrating on the cylinder head, tackled it the weekend as it was annoying me looking at it in all its filth :lol: 

I wont bore you all describing every cut, but if anyone wants to know anything just shout, most of this is just roughing work first, 

The head, 










Some of the tools, 










Driver for knocking out valve guides, 










Incase you dont know height, they sit 61.5mm from head surface when installed, they need to go back in at this installed height, 




























Out, 



















Spring seats removed, 



















Cap studs have to come out, locked two nuts on there and out with them, 



















Broken stud, wd40 and heat, 










Farmers tool box used to remove 










Cleaned off intake/ex face so I can see what Im at, 










Ports blued and marked for raising, 



















Tool fitted to grinder, I always slip on an old valve guide on there, means you can hold stem, and leave it against port mouth for deep cuts/leverage, 










Grinding down to guide line so I can start, 



















Guide boss roughed down, 



















You can see the difference now, 










I like to do all four in stages together, saves swapping burrs, etc, 










Port angle check, 



















This will be raised a bit when Im done(scribe line) 

Started the Titanium retainers also, I roughed down the bar and did a drawing, Ill be doing more of this later, 










Someone asked does Titanium swarf burn, yup, it does, heres some swarf with a lighter held to it for a few seconds, light cuts to be taken only, otherwise your machine will go up in a blaze... 



















Working on the short side radius, 







































Port raised to scribe line, 










And more grinding/blending, 



















Tool change, 





































I have to recheck all measurements before I start putting a finer finish on port and tidying it in a few places. Ill then go onto the seat and seat area, 

Brian,


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## RRSB_1971 (Dec 8, 2009)

Brian 

Thanks for the picture of the Titanium burning.:laugh:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

No probs, anytime:laugh::laugh:


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## Lord_Verminaard (Apr 6, 2004)

Great head porting shots. Good stuff. Thanks! 

Brendan


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

There'll be loads more along with a few turbulence tests:thumbup:, Just have to finish mowing the lawns then Im going to do more tinkering, its actually NOT raining:screwy: here today so I had to:thumbup:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Got the mock bore done. I made one of these before to use when doing the turbulence test with great results, cutting it from the block deck I had made things easier in that I can bolt it to the head instead of using silicone or clips to hold it on there, you'll see why this is needed in the next update, I bored it to 84.10 also, the same size as the my block which Ill be fitting the head to. 










Chop chop, (again!) 










Faced, 










Turned around, 










Faced and bored, 




























Cleaned on the outside to get a pipe on there, 










Offered up 



















More later, 

Brian,


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## dutch_diy (May 23, 2010)

wow, just spend nearly two hours reading through the entire thread.

just awesome, there are no words for this type of craftmanship.

best. thread. ever.


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## turbinepowered (Mar 19, 2007)

I am highly interested in seeing this turbulence test rig...


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## MikkiJayne (Jan 1, 2007)

I thought you were making your own cylinder head


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

I am. I want to break a few personal goals with the 8v head first though. Ill then be putting the 16v head(mine) on the same setup, bar the pistons. Oil pump, slide throttle(tad larger bores) brackets sump etc will all be staying there when it goes to 16v.:thumbup: I like my 8vs too ya know:thumbup::laugh: 
But all the stuff is mainly aimed at the 16v head to be honest, which is why Im going to so much trouble with it all! 

Ill update this this eve too, 

Brian,:thumbup:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Well today the grille badge that I just bought for the Gti got whipped, I dont know when exactly it was taken, but Ive a fair idea, I had the car left for 2hrs parked and when I came back it was gone. Gti badges are pretty mad money, and I didnt really feel like forking out a second time so this all came about. The car missing its badge really, really, annoyed me, so I set about fixing that straight away, before I did anything else in the engine department, 

I found a pic exactly to scale on the screen, Im not great with resizing stuff with printers and anything I print always ends up 25% smaller, so out came the tracing paper and sellotape, yup, traced it off the screen  






























Transferred to 6mm alloy plate, and cut out with a coping saw, 










Tidied up with the files a bit, 










Milling the spaces between letters on the lathe, 5mm cutter, 










Milled, 










Sharp edges removed, and buffed, 










Done bar a bit more waterpapering and anodizing, and Ill also give it the brushed look on letter faces before I do, 



















Ill epoxy on a little locating bracket on the rear then, 










Man I was pissed off, but how and ever, crisis averted, 

Ill throw it on tomorrow, 

Brian,


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Got it polished up ready for anodizing, 600, then 1200, then final with 2000 left on a cloth to give the rounded eased look, all paper used wet.

Im going to go over the low milled spots with 600 dry, to give them a mat look, and leave the letters then more highly polished, as for mounting it, Im not sure yet, a little alloy bracket and some epoxy Id say. 

Hardest damn thing to photo in the whole thread so far with all the glare, but you get the idea.

Material is 6061 T6 aluminium(American spec) 0r 6082 T6 (European spec)










Brian,


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

So today when I was looking for a bit of alloy to make some sort of bracket for Gti badge I found a scrap bit of billet thrown in the pile, I haven't a clue what this is off, or what it was for/doing there, but I spotted it was a perfect size for something else....... .. My car had a horrid black VW centre badge fitted which I wanted rid of in the near future, I grew up worshipping chrome and all shiny car things so painting chrome stuff black, or refitting black items in they're place makes no sense to me AT ALL! 

The billet in question, the centre bit was pressed in so I pressed it out and began machining... 










I chose to design the badge as a muti piece affair, this is the outer ring first, 










The steps for letters, 










Turned around and the face machined flat 



















The tapered recess, 










Slight taper and round on the front ring(hard to see) 










Waterpapering, same as letters above, 










Done! 





































Letters nearly done also, hope to fit sometime later once I anodize the lot, 

Brian!


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## Brycejoseph (Jul 9, 2008)

:thumbup: 

on the badges! I would buy one of those rear badges in a heartbeat!


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

The Gti one is going on the front, but I guess one could be made to go anywhere. Whats the odds the big guys will start making these now..:banghead: 

The vw bit.... nearly there now... 























































The rear, the second step is if I wanted to fit some 6mm black perspex behind the Vw bit, Im not sure yet, Ill see how it looks fitted, could be a massive fly trap and impossible to clean with a back on it. 










Nearly a shame to fit them....not...! Few clips and a dunking and on they'll go. Im pretty happy with how they look. If these get stolen I may have to kill someone. 










Brian!


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## Brycejoseph (Jul 9, 2008)

Brian.G said:


>


 Oh Brian! You shouldn't have that is jaw dropping-ly beautiful. Holy cow!


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## wantacad (Apr 4, 2003)

Nice work... :thumbup:

In fact it's the new background on my computer..


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Haha, thanks guys:thumbup: I never thought of the background pics actually, I must re-jig my own wallpaper too!!:laugh:

Few more at the end of this post ye may like also

Onto the anodizing, Im just giving these a clear anodize to protect them a bit, a small run like this is fairly handy so I may as well given that Ive the stuff needed to do it.

A quick word on anodizing and what it is, 

Anodizing is the process where a hard 'skin' is grown on the part, this skin is called aluminium oxide. Aluminium oxide is extremely tough and hard wearing, so it protects the surface better. It differs from the normal oxide that builds up on aluminium once its cut becuase it is thicker and grown in a controlled environment.

How it works, the part to be anodized is submerged in a bath of mild sulphuric acid solution along with an inert metal(lead, or something else).
The part is connected to the + of power supply and is then the anode. The piece of lead is connected to the - and becomes the cathode.
The power supply can be a range of voltages, but in this case its around 12volt, DC.(Car, battery type voltage)
The power is turned on and the current flows through the electrolytic solution.

In order for you to understand what then happens and why you need to do the steps after, read on, if your not bothered on the fine details just skip on and look at the pictures, it gets a bit chemistry heavy in the next bit, but not too much...I hate leaving something half explained and I happen to really like chemistry!!

You build your bath so that the lead cathode lies in the bottom, and out of the way. Usually, this lead piece should be twice the surface area of the part your treating. Over or beside that you have your aluminium part hangers, these are connected to your part, or anode, +. 
The anode and cathode must never touch. 
The only metals in the bath at any time are the lead - and the part, +.

After your part is placed in on the hangers and the two leads connected the power is turned on. 
Its advisable to keep the bath cool for better effect, this is why I have it in another basin of cold water. On a big job with many parts, or large parts, you could add Ice to the basin too. Warm solution does not work as good.

Once the power is turned on current starts to flow, you could connect an ammeter inline to check current draw but I didnt bother on this run, the parts are small.

The current passes through the acid solution(electrolyte) and hydrogen is formed at the cathode (lead-) and oxygen is formed at the anode(part+).
Due to hydrogen forming and given off as bubbles this could explode if theres flames about, so take care.
The oxygen rich environment adjacent and completely surrounding the aluminium part is exactly what's needed in order to artificially and quickly grow a 'thick'(its really very thin relatively speaking) oxide layer on the part. 
Now....because the solution needed to carry the current is acidic, this will slowly eat away the oxide layer that is being formed. But this is a good thing, as it creates pores in the surface which allow fresh alloy to be exposed and therefore further oxide growth. What you end up with is billions of little tubes of oxide standing up off the surface and all tightly packed, alot like a box of drinking straws. It is the action of the acid 'eating' away tiny pits that makes anodizing so great, meaning a pretty thick layer can be grown, compared to say if it was just left to naturally oxidise in its working environment.
Im sure you've heard of aluminium oxide 'sand paper'? It is this 'grown' oxide that is used as the abrasive because it is so hard wearing. It is 'grown' in a similar process to the way above, and harvested off the alloy once it ceases growing. A new layer starts to grow and that is then harvested, and so on..
The only one problem with this is that you cannot grow thick layers for harvest. 
In time, when the 'tubes' grow to their maximum length they will actually start to insulate the part as aluminium oxide does not conduct electricity. This is why large 'blocks' or sections of pure aluminium oxide do not exist. It is simply not possible to do so yet. If you do figure out a process to do so you will become a very rich man overnight. 

Anyway, back to the pores, or 'tubes'. 
When the job is near done you have a fine surface of all these tiny little ultra hard tubes standing on end. The tubes are open at the end(from the acid eating into the metal) and they are of course aluminium oxide on the inner surface too(think of the straws).

It is at this point you could dip the part into dye after removing from the treatment 'tank'. The warm dye solution enters these open tubes and will stay in there, colouring the surface. 
I didnt bother dying my parts as you can see because I wanted them as is colour-wise. But you could.

Once the dye is in these tubes, or not, the tubes have to be closed off, or sealed in order to protect the surface further, and seal in the dye. (An interesting thing about these pores is they can also be left 'open' they act as very effective reservoirs for lubrication if needs be, but, not in this case, so Ill close them off as this is strictly for decoration.)

Thats where the spell in the boiling water comes in.
After part is removed from acid, and your done dying, you need to boil or steam the part. 
The hot water/steam enters these tubes at the ends and makes it way partially into them. The hot water causes them to swell slightly, and the aluminium oxide to re-hydrate and therefore constrict the end of the tube, sealing it off. 
The part is then dipped in cold water and the surface is then sealed for good. 
Anodizing also gives a great base for adhesives and paint. And in some cases is the only way you can bond to aluminium effectively.

Anodizing also gives great protection to surface galling, galling is where the metal gets picked up due to rubbing off another surface. Think of how two chocolate bars would look if you rubbed them together. The oxide layer from anodizing combats this, and is why may parts are anodized, aluminium bolt threads for example, or cases, bike parts, etc. If you look around youll see a lot of stuff that is anodized. The smaller Ipods are anodized, external hard drives, pc speaker/stands/faces, bling engine parts, and nearly all pneumatic aluminium actuators are also anodized internally to reduce piston/plunger wear,> bore galling(Which is why I had to study all this a few yrs ago, long story)

So ya, that's the science bit over, if your still awake after all that, here are the pictures of said process, it looks pretty simple, but as you can see...there's a lot going on that you cant see...!!

The 'bath'! 
Plastic container, lead cathode - in the bottom, aluminium hangers mid way down and hooked on the top edge, these go to + 










Into the water cooled basin, and both filled with water, ratio for bath solution is about 6:1, 1 being the acid. Always add acid! AAA.










Acid added, 










You'll need one of these too, unless you want to walk all the way into the house with a part dripping sulphuric acid solution!!
Theres two offcuts of aluminium in there just to leave the part on, and to make catching it easier for when it needs to come out, 










First part placed onto hangers. Dont turn on power until you have it on there and are happy with it, it could fall and short out your charger as your placing it.
Parts need to be spotless, as in no fingerprints even.










I made two ''taker outers''. (Have to be aluminium)










Power on, its not exciting at all, and very boring in fact, its not going to blow up, or melt or anything, so no need to panic if your doing it yourself on stuff,










I'm giving each part an hour in there, I felt that was enough for the parts in hand, 

This is about a half hour in, 










And ample hydrogen at the cathode - lead, 










1 Hour passed, POWER OFF then_take part out, and straight into boiling water for 15min, 










Then into the cold water, you can see I already have the centre badge in the tank and on at this point, 










And here it is, 



















Another hr spent in the bath, and into the boiling water, 15min in there then again, and into cold water, 










After that, dry them off, admire them, and enjoy! 

I couldn't help but take a few pictures, I'm actually really happy with how these came out, for parts I hadn't intended making at all..!
























































As for the anodize, it worked real well, you can feel the difference when handled, and also, I tried scraping the Gti badge at the back with a scriber, its a lot harder to scrape than normal non-treated alloy. Jobs a good'en. 

Cant wait to fit them!

Then back to what its all about, the heart of the beast!

Brian,:thumbup:


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## Brycejoseph (Jul 9, 2008)

Lets hope someone does not pull them off your car  if they do you will be able to tell they are yours ^.^ 

Awesome write up! Very interesting read


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## MikkiJayne (Jan 1, 2007)

Very cool stuff indeed :thumbup: But, if some scrote nicked the black plastic badge surely this one is at even more risk? I'd have made provision to bolt them down to keep them safe!

I didn't expect the anodising process to keep the surface polish. From your (excellent) description of how it works I was anticipating the surfaces to have dulled somewhat, and halfway through reading was wondering how you'd make them shiny again. Is the oxide layer so thin that it doesn't affect the finish at all?


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

It did dull slightly Mikki, its hard to tell unless you have them in your hand, and saw them before and after. The deepness of shine has slightly lessened. Either way, a touch of polish will bring them back from time to time, I just anodized them as I wanted to harden surface for the likes of washing etc, and to stop the oxide forming uncontrollably. 

As for fixing them on, they'll be well fixed, and they will have to take the whole car in order to swipe them


----------



## turbinepowered (Mar 19, 2007)

Someone swipes those off your car, I'll fly to Ireland to help you kill the perp! 

Gorgeous work. I've made some wood mockups of some custom badging I want to sometime cast for my Gol-based Fox wagon, but it never got further than that.

[edit] I'm not a really big shiny chrome guy either, but I think it's fine for accents and badging. Those pieces look _good_.

Much more a "black and copper" fan, myself.  Copperplate those puppies and put a clear powdercoat on them and I'd be all over them in a heartbeat.


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## polov8 (Apr 14, 2004)

Wire them up to an inverter, 240v should persuade skrotes to leave em be :laugh:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

You should cast them, make a bit of time and have at it! As for bling bling stuff, badges. bumpers on older yokes, all ok by me, but bling inside the car or tons of it in the engine bay = bad :laugh:

Thanks for the anti theft support also guys, especially polov8:laugh: Now that would be worth seeing!!

Hopefully, I made it impossible to whip these!, 

Luckily the badge fell on both slats so fixing was far easier than I thought the fact that I had contact along the top and bottom, 

Drilled 5mm deep,(This wont be taken!)










Transferred to grille, 










Stainless, Ill loctite also, 










Vw section pinned to outer ring in four places, stainless pins used and inserted with a touch of epoxy, 










The three locking bracket tab 'things', these hold it in, and also stop it from turning by using the original notches in the grille circle cut-out, 










The rim bored also, 










And fitted, more black coated stainless screws, I screwed them into threaded plastic plugs/nuts, you can get these in maplin/RS










Some job to whip that!










And turned over, 










And also fitted,














































I just had it fitted and the sky opened as always....anyway, few on the car, 




























And thats it. 

Many people probably think that going to this trouble on 2 badges is insanity, they may be right, thats up to them I guess, but after making them, and seeing them on there, they were worth every second. It makes me feel good looking at them, considering all the effort Im putting into both the 8v engine, and then the 16v engine. 'GTI' is pretty much what its all about, and of course working the metal to achieve that  

Brian,


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## dubCanuck1 (Apr 1, 2005)

Looks wicked. :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::beer::beer:


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## syracusegli (Jan 22, 2005)

very nice :thumbup:

what happened to the kevlar project? 
i like to see other peoples composite projects and learn.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Nothing happened to it? Im using the trumpets on the slide throttles, you'll see them later on:thumbup:

Thanks also!

Brian


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## boner (May 19, 2002)

sdezego said:


> Looks great. Now make some transverse 20v ones and some *12v Vr *ones and you will be able to fund a lot more of your projects
> 
> ...really wish I had the time to do some casting. I have been wanting to do it for a very long time.
> 
> Keep up the good work!


just saw this thread now. simply amazing! and see bolded text above  all metal VR t-stat housings would make you a very rich man!


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Thanks man:thumbup: So much to make, so little time:laugh: Time being the rest of my life, I have a lot planned

Minor update before I update with more engine stuff tomorrow,

Picked up a really clean set of g60 arches this eve, thanks again Mark, Im going to stick them on tomorrow if Ive time. I always liked them and have had them on a few of my Mk2s, plus, the ones on it are a bit worse for wear.

Brian,


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## MikkiJayne (Jan 1, 2007)

Brian.G said:


> Many people probably think that going to this trouble on 2 badges is insanity, they may be right, thats up to them I guess, but after making them, and seeing them on there, they were worth every second.


Honestly I think many people reading this thread would probably wish they had the skills to go to this trouble to make 2 badges. I know I do! They look superb :thumbup: Are you going to make them for the back as well?



polov8 said:


> Wire them up to an inverter, 240v should persuade skrotes to leave em be :laugh:


Then it would be a Voltswagen :laugh:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

MikkiJayne said:


> Honestly I think many people reading this thread would probably wish they had the skills to go to this trouble to make 2 badges. I know I do! They look superb :thumbup: Are you going to make them for the back as well?
> 
> 
> 
> Then it would be a Voltswagen :laugh:


I guess thats kinda true Mikki! 
Ive started making the front so yup Im going to run off some for the rear, and also re-design the g60 wheel centre caps to brighten things up a bit:thumbup: That will be it then, as its very easy over it too, and make it look gaudy

Funny you should say voltswagen! Thats the way my Dad says it normally

Got the arch repaired, they were sold this way as per add so I had to refix the piece onto arch again, the arches are polypropylene so a pretty good plastic for repair thankfully, 










Superglued back on ito the right position, 










Keyed, 










2 layers of carbon-fibre laid down with clear two pack, 



















Let dry, and blinded over with more epoxy of higher build, 










Done, good as new, 










Brian,


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## PeOpLeG60T (Jul 5, 2004)

wow , man this is nuts !


----------



## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

It will be more nuts again tomorrow when you see the other badges I have to cop on then and get back to the engine. But, the outside of the car has me a bit distracted, It has to be nice _now too_, as its my daily you see:thumbup:

Arches on, and papered and compounded the entire car, followed by some wax, paint is way better than it was now, no rusty surprises under the old arches either thankfully! Ill shoot up a few decent pics tomorrow with the camera on the correct setting this time, photos are a bit grainy.





































Brian,


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## polov8 (Apr 14, 2004)

Oak green? Frickin love that colour!


----------



## sdezego (Apr 23, 2004)

The VW badge is the t!ts


----------



## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Yup Oakgreen, 5 dr...but I just had to get over that, I couldn't find a 2dr I wanted when I was buying...always the way...:thumbup:

sdezego, you might like the next bit so...

Btw, Im on hols next week, so this will come to a halt, just incase ye think Ive disappeared:thumbup::laugh:

After doing the front badges I was left feeling that the side of the car looked a bit bland. As you know its got g60s fitted. These wheels are on there because they are pretty light, are easy clean, are the proper offset, are new, I like them, and because Im sick looking at bbs. They are also cheap, which is a bonus too.

But....... They lack something. There's too much black going on in the centres of them, I think. They needed setting off to tie into the rest of the car. 

The rest of the car has a few bits that could be tied into a cap.

It has black, we know that, 

It has 'chrome'(polished alloy) badges, 

And it has of course red, the most Important colour on a Gti! 

Red on the grille pin strip, and red on the Gti door badges. The door badges being on the side, and the wheels being on the side should mean I can bring some red down into the caps, and it should also mean it should look ok there. 

And with the red has to go a touch of chrome, because it seems to 'go' well on the grille, with the stripe and badges, and of course on a black grille....

So....to combine all that into a little cap the size of a matchbox.....is it possible, I think so, here goes, 

4 offcuts of billet I was left with from something else, not the most Ideal of shapes but I know the parts I want are inside them, I just have to find them!

I drilled a hole in the centre to put a bolt in there to mount them. I could have used a four Jaw chuck but its currently stripped in bits and sitting in a bucket of paraffin so I chose to press on this way, 










I didn't bother knocking the corners off before had, few minutes and they were round, part way into turning> 










Roughing out the centre to reverse it, get rid of nut and bolt, chuck it, and turn the other side, 










The measurements and angles have to be pretty right on these, even though they are just caps....you'll see why later, 

Boring out the centre, its the fastest way, 










Finishing the front face and polishing, 



















Ring ring...










I made a change after the first one on mounting them, I threaded on an m12 joiner instead of a nut and chucked off that instead of the bolt threads, more rigid then, so I could take heavier cuts...










More of this which you've seen before.. .. 










And the usual polishing lark and milling the little slot in the middle of the two letters....this stuff is 3mm thick, as opposed to the badges(6mm)










In, interference fit for now, they will be bonded in, 










And enter the red bits....I cut discs of polypropylene its 2.5mm thick, you can get this in sheets, pp is the same stuff the arches are made from.... And, the colour in this shouldn't fade, its also the 'exact' Gti red as on the door badges...










Gets fitted behind like so...Ill be bonding the symbol in with a tiny amount of epoxy, and then bonding the disc to the rear of it. That way any water that sits in the groove between letters and disc can drain out the rear, between disc and rim as its .5mm smaller. If I bonded the disc in with a fillet all round at the rear this wouldn't happen, and the water would sit there, and we couldn't have that now...










The g60 caps, drilled and mounted on the bolt again, and parting off the top most cap section, in as it happens, critically in the correct place for it all to work right...I hope...










Cut and the strengthener ribs filed back, 










Cap pressed in, you can see now why the parting cut on the plastic was so critical...and actually, the taper angle on the alloy cap, 










The fluorescent lights are showing it a tad orange, but its red, 



















The rear, you can just see the water gap around disc, I think, 










And the groove/spaces where the water could get trapped if disc was fully sealed into rim, and not onto symbol, 










And thats that, I have to anodise and assemble yet, but Im pretty happy with it really, I found a picture too, 










You would think on a 1,000,000euro car they would have went to more trouble with the front badge  










I guess they spent most of the time working on the engine details,  

Brian,


----------



## sdezego (Apr 23, 2004)

Brian.G said:


> sdezego, you might like the next bit so...


As I was going through the latest post step by step (I didn't cheat and look down first), I thought for sure you were going to do little G60's in the center caps. I sill very much likey


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Its not a g60 you see, so I couldnt let myself do that:thumbup:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Well, Im back again, before I went I made up a vernier pulley to do a bit of testing in the run up to fitting the new engine, I used a normal 8v pulley and machined it and tapped it to mount one of the laser cut plates I designed up last yr. Its currently set on 0 that is, factory marks. Im hoping to adjust it and retard cam a bit to see if I can make a bit more power higher up in the range. The engine is currently limiting at 6900rpm. It stops making power at around 6300, it has a Kent gs2h cam fitted, so Im hoping to bring that along a little more towards the limiter and note my findings. The testing will be done seat of my pants, Im long enough driving these, and a lot of other yokes to notice a difference. 

Remember, retarding a cam makes more power up the range, while advancing it makes power lower. 

Advancing the cam means the valves open sooner, and therefore close sooner. (In relation to the crank, piston position) 
Retarding the cam means the valves open later, and therefore close later. (In relation to the crank, piston position) 

It will always be a compromise of course but its just something I want to try out on my own engine for a change, and make a note of my findings. 

The dots either side of the 0 mark are 5 degrees, Ill be able to get it pretty accurate anywhere between them, or indeed past them by eye, 




























Im working on the head again now so pictures will commence on that again shortly, 

Brian,


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Finally back at this. 

After the few days of Hols Im back and have a itch to work my head semi hard at figuring stuff out so I mocked up the head on the test jig I made a while back, while away I also did a bit of maths as to the intake runner length needed exactly taking everything into account. Ill explain why the length matters and the effect it has, but not just now as its not a simple paragraph sadly. 

Im not going to say the final length but I will say its aimed at around 5500rpm. So many times when sizes/lengths are mentioned on stuff like this you get too many views on ''the correct'' size/length of stuff, you will notice there is no sizes/volumes mentioned in the entire thread on the things I have made so far, its just easier. 
The bottom line is, there is no correct size suitable for every engine, but only sizes that work well at a particular place on the power band as its all a compromise. One addition cannot be made to work well throughout the full powerband when it comes to N/a with fixed geometry intakes/valve actuation, but its picking where to make it feature well on that band that is the idea, or choice, or preference if your into that. 

Anyways, onto the thing in hand, I have it all pictured in my head as to how Im going to mould up this (intake), and make the patterns/cores which is why Im acting on it and doing it now. Porting out the head is easy, Ive done it before many times, so Ill do that after, but at the minute, I want to get this down, and into metal so I can think about something else! 

The problem awaiting the solution 




























You can see the rear of valve, (from here!) 










The port centre line length gauge, 



















Something like this... 










You can see its a complex curve, with slight curves in two axis, and the runner bore needs to taper as it meets port... 










All I need to do is join them up with some cast alloy...I thought about using couplers to joint the throttle plate on there as they would break the frequency's up a bit/insulate, originating from the engine and into the throttle assembly/plenum, but now, Im not going to, as I dont particularly like them in this situation as I feel some runner bore interruption/transition would occur no matter how well things were done. I feel it will be ok, as its pretty light on the plenum end of things, and will be strong to support throttle plate. The 20v n/a intake is a good example of where these breaker joiners are used. 

More later... 

Brian,


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Well this eve I got the throttle lined in its correct spot, I tagged it onto head too to hold her still while I take a few strikes off it. 

Its all centred now, at the correct angle, and the correct length away too, it also fits in the engine bay! Lot of things to consider, but the bay mock up jig made it easy, 
Anyway, onto starting the core patterns/main moulds for it, 

Im making the cores first, as these are the most Important part of all this, the manifold is just built around them. Its a complex looking mould setup, and involves a lot of steps, but its pretty simple in all when you break it down, 

The plate, 




























The clay, pottery clay as you saw before, rolled out to the correct taper and diameter, and cut to length, left longer the plate end for ease of fitting, 



















Where they all have to go...










One in and fettled, minimum of swearing with this, its actually nice to work with, I fitted the clay tubes down through the plate, and into port 15mm, 










All in, 










I kept it very tight to intake bolt for the benefit of the port curve, when I drill finished manifold for bolt I expect it to just break out into internal port wall. 










A slightly blurred end view, 










Theres a lot of clay in these, so I expect them to take a while to air dry, Im going to leave them In the workshop for a day, then the hall, the the house, then the hotpress, and then a spell in the oven. I hope not to have to fire them as there will be no work on them as such, so a slow air dry should be good enough. I can work on the actual mould pattern in the mean time.

The clay tubes are just prints to form the core box off, for the internal sand cores that will be placed inside the main mould at time of pouring. Very like the coolant flanges, just bigger, and a bit more complex.
Once the core clay patterns are hard Ill touch them up to final port sizes if they need it in any spots, basically, get them perfect.

Brian,


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## dubCanuck1 (Apr 1, 2005)

Hey, I made some similarly shaped moulds, but they weren't made out clay :laugh:


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## TheDeckMan (Sep 26, 2004)

Impressive, keep up the good work :thumbup:


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## PeOpLeG60T (Jul 5, 2004)

i like how you exactly see the air passage and mould it how you want it and not collapse/change the runner dia by manipulating the curves. (to some extent) are they exactly the same length ? 

how did you managed to get the same taper on the runners ? just hand rolled them and eyeballed the overall shape ? or made a sliding jig made of two diffrent height of timber with a sheet of wood sitting on it on an angle , put the clay under and slide the jig in order to roll the clay in a perfect tube with the perfect identical taper ? have you ever seen how they machine roll pastries on TV ? 

you are giving me so much ideas on techniques , your so crafty !!!


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## TechMeister (Jan 7, 2008)

Nice thread on casting. Just a word of advice... You may want to develop the port runners on a flow bench before casting a manifold because different shapes/bends/angles lead to significantly different cyl. VE's which cause AFR/ign. calibration and power issues. Runner details make a huge diff in performance.


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## ABA Scirocco (May 30, 2001)

This manifold quite a lot more complex than the one I made with it's compound curves etc. I'm really looking forward to seeing how the pattern, core boxes and mould all come together.:thumbup:


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## RRSB_1971 (Dec 8, 2009)

Hey Brian

I need to get a small hole/crack weld up in my 020 Transmission - Do you know which specific aluminum the transmission is made from.

Thanks


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Al-Si-Cu prob a356, its nothing special, it should weld ok, just make sure its minty clean, the oil on it may cause probs to get a clean weld as some will have made its way into alloy:thumbup:

Back at this in a day or two, Ive been doing 'normal stuff' to the car to improve it a bit in the run up to fitting, new bushes, wsihbones, subframe, lights, and all other annoying bits, you know the way.
I also have a flocked dash on the way for it, ill be building a different disply/layout:thumbup:


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## RRSB_1971 (Dec 8, 2009)

Yeah I pressure washed it & then used Kerosene to finish cleaning it.


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## JohnStamos (Feb 3, 2010)

Subscribed. :thumbup:


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## dubCanuck1 (Apr 1, 2005)

OK. I'm on day 14 of 28 of my "Must have Casting parts thread update" witdrawal program....

Please don't let me succeed.....:beer:


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## ABA Scirocco (May 30, 2001)

dubCanuck1 said:


> OK. I'm on day 14 of 28 of my "Must have Casting parts thread update" witdrawal program....
> 
> Please don't let me succeed.....:beer:


Even though there's a lot of duplication with the current thread, THIS should help you ease off, just in case you can't handle going cold turkey


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

dubCanuck1 said:


> OK. I'm on day 14 of 28 of my "Must have Casting parts thread update" witdrawal program....
> 
> Please don't let me succeed.....:beer:


Timber pattern blanks all glued up and drying, ready for cutting/turning tomorrow eve:beer::beer:

Been doing other 'normal work' on the car in the run up to getting it ready for the engine changes.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Ive been doing a lot of chassis drawings the last while figuring out a lot of stuff about the Mk2 chassis, that I didnt know, and could not find details on anywhere, simply because its so much trouble to find these measurements and do the drawings I guess. This all took time, hence the delay with the project, but, I needed concrete info, that could be trusted, which I now have to hand.

Ill be posting up all these findings soon in the suspension section on here and the other popular forums, but I have to watermark them first.

Theres a lot more involved in building a great car than just throwing parts at it, or looking what others have done and going for the same parts that they did. I feel its important to figure out everything starting from the ground up, and then decide what parts to get/make on these findings for maximum engine, and chassis performance. There is no guessing then as to where a part will make a good, or bad difference.

Brian,


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## MikkiJayne (Jan 1, 2007)

Brian.G said:


> Ill be posting up all these findings soon in the suspension section on here and the other popular forums, but I have to watermark them first.


Would you be so kind as to post a link in this thread when you do please? I don't ever look at the suspension forum, so I'll miss it, and based on this thread I'm sure it will contain some fascinating and enlightening information


----------



## Lord_Verminaard (Apr 6, 2004)

MikkiJayne said:


> Would you be so kind as to post a link in this thread when you do please? I don't ever look at the suspension forum, so I'll miss it, and based on this thread I'm sure it will contain some fascinating and enlightening information



Ditto! 

Brendan


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

MikkiJayne said:


> Would you be so kind as to post a link in this thread when you do please? I don't ever look at the suspension forum, so I'll miss it, and based on this thread I'm sure it will contain some fascinating and enlightening information


 Of course:thumbup:


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## HighPSI_GTI (Apr 16, 2005)

This thread is an edge of the seat dynamo! I enjoy the router pictures! You have answered questions I have been asking myself.... "Y cant I just make a level jig and router out these things!" Thanks for the inspiration.:laugh:


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## sdezego (Apr 23, 2004)

What measurements are you looking for? The Corrado Bentley has a detailed diagram of all chassis measurements, a lot of which should be the same as the MkII (I would think).

Perhaps, I am missing something.


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## Dalek (Apr 23, 2002)

sdezego said:


> What measurements are you looking for? The Corrado Bentley has a detailed diagram of all chassis measurements, a lot of which should be the same as the MkII (I would think).


Do you mean including the 3D location and dimension of, say, the suspension mount points and parts? Now that is quite nice to know!


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

All the measurements that aren't on paper:thumbup:


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## sdezego (Apr 23, 2004)

:laugh:


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## trigtm (Mar 20, 2006)

Just read this whole thing - amazing work Brian. You are the fabricator that we all want to be.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

trigtm said:


> Just read this whole thing - amazing work Brian. You are the fabricator that we all want to be.


 Everyone is if you put your mind to it, seriously:thumbup: 

Minor update! 
I went a bit more in-depth into the suspension/chassis measurements than I had planned but Im nearly done now and will be posting up all that soon. 

In the mean time the Intake manifold cores and timber patterns as as they were the last time I updated. They will be the next things Im going at the minute I finish the suspension stuff. 

In the mean time I got asked by a guy to make him a breather block off plate. Since I needed one for my own build too I made two of them, its a basic part, but its making is shown below, it replaces the plastic breather box on the 2e for when doing a 2L conversion. This plate could be bored I guess if a tapping was needed. Being alloy means it wont rust either or need to be painted like some other block off plates. 
The main girdle is 10mm thick and the body plate just 3mm, so its pretty light, and very strong at the seal area. I chose to design this with a flat face, and use either a gasket, or sealant, either would do, its not under much pressure, > 

The pattern, made from some 7mm mdf for the main girdle, easy to cut this way, no complex pocket machining required, that then gets glued to a 3mm piece of hardboard. And blended at a 5 degree draft angle at the edge. Inside, the meeting point is given a gentle radius with some chemical metal, and of course, shrink taken into account when setting out, 




























Face down and filling, 










Full, 










Filling the second flask, 










Full, 










Cope lifted off and you can see the sand hanging out that forms the depression in rear of plate, 










Gating, 










One vent hole also, 










Poured, I cant remember which one this was as I made two, but it doesn't matter, same part, 










First one still in 'out of mould form' second one just after pouring and still in mould, 



















The second mould opened, 










Cleaned and pilot drilled to 6mm, 










Linished and checked for true flatness, 










Counter-bored, and then taken to 8mm, Four M8x25 will hold it on nicely. 










And thats that, simple part, but needed, and vital, and while I was making one, its as easy make two! Too bad if I left myself short! 

More updates soon guys! 

Brian,


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## syracusegli (Jan 22, 2005)

:thumbup::thumbup: 

so great


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## B18CXr (Mar 25, 2002)

Brian = win

:beer:


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## LucidDisarray (Dec 26, 2008)

So informative!

I just finished page one haha

can't wait to read more when I have some time


:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Read it slowly so that you dont have to wait for my really slow updates when you finally catch up:thumbup:

Loads more soon guys, ive been busy at it all!

BG


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## ArpyArpad (Jan 4, 2002)

Brian.G said:


> Read it slowly so that you dont have to wait for my really slow updates when you finally catch up



^^^^this 

but when there's an update its usually epic:thumbup:


----------



## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Haha thanks folks! Gives me drive to do even more:thumbup:

Boring update.....finally got a stand free, so up the block went on it....its not coming off until its built so this is kinda it in the 'bolting it onto stand _again_ department' .

The block is sitting and oiled and copper greased the past while, so I have to clean all that crap off, and then flush the oil ways 40times more. Ive already flushed them 4 times.....you can never clean a block enough(I feel)! 




























Im going painting it grey metallic, because I have some, and because it will look good against the cast alloy parts Ive been making, and am still making for it....Ill get there yet....
The first part Ill be putting after paint on is the breather block off plate, it will give me hope just looking at it on there, I think.

Ill also be doing all the other bits for it as I build it up. 
I kinda want to get it painted and cleaned, and oiled fresh as it was worrying me a bit just being on the shelf, the winter is coming, and the air is getting damp(er).
But that wont take long, and then Ill be right back at the intake manifold. I did say this thread was all over the place a few times...but we wont panic....I know what has to be done.

BG!


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## Brycejoseph (Jul 9, 2008)

Yay! My favorite part is coming up, the bolting of shiny things to the motor! I have been waiting to see this manifold, so excited for that!

:beer: to keep the winter blues away!

Cheers,


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## elmer fud (Aug 5, 2003)

wow man you have some skills, you know its not the raw talent that blows me away tho, its the fact you spend so much time shearing it with us, I also am good at "home brew" fabrication....THO you are quite a bit crazier then me, but I never seem to find the time to make good threads to show people.

anyway, just wanted to thank you for spending the time to share with us, I know its a lot of work, but we all enjoy it. its much better then surfing the car lounge looking for random crap.


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## JohnStamos (Feb 3, 2010)

elmer fud said:


> anyway, just wanted to thank you for spending the time to share with us, I know its a lot of work, but we all enjoy it. its much better then surfing the car lounge looking for random crap.



:thumbup::thumbup:


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## LT1M21Stingray (Sep 14, 2006)

elmer fud said:


> anyway, just wanted to thank you for spending the time to share with us, I know its a lot of work, but we all enjoy it. its much better then surfing the car lounge looking for random crap.



:thumbup::thumbup:


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## GTijoejoe (Oct 6, 2001)

This is the single best thread ever made on the vortex. I'm impressed by your detail and genius engineering jigs/setups, making your own cutting tools is ridiculous.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

@Elmer, thanks:thumbup: I thought Id just post up everything from the start, may not apply to all viewers, but some bits that they may want to try should do. Its also concrete info, as in I know it works, and have shown it works, not hearsay, or stuff that I heard a friend of a friend doing. 
I also have no failures to date yet, bar the gas running out when I was pouring/moulding up the oil pump bracket, so that should also show that its basic stuff to do, and no complex hit and miss stuff that requires many attempts to get right:thumbup: 


Just ordered some rods there as one of my rods was gone short(bent slightly by approx 15-20thou) 

Here they are, 
http://www.rosten-performance.com/ 

Happy with that price and its the single most amount of money Ive spent yet on a part(I have minimal funds), 325euro. I was going to make some from billet 7 or 2 spec alloy but Ive way too much to do as it is so Im happy enough buying some. Im confident that I could make some also, so that pretty much made up my mind. Aluminium also has a lifespan when rods are concerned, so at least the bought ones can be left in there for longer than say 15k miles without risk.(Alloy will just snap without warning when its had enough cycles).The rods are about 1/2 way down link, maybe a bit more, if you want a lookie. 159mm items. 

Ive also got primer for the block now too. 

Im away for the next 5 days, but after that its going to be hell for leather as I cant wait to start building up this baby 
Ive a few other parts to make yet of course, as in almost all the dry sump parts to yet figure out, sump incl, but damn Im looking forward to it. 

Id also like to say thanks to everyone so far who has commented through the thread, Im sure Ive missed some. Your comments help to drive me on and get focused again when I get lazy or get pulled away with other work. Id also like to say hello to viewers also that dont comment or are not members, I know some Irish guys are viewing on here too, so hello folks! 

More very soon, have a nice weekend guys:thumbup: 

Brian,


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## Bazmcc (Jan 11, 2005)

Looking forward to the next batch of updates Brian. 

By the way - I held onto that R32 Block. Let me know when you want it. I'm in Belleek in fermanagh most weekends so I could take it down a bit of the way for you.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Bazmcc said:


> Looking forward to the next batch of updates Brian.
> 
> By the way - I held onto that R32 Block. Let me know when you want it. I'm in Belleek in fermanagh most weekends so I could take it down a bit of the way for you.


 Thanks Baz, I should be up that way pretty soon, I have to go up with a friend car shopping/inspecting again Im told:thumbup: 

I wont forget you.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Ton of updates on the way soon:thumbup:
Been working hard at new designs for stuff that will also be making a feature in here, and on my car:thumbup:

Cant wait!

BG


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## AceWaters (Sep 2, 2008)

Absolutely incredible. Just read this from the beginning and am completely floored. *Thank you for posting all of this!!!* :beer::beer::beer: 

Cannot WAIT for the next update!


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## V-TEC this!!! (May 4, 2003)

waiting for more jaw dropping updates 
opcorn:


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## rogerius (Jun 14, 2004)

one of if not THE best thread ever on vortex.Thanks for sharing.I'll try to make my own trumpets using your approach.Thumbs up to you!!:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:


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## Agtronic (May 14, 2001)

Still reading this thread!


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## 89JettaCoupe (Jan 27, 2004)

Wow... your overall skill as a jack off all trades really blows me away. Can't wait for more updates! Very clever on the spin casting by the way! Probably one of the coolest things I've seen somebody down with home casting.


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## duffmanh06 (Apr 22, 2008)

still in here! Just simply amazing.


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## PeOpLeG60T (Jul 5, 2004)

C'mon Brian ! show us some mo' stuff !!!


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## jessjessvw (Sep 8, 2009)

this thread is so sick! love what youre doin here man :beer::beer:

i did a very very similar cam gear in machine shop but everything was flush and the weight made me turn to the "lighter" TT piece. Granted i get the idea that you are making everything from true raw material :thumbup:

cant wait to hear this thing run! itb's drive me nuts but i have yet to hear a sliding plate


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## thatGTIguy (Feb 2, 2010)

I am just in shock... this is totally awesome...


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Finally time to continue with this, Ive been busy the past while developing stuff for others:thumbup: 

Gathered a few parts the last while, this is the first of the boxes Ive opened because it was the easiest to find:thumbup::laugh: 

41/35s, 





































7mm stem and waisted. 

Im planning a few trick things with this head so stay tuned. I also have a new set of rods too somewhere, I just need to find the box. 

Im starting back into this proper tomorrow eve, this post is just to let you know Im on it:thumbup::thumbup: 

BG


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## V-TEC this!!! (May 4, 2003)

are your drawings done by hand? I was looking at the piece of paper the valves are on. :thumbup:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Ya, I do them all by hand, head is drawn by hand too, which you will see in time:thumbup: I prefer it, I use cad for simulations, but I just prefer the ease, and simplicity of a pencil for my drawings, I grew up using a board, not a pc:thumbup:


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## V-TEC this!!! (May 4, 2003)

That is just pure sickness. :thumbup: 

I have been drawing by hand for school and its awesome.....we also use cad but its just not the same thing. No offence but almost any idiot can do it, whereas hand drawn technical drawings are a true skill that must be mastered. 

well done and keep up the good work. :thumbup: 

Now im excited to see some drawings.


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## MikkiJayne (Jan 1, 2007)

Brian.G said:


> Im starting back into this proper tomorrow eve, this post is just to let you know Im on it:thumbup::thumbup:
> 
> BG


 Yay!  Glad you're back :thumbup:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

MikkiJayne said:


> Yay!  Glad you're back :thumbup:


 Glad to be back at it:thumbup: 

Another box, Arp hardware, I would use nothing less, the quality is of course top notch, something you don't actually realise fully until you handle them. 




























Plenty more of this for port re-profiling, 










Ive also made contact with Broke.Com, for my hard blok engine grout I spoke about a few pages back. I could not order this from Ireland, so an email later to Broke'ie and all is underway now. I cannot say enough good words about this guy, so If your stuck, and need something from the Usa, but they wont ship to you, then get onto him. 

I started work on prepping the block this eve, its going to be a long prep before any parts are fixed to it, but Ill try cover it all and explain as I go, more soon, pictures uploading, 

BG


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## duffmanh06 (Apr 22, 2008)

moar?


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## sdezego (Apr 23, 2004)

Glad you are getting back at it and glad Broke was able to help you get what you need.

I for one, (along with many other reputable people here in the US who read this thread I am sure), would be more than willing to help you out now or in the future attain any parts, etc from the US at cost. .. the least I could do to help your efforts here :beer:

This thread should really charge admission anyway :laugh:


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## secondgen (Jan 9, 2004)

Brian.G said:


> Ive also made contact with Broke.Com, for my hard blok engine grout I spoke about a few pages back. I could not order this from Ireland, so an email later to Broke'ie and all is underway now. I cannot say enough good words about this guy, so If your stuck, and need something from the Usa, but they wont ship to you, then get onto him.
> BG


+1 Broke is the man. Even if you're in the US, he's a 020 Guru.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Indeed Broke is a very sound guy, its like I know him for yrs, even though we have never met:laugh::thumbup:

I have a load of pictures ready to post, but Im going to hold off until after xmas day, as I have loads of non-work/car stuff to do, and well, its Christmas! We also have had -15 temperatures for the last 2 weeks which pretty much makes a hash of everything here as we are simply not used of it, or equipped to deal with 3 inches of snow. It has effected everything, from water, to airports, postal, transport, broadband, etc. Roads dont get gritted in the minor areas either at_all. 
Heat in the workshop is another issue, I have a great heater, but its pretty costly to run, so I tend to only run it when I have to, doing paid work. Its fine if your moving on the job, but standing at a lathe in -10 degrees is not fun I can tell you:laugh:

Heres two pictures I took yesterday, I was out for a run around a forest testing the cars new gearbox and lsd which I fitted last week. The engine is the factory 8v of course, but I couldn't resist. We never get snow:thumbup:



















So thats pretty much it for the next few days, I want to thank everyone so far that has been on this mad journey so far, Ive learnt a lot this yr, and have put a lot of stuff Into play that I had always wanted to do. I cannot wait for next yr, to finish the 8v, get it in an running, and then start working on casting the 16v head. Ill have plenty to keep me busy anyway, as Jan-Mar tends to be uber quiet here always. 
Im just looking at the first post date, the thread is around a yr old just, to me, that went very fast, it seems like just yesterday I started it.

Happy Christmas everyone, where-ever you are, and I hope you all have a great Christmas, and dont forget to enjoy the simple things that are free, that is family, and great friends,

Signing out for 2010, 

Brian Garvey:biggrinsanta::grinsanta::snowcool::thumbup:
Ireland,


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## polov8 (Apr 14, 2004)

Hey Brian, the block off plate is a perfect fit, and for my money, this is the best thread anywhere on vortex this year! :thumbup:

Merry Christmas! :grinsanta:


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## rogerius (Jun 14, 2004)

I 2nd that and
:grinsanta:Merry Christmas!:grinsanta:


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## MikkiJayne (Jan 1, 2007)

3rd'ed! Merry xmas all :snowcool:


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## MaxVW (Nov 4, 2004)

Brian, you are my new internet hero:thumbup:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Keep an eye on this too:thumbup: 
Itll just be hosted on there, I cant do another build and copy and paste to all other forums too, this one is enough to manage as is!! 

Plenty of pics to come of zie engine soon, in the meantime take a lookie at the link below:thumbup: 

Hope you all had great holidays too, I did! 

http://www.clubgti.com/forum/showthread.php?t=228115 

Brian,


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## frechem (Oct 19, 2002)

I saw that and believe me, I'll be keeping a close eye on it. :thumbup:


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## MikkiJayne (Jan 1, 2007)

Shame you're not posting that on here  It looks quite interesting.


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## oneunder (Mar 31, 2009)

Updates by chance?


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## V-TEC this!!! (May 4, 2003)

There are some updates on the clubgti link posted above. He is turning an o2a tranny into a dsg.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

V-TEC this!!! said:


> There are some updates on the clubgti link posted above. He is turning an o2a tranny into a dsg.


Im still at this, Im also working on developing new parts for myself and others. Mainly because I have to feed myself some way. But fear not, this is by no means gone on the back burner, as everyday passes something new enters my head that gets considered to make this engine even more brilliant. Its also a great test bed for casting, which, will feature very strongly in my 16v engine. Thats going to be something, pretty much my whole lifes worth of studies and experience has been leading upto this single task.

Ive also figured out ways of casting that I never thought were possible until I thought about them, and tried them out. There is barely any info on casting once you get past the 3 or 4 books out there that cover the basics. So, In order for you to find out if something works, you need to try it.

My last test mould had 6 different sand flasks, all built to make just one part.
I have finally converted my thinking to complete negative images(not that type) this is harder do than you first think, but I can pretty much imagine anything now, and how you would mould it up.

So, this will be sat here for another two weeks Id say, and then it will start to come very fast and heavy once my workload clears.
After that, and I get it fitted and running(dreading the megasquirt a tiny bit) Ill then be starting on the 16v head. This head will be going on the block in this thread, but with different pistons fitted.

I sometimes get bad thoughts on if I should go back and Improve things, such as the block, and its bearing caps. I know I cast a girdle, but then started searching deeper, and noticed how cosworth got around it, See this thread from post 59 onwards http://www.clubgti.com/forum/showthr...94#post2009794 Or if I should just leave it. Considering that I can now do anything I like, I think maybe I should go back and improve, Im in no rush, just want a very good engine when done.
This thread is not as simple as it looks, because its not really about buying parts and bolting them on(thats complex enough as it is) Its more about making the parts as good as I can, because I can. I have a terrible disease that way, if you can imagine you can make gets you into trouble sometimes!

So, anytime the thread appears to stop, its just my head that is starting. Moving my hands around is easy:thumbup:


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## polov8 (Apr 14, 2004)

Sounds good, curious about the link you posted as I can't get it to work.


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## dutch_diy (May 23, 2010)

polov8 said:


> Sounds good, curious about the link you posted as I can't get it to work.


this is the fixed url:

http://www.clubgti.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2009794#post2009794


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Thanks for the fixed link:beer:

Originally, I used a 'secret refractory mix' to line the walls of smelter. This wore down pretty fast, and I had to re do it. 
The lid was also lined and little bits used to fall into smelter and onto crucible lid, which, lead to a mess in there long term.

So, I got some fire bricks. These are rated for I dunno what, but Im told they are the best type?... 
They were aound 4euro each, and I used 10 doing the 'floor' walls. 

I marked out the plan on a bit of chipboard, I originally thought 6 bricks would do it, but I had to pull it to 7 for good edge contact with each other. 

I then 'scooped' a curve on the face of each brick with the most epic dangerous angle grinder jig you ever did see[LOL] I pretty much broke all the angle grinder safety rules on that one, so no pics for your own sake.

The end result was perfect, and I then cut the sides off them, to form the angles. I did that bit by eye.

They now fitted pretty snug into the gas cylinder. I fire cemented them all in, bar the last joint, which I packed with asbestos(substitute) to allow them to move a bit if they need to.

The end result is far far better than it ever was, its also more efficient Id imagine as Im losing no heat through the walls anymore. I also re did the burn tube, and was at the new lid(bricks) this evening.
I vee'd them also for the tip ring, and the spout. Crucibles are now a snug fit in there, unlike before where the walls had eroded. 

This all seems a bit pointless in my car/engine thread, but since its the core tool for the parts you see, I feel its a very important part in the whole engine and gearbox also.





































Im now thankfully, nearing the run to actually assembling the engine at last using this, better smelter to do so. 

I got a few other bits too which Ill show you tomorrow[:y:]

BG


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## sdezego (Apr 23, 2004)

good stuff


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

The current 1.8 8v engine in my car is finally nearly dead, I thought it would last until I fitted the first of my 'special engines' (8v and 16v) but it wont, the block is cracked, and its burning masses of oil, so Im going to have to pull it and fit something for the time being to tie me over, this car is my daily, and gets driven very hard so no transport is not an option. 

I also have to pass an nct soon(Irish car test) and I know for sure that the current engine would fail badly, its loosing loads of coolant, and oil from all places. It is the engine that was in car when I bought it a yr ago, and have not done anything with it since.

It might be all for look, as it will also give me a chance to fit megasquirt to this engine(below) and play around safely(low cost engine/parts). Ill be converting to megasquirt after the nct. 

I also have a lot of other parts going in at time of engine change in a few days, a front subframe, rear beam, and new wishbones, including all bushings, and all genuine items. The subframe is power coated, and I blasted and painted the rear beam with the best prep/paint I could get that was sprayable. Im very happy with all results. I took no pictures of any of that job as plenty exist on the net already.

For my nct engine I picked up a clean 2e unit. It was in ok nick but I gave it a light rebuild all the same.
The rebuild consisted of shells(all) Intermediate shells, waterpump, oil seals, oil cooler, headgaskets, oil pump, sump, fastners, dissy cap etc. 
Ill be using my head thats on my current engine for it, so Ill be bolting that off old engine, rebuilding it, and fixing it to this once I pull engine. Im going to give it a light port. It already has a Kent gs2h cam fitted, so It will be a nice engine all in all for the time being. 
Ill also skim head a touch too.
The waterpump is not genuine, but Ive used them before without any complaints. 

After all this is just a tie me over engine, and one Ill be using whenever the car has to do an nct. My 'special engines' would fail an nct with Idle emissions I feel since the idle speed will be over 1000k.

With the megasquirt Ill use one mil spec connector so changing will be easy.

Onto the light rebuild pictures, I cannot rebuild an engine quickly or using old parts no matter what its for so I painted block too to have it all near leaving factory floor.

Im not really going to talk about the rebuild as its pretty basic, but one thing I will mention is the oil filter housing. Inside this is a one way valve leading to head. Since Ive now come across two of these that had loosened, come out and dropped down(blocking way to head) I now remove them and loctite them in for peace of mind, this one was just *hand tight* too. You have been warned.

I used my dipping practice to clean any old alloy parts, details on this, and a thread on it can be found in the engine section, Ill link to it later on an edit.
You can see looking at the new pump, and the filter housing, that it does work.

The oil senders in housing are temporary and have to be jigged around to read correctly in the right ports yet.

All fasteners are zinc plated and of the correct grade pending position on engine.

You can see in the second last picture the crank seal castings, cleaned with the method mentioned above. Solution treatment like this is also very safe compared to media blast, since no particles can be left in any oil ways/drillings, potential disasters waiting to happen. 




































































































Ill be casting a few bits for this engine also, just a few improvements to leave my mark on it.

Its going to be a busy week with updates on here so keep an eye, 

BG,


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Few more pictures, nothing major, I use sealer in all places where there was originally gaskets. Obviously you need to take care and place any excess sealer towards the outer edges so it does not block anything, or find its way into sump. Ive not had one problem doing it this way yet, and it tends to be more secure, given that a gasket has two possible leak sides. I trim off excess sealer once its set. You need a lot of prep time for faces in order for the sealer to work, but, its just cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning which is standard practice anyway.

Fitting crank seals, 





































Sump on, sealer awaiting trim, 










One beautiful Fram oil filter Ive had for an age, I hate these, but it will do for the run in, after that Ill fit a Mann, and bin the fram.










Im also going to cast a rocker cover for it with my name on it, its something Ive wanted to do for a while, its pretty simple, but will be nice in my eyes, and all mine.

More later, 

BG


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## Svedka (Jul 4, 2008)

Brian,

Try spray on gasket instead of tube sealer it is so much easier to work with.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

I know, had some once, but getting it when you need it in Ireland is very tough Or, getting it anytime actually..


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

More done this eve, started on the skeleton frame for rocker pattern. Nearly done on that, I can then start sanding it, adding ribs, epoxy internal fillets, My second name ontop,(boxer script) which I have to fret saw out of veneer[:^(] And also add a few other bits and bosses for stuff(oil cap too!). 
I didnt bother doing drawings, I know exactly what I want it to look like in my head, so Ill trust my hands can do the transferring.

Ill be striking right off this, both for cope and drag(top and bottom mould) so I can have no undercuts anywhere(bits that lock pattern in sand). Its not the worst piece to cast though so It should be ok. 
The walls will be finishing at 2.8mm. 
Its a bit of an over kill doing this, but I simply haven't got a rocker i can use. The tin one on my current car is rusted to bits, I phoned around the local guys and nothings turning up, and the 2e just looks wrong, with the two bolt holes for intake supports which the Gti 1.8 intake does not use. 
So what the hell, Ill make one, Im dying to see my name on there too sad as it sounds[:y:][:$]

Onto a few pictures, One plank of mahogany and a table saw, 
































































Theres 4 degree draft angle on the end bit there even though it doesn't look it, 










The whole thing is going to get approx 5mm shorter too when it solidifies so that cant be ignored either, 










The end jigery pokery that has to take place also. The end bit has to be eased internally for cap nuts too, 










I got it glued up after that, so the real pattern building can start tomorrow eve, where Ill be adding all the important bits to it, :thumbup:

BG


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Got working on My name plate, cut it from acrylic, too much short grain would exist with timber, and it would break, plastic is fine, and better, 










Glued down, 










Cutting, 



















Still have to cut out the bits from two letters, e and a, filing with rifflers, 
































































Can start on top design layout now, its going to be pretty simple, but 'nice'..










More later, with a few descriptions on a few things,


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Onto the ribs and stuff mainly, I cheated on the oil cap lock too, I couldnt find a bit of Mah large enough to turn one from, so it would mean glueing two pieces, too slow for me, so I cut out the old one, and jigged the draft angles on it a touch to suit me, 
































































Also re doing breather a bit to give me a few options, all will be clear later, 










Taking orders for dolls house windows too[LOL]



















BG:thumbup:


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## V-TEC this!!! (May 4, 2003)

This entire thread is just pure madness. This is by far one of the best threads on the vortex EVER. :beer:
:thumbup:


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## INA (Nov 16, 2005)

:thumbup::heart:

....and another :heart:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

I read over it one night and it makes little sense unless you do! Possibly because it taking me ages and now this, I thought Id have the proper 8v fitted for car test but not so Anyway, this will have to do for the time being. I dont want to rush my proper 8v and I defiantly dont want to rush the 16v:thumbup:

Issam, thanks for that, your an inspiration too to many:thumbup:

Fitting edges and stuff, 




























End fill ins, 










I made a slight change the fly end in order to make the flange strip a bit narrower. I moved out the end cap 3mm. 



















Fitting end strip, 










Filling all angles for a smoother part, 










Started on the ribs too, Im filling the sharp 90 degree corner, to a smooth radius. I had to stop here as my little fillet tool, an 8mm ball bearing on a piece of wire broke, Its fixed again now though, 










Slowly does it, 










Few more bits and its ready to plan the gates and risers. Hope to pour this evening, 

BG


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## Bazmcc (Jan 11, 2005)

Just wondering about something Brian.

I assume you know of the MTS finned valve covers for the 8v engine. Is there much of a point or an advantage to the finned design they use or is it more aesthetic?


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Ya I know the ones Baz, its hard to say really, They would cool it more alright, but then, do you want it really cool? Condensation forming and all that, I think Id prefer an oil cooler or electric pump instead, at least that was you have more control over stuff if your down to that.

I dont like the finned covers because they weigh far more than they need to, and its weight at the highest point too, if you really want to get technical..

Ill go with aesthetics to be honest


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## frechem (Oct 19, 2002)

Excellent! I'm really looking forward to seeing what your 16v rocker cover will turn out like. :thumbup:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Thats a bit off yet, but ill get there:thumbup:

Nearly there now....this set of pictures is a bit mixed up in order, but you'll get the idea. I chose to grain fill and flatten as many flat surfaces as I could before sticking on other bits to save trying to flatten around them. I use BIN as the grain filler, and grey primer as my de-nib guide coat, 

Flattening ribs, 




































































































Brought it in as you can see above to dry fully overnight. Ive just a few very small bits to add, along with my name, then a full prime, inspection, and she'll be ready for the hot stuff, 

BG


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## secondgen (Jan 9, 2004)

When you finish it up, you should post it in here: http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?3762938
Looks amazing by the way.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Will do! I saw that thread a long time ago, and lost where it was, so thanks:beer::thumbup:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Got pulled away from this so pattern is only finished now:thumbup:

The final stages, filling in around font, and priming inside and out, I hit it with some black I had because as we know black shows up all blemishes quite easy, any blemishes that may need touching up, or attention, 


















































































Everything looks ok both Inside and out, so no further work needed. 

Ive decided on a runner/gating system for it, Im going to fill with two fan gates into the rear lip. That, along with other things should ensure a good fill.

More later!

BG


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## MK1 Rabbit GTI (Jan 13, 2006)

looking at the painted pics, you would have no idea its made out of wood. great job Brian!
One question though, when it shrinks, will the oil fill cap still fit?


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## ABA Scirocco (May 30, 2001)

MK1 Rabbit GTI said:


> One question though, when it shrinks, will the oil fill cap still fit?


Linear shrinkage on aluminium is about 2% so on something the size of that hole, it's at most about 1mm so even the unlikely event that's enough to keep the cap from fitting, it could be very quickly and easily remedied with a few strokes of a file or similar tool.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

ABA Scirocco said:


> Linear shrinkage on aluminium is about 2% so on something the size of that hole, it's at most about 1mm so even the unlikely event that's enough to keep the cap from fitting, it could be very quickly and easily remedied with a few strokes of a file or similar tool.


Exactly:thumbup:
If you look back I filed .5 or so off important areas all round before gluing in.

Only getting to cast this now, weekend plans took over:thumbup:


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## MK1 Rabbit GTI (Jan 13, 2006)

very cool.
i hope you cast a bunch of them :thumbup:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

I started into it 2hrs ago, and once I had it moulded up I realised that I moulded it up a daft way, as in the box that weighed a ton was on the top, which had to be lifted off. A 30kg cope is no joke let me tell you[LOL]

So, tomorrow, Im going to mould it up upsidedown. Ill go through tonights process tomorrow eve, and the correct process too. Its funny how it makes sense to do it the other way when you have it done!! The smelter also took an age to warm up because of the new bricks/cement, loads of steam for an age, and not much heat.

Still, I got a perfectly usable 100% full part, but I know it could be shinier and easier mould up which is why Im casting it upsidedown tomorrow. Ill leave you with the last picture of 18 which youll see tomorrow, Uploading is taking an age[:s]










Signing off for tonight, my bed is calling[LOL]

BG


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## ABA Scirocco (May 30, 2001)

I can picture what the mold would have looked like, I'll bet it was a brute to roll and even worse to set the cope back into position! 

Anyways, it looks great and it'll look even better when you cast it upside down. Absolutely top notch work!!


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## Lord_Verminaard (Apr 6, 2004)

Amazing. Simply amazing!

Brendan


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

ABA, indeed a pig!  Few tense moments too as you can well imagine. Even though it doesnt take long to mould, its prob one of the most stressful times of casting, when your lifting, and replacing that top cope, I know you'll understand:thumbup:

Brendan, thanks for that, there will be more god help us!

Got it poured a second time a while ago and I now have a part that almost resembles a die cast item[:y:]

Photobucket keeps failing to upload on me As in it takes ages to upload, and then says it cannot save any of them. I emailed them, and they are to look into it. I cannot change account holders at this point, too much stuff with them to change now.

So, no pictures today either. Hopefully tomorrow. 

Tomorrow eve I hope to pull in the car and remove engine, remove head, and rebuild head with new seals. I can then screw it onto the 2.0L bottom end and run her through the test.

Then...back to work on the higher output 8v. 

And breathe:laugh:

BG


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## ABA Scirocco (May 30, 2001)

It's a strangely satisfying method of fabricating stuff isn't it? A while back I went to a large manufacturing technologies trade show, all the latest CNC, SLA machines etc., the very next day I made a simple cast part and as I was shaking it out of the sand, I thought to myself, "all those machines and everything yesterday were really cool but it just doesn't get any cooler than making stuff out of dirt and fire!"


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## PeOpLeG60T (Jul 5, 2004)

wow , very nice !


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## LT1M21Stingray (Sep 14, 2006)

Lord_Verminaard said:


> Amazing. Simply amazing!
> 
> Brendan


It is. :thumbup:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

ABA Scirocco said:


> It's a strangely satisfying method of fabricating stuff isn't it? A while back I went to a large manufacturing technologies trade show, all the latest CNC, SLA machines etc., the very next day I made a simple cast part and as I was shaking it out of the sand, I thought to myself, "all those machines and everything yesterday were really cool but it just doesn't get any cooler than making stuff out of dirt and fire!"


How very true is that. :thumbup: Id do often think about that sometimes. Its also a feeling you cannot describe unless youve done it when you pull that part of of there

Thanks for the rest of the replies guys, 

So I Set it uploading last night and it took in 17 pics by this morning so here they are, they are of the first mouldup(the wrong way:laugh

How it looked, just set down on a flat bed of sand to start, gate pattern installed, 










Riser runner, 










Pushed in and re smoothed, 










Starting to fill rocker, chill installed to help cool thick area under font, 










Filled, 










Left down on flat sand, 



















Cam area filled up, 










Cope on, And filled up, 










Cope lifted off, this is the bit that was a bear, it weighed a ton because gate system made mould very wide, 










Filled, 











Out, same pic as above, and a close up of the cap area direct out of mould, 



















Ill set it uploading again now and hopefully it will take in the second set of mould up pictures by this eve, I hope


BG


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

So, photobucket is semi okish, so Ill continue on to keep the photos upto date as best I can so I dont have to go back over them.

I havent as many photos as I took because its having problems uploading them for some reason, but works on others fine. So here they are, 

This time I moulded the part a bit different, still poured it the right way up, but changed the gating and added a riser. For the gate, I used a stocky tapered bit of teak, and fed the part centrally with two fan gates off the main runner. I let the main runner follow on past the fans to let any cold slugs, or dirt, travel on past the gates. The riser helps keep head pressure on the far end too. 
Making the mould like this made it very light to lift off to, since I didnt have a massive fan gate outside the mould taking up room in the box.

The pictures are a little skimpy, but you'll get the idea, 

The part out, and awaiting flash tidy up, 










Proper fill, great shine and detail, 




























The underside, showing fan gates and main runner, 










Run of 180 grit brought up the font and ribs as planned, 



















Cutting out the breather area, riser now snapped off, 










Another view of underside, 










Sitting in primer and drilled too for cover bolts. Ive one or two bits of machining/tapping to do on it yet, but its perfect, and Im happy, 
For the gasket surface underneath Im going to give it a run on the lapping plate, Its pretty near flat as is, 










Hope to remove engine this eve, and start build it up then:thumbup:

BG


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## oneunder (Mar 31, 2009)




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## polov8 (Apr 14, 2004)

Brian, it occurs to me that there'd be a pretty big market for custom cam covers with the owners choice of script. If you made the pattern blank, and were able to put whatever the customer wanted written where you have "Garvey" and the 2 little valves, I'd bet you could make a healthy profit!

Great work as always!:thumbup:


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## INA (Nov 16, 2005)

polov8 said:


> Brian, it occurs to me that there'd be a pretty big market for custom cam covers with the owners choice of script. If you made the pattern blank, and were able to put whatever the customer wanted written where you have "Garvey" and the 2 little valves, I'd bet you could make a healthy profit!
> 
> Great work as always!:thumbup:


Working on this know Flandy!


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Im sure there would, and shoot me down dead for saying Im not really looking to go that route, this rocker cover is special to me, Im 20yrs looking at engines, design, dynamics, reverse engineering, thinking, more or less every second of the day, So have my name on there at last makes me very proud of myself(sad as it sounds). I dont really want to see another of the same design, but with another users name on it, because then, its just another part to me. Ive got alot of ''Just another part'' going through my hands the last while, this one is mine.:heart:

Ye also have all been witness to my casting venture along with everything else, from the very start, its all done in real time with no cheating, so to get to the point were Im pouring one of the most difficult parts to pour is special too. Difficult in that its very long, and has got just 2.8mm walls. If you ask anyone into casting(If you find someone to_ask) they will tell you that 3mm is the limit of gravity casting. Simply because the hot alloy cools before it gets everywhere, and getting it everywhere fast takes alot of thinking, even though it may seem very easy in the pictures, and once you see it.
With a cylinder head, the metal is thicker in a lot of places, and you can feed it with massive gates, and have massive risers. On a rocker cover, its not so easy, as 90% of it is decorative(hate that word) So you have to keep gates and risers hidden, or minimal. 

It was a great part though that I enjoyed an awful lot, I learned so much more too on thin wall casting. I cannot wait to get it on there along with other bits. So stay tuned. And stay tuned for all this yr too:laugh:




Issam, 
If you use a cnc machine then that is cheating:laugh:

Cant wait to start on bracket pour next week

More later, talk soon guys, and thanks for following this little trip/quest of mine!

BG


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## polov8 (Apr 14, 2004)

That's fair enough, I totally understand your point of view 

Can't wait for the next instalment!


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## ArpyArpad (Jan 4, 2002)

amazing stuff! just curious but is it pretty light? i know its aluminum but it has a look like pewter.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Yup sure is light! I know it looks real shiney, its Lm25 and very good quality. Flux at time of melting ensures nice clean alloy too. The correct pouring temp also brings out the shine.
Plus, Its just a day old, you dont see many castings just a day old Im sure, anything you would buy would be a few weeks old Id imagine, and would have dulled a bit:thumbup:

Got the engine pulled this eve, 










As you can see its well tired:laugh:




























Thats a kent gsh2, which Ill be refitting, 









Headgasket also semi shot, slight blow on the fire ring, 










Gave head a good going over too ''Because Im worth it'' Valve guides were dead, as were seals, which I knew by the oil loss amongst other things,
Gave it a full port, new guides, tapered the noses, polished valves, and gave head a real good clean. This should ensure a good solid healthy head for however long its in there, 





































Valves awaiting grinding/lapping, 




















The nct man wont be too far off now:thumbup:

BG


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## INA (Nov 16, 2005)

Brian.G said:


> Issam,
> If you use a cnc machine then that is cheating:laugh:
> 
> Cant wait to start on bracket pour next week
> ...


No fair!


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

INA said:


> No fair!


:laugh:


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## MK1 Rabbit GTI (Jan 13, 2006)

i wanna see a nice cast 16v cover :thumbup:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

You wont see one from me to fit a vw since Ill be casting my own 16v head.
Plus, the 16v cover is hidden with the intake, unless your running turbo, or itbs. 
I guess one of the vendors could come up with something similar to the 5cyl billet 'leads hidden' cover if you wanted.


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## MK1 Rabbit GTI (Jan 13, 2006)

did not know you were casting your own head 
still going to be using vw valvetrain?


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

MK1 Rabbit GTI said:


> did not know you were casting your own head
> still going to be using vw valvetrain?


 Ya, I am, been designing it now for about 3yrs....

As for valve train, nothing in there will be made by Vw, but camshaft dimensions will be similar:thumbup:

Thats a bit off yet, but it will happen. The smelter I need is the size of a tar barrel and not a gas cylinder. That should be fun and I cant wait:thumbup:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

A couple of non-interesting photos from this evenings fumblings, 

Mainly of paint, Some pictures just have dust coats on, but you'll get the idea, buckets were worn, so I fitted new ones, to mind the cam more than anything


















The drillings/tappings, 



















Bucket wear...









New ones..



















Caps on, 




























Some more paint, 



















And gave them another coat after that. Tomorrow, Ill be sanding paint off all important surfaces, as well as the rocker cover font/top, and hitting them all with clearcoat. I can them button them all together and start fitting the thing. 
I have the breather designed for the cover so Ill have to pattern/cast that and also cast a breather blockoff plate for the block. Which will also have a tapped boss in it.

The weekend should have it all well shook:thumbup:


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## Jeebus (Jul 8, 2001)

Brian.G said:


> You wont see one from me to fit a vw since Ill be casting my own 16v head.


I've learned tons reading your posts, however the above statement is why I follow your threads.  When do you plan on tackling this?


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## ABA Scirocco (May 30, 2001)

Brian.G said:


> You wont see one from me to fit a vw since Ill be casting my own 16v head.





Jeebus said:


> I've learned tons reading your posts, however the above statement is why I follow your threads.


The first contact I had with Brian was before this thread began and before I was aware of any of his work. When he indicated he planned to design and cast his own 16v head, my initial impression was that this was wishful thinking by someone that didn't really realize what that all involved. However, it didn't take too long before I started to think maybe my initial impression was incorrect and now I fully expect him to pull it off. And, like everyone else here, I look forward to seeing it!


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

ABA Scirocco said:


> The first contact I had with Brian was before this thread began and before I was aware of any of his work. When he indicated he planned to design and cast his own 16v head, my initial impression was that this was wishful thinking by someone that didn't really realize what that all involved. However, it didn't take too long before I started to think maybe my initial impression was incorrect and now I fully expect him to pull it off. And, like everyone else here, I look forward to seeing it!


 Ill reply to that tomorrow when I have more time:beer:

Got the cover done this eve

Few pictures, nothing major, first is sanding off the paint of the raised areas, the rest is after topcoats:thumbup:


















































































Im happy out, its exactly how I had pictured in my head. I can now crack on since the intake and head is fully painted now too:thumbup:

BG


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## Issam Abed (Feb 12, 2004)

Brian,
I think I speak for the masses when I say this is truly amazing work.:thumbup:
You have really blown away everyone with your skill.
I want to make a small note that your cast has 0 puroisity (i.e. its good ****). I am sure some far east companies (cough that cast heads for Honda ...cough) are wondering how some bloke is casting parts in his backyard BETTER than them.

p.s. send me a valve cover por favor


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Issam Abed said:


> Brian,
> I think I speak for the masses when I say this is truly amazing work.:thumbup:
> You have really blown away everyone with your skill.
> I want to make a small note that your cast has 0 puroisity (i.e. its good ****). I am sure some far east companies (cough that cast heads for Honda ...cough) are wondering how some bloke is casting parts in his backyard BETTER than them.
> ...


 Issam, I cant tell you how thankful I am for those kind words, its been a great journey just to be this far. 
I guess it all spurred from hours looking at cool parts but not being able to afford them, so I set out to try and make my own, from nothing more than just dirt and wood, now, I realise that the possibilities are endless, its an amazing thought really
As for porosity, you are correct, careful planning and molten metal care ensures minimal porosity, this can clearly be seen(or the lack of) in the polished font:thumbup:

A few pictures before it gets bolted on there just for fun:laugh:














































@ABA, lets not forget what an inspiration your are to many also, I remember thinking I had struck gold when I found your manifold thread on here many moons ago, and also your co2 cure video on youtube. The truth was, I had struck gold, and I often look at them still. I think it was the first time I also found out after watching the video that ''old guys'':laugh: post on here too. And thats important, because with age comes experience, which, by reading your threads, you have tons of.:thumbup:


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## dubdaze68 (Oct 29, 2001)

All of this is literally amazing. That has a great old-skool feel to it.


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## deathhare. (Apr 1, 2008)

Stunning work. :thumbup:


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## JohnStamos (Feb 3, 2010)

Literally check this daily. :thumbup::thumbup:


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## lhcVdub (Dec 18, 2007)

AMAZING WORK! just spend hours reading this! keep it up :beer::beer::beer:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

lhcVdub said:


> AMAZING WORK! just spend hours reading this! keep it up :beer::beer::beer:


Oh I will

Im getting carried away with repainting stuff, Ive decided that Im not painting anymore stuff after this batch that I did this eve ,its just taking over But, I guess itll save me doing it again.
I did the mounts, the arb, the twin front crossmembers, the fan cowling, and some other small bits and pieces. Basically, the hard bits to remove again. Ill scrub the bay and see how it looks, if its poor, Ill prob convince myself to oakgreen her up again just to have it right:banghead: We shall see.

I also got the head and a few bits on the engine. I erased the picture of the front of it by mistake, but Ill have more later. Im refitting my helix clutch to it as I find it pretty good. 
The gear linkage bushes are a mess so Ill have to remake/do them too I suppose while they are all there in front of me. Its all covered in oil anyway from the engine.





































Im going to try use new bolts on everything going back where I can. Ill have to anyway since 30% of the bolts that should be there, were not:what:

Id hope to have her all back and running by Wednesday, but I might be a day longer. I can then get the car tested, and relax a bit, and get back to the proper engines for this yoke

Signing off for the rest of the weekend gentlemen, have a good one:thumbup::beer:

Brian,


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## vwovw (Apr 2, 2004)

WOW

gives me some insight on how for sure.
here is the scale I do.
























and cheers to you








and the fine detail of this process!!!!
love the valve cover.


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## turbinepowered (Mar 19, 2007)

Brian, are you planning to get into pressure casting when you move to do your new head, or are you going to keep casting as you are now?

[edit] porosity question answered above, whoops! Good show, I like the way that valve cover turned out! :thumbup::thumbup:


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## caddy 2 dope (Oct 18, 2004)

wow! i always wanted to do my own valve cover but lack the stuff to do it.
you sir are an inspiration! :thumbup:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

vwovw! Thats VERY cool!:thumbup::thumbup:

Tell me, are you gravity pouring, or do you fit to a centrifuge? If not, then try spinning the mould and pouring simultaneously(look up jewellery casting) you will get a complete fill every time then if you ever have bother on thin sections:thumbup:


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## vwovw (Apr 2, 2004)

gravity and i haven't been able to pour any bodies just frames. i take a palm sander and vibrate it. I'll check out jewelery casting. thanks. and again WOW to your work sir!


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

No problem:thumbup:

Got a bit done lastnight, nothing much, 
Spotted that the front engine mount was gone as the centre pulled out, I had suspected this but put it down to the Isv valve being dead and causing slight engine bucking, but The mount was dead too, possibly from the isv being gone, and possibly from my right foot too, 

So, 










Because it was the weekend, and because ordering would take 4 days to have one here in my hand, I made one up, mainly by using an opel mount I had here for an age. And, where theres a will theres a way!










Cut off old mount, 










Cut opel mount open, its of the hydro design, so lots of oil...the rubber bit is all I needed, 



















Welding to old base, 










Welded, keep as as cool as I could, the outer skin burnt a bit, but thats ok, the main vulcanised bond is on the inner mount surface, not the outside.










From a vibration point of view the mount was all I needed at this point, and would work fine, but, in the event of the rubber breaking, or if I was to crash, the rubber would break free, and god knows where the engine may end up, so I added a metal safety cage just over it. This will hold engine should anything happen, and It does not interfere with the isolation properties of the rubber, 










On and painted, problem solved, 










Cleaned up bay, I wont be painting, its grand, 










Its dried out a bit here and looks dirty again, but thats just surface dust/dirt that has dried again, the heavy gunge is gone I may wax here up to keep any possible rust at bay, although there is no rust as it is. Crossmember/subframe in, 



















Clutch on, 










More later, 

BG


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Figured out what alternator Im using, the one on the Gti engine had the top bit broken off, so that was junk(may feature as a different part in another life). I then looked at the abf arrangement but hadn't got an abf alternator, even though I have about 6 brackets. I then looked at a 16v mk2 unit and the bearings/pulley were shot missing, I finally settled on a Porsche alternator I had here, its perfect, albeit it rotten dirty and having the wrong offset pulley. Cleaned it down, stripped it out, checked tested/replaced brushes etc. Its actually a ''nice'' looking alternator in that it hasn't a million vents to gather dust/dirt. It also has a diecast alloy fan, very ''cool'', and I love alloy dont forget....

For the bracket I had a problem. I used the 2e tin rear timing tin guard. This guard has not got a hole for the long 6mm allen bolt as the 1.8 has. It also does not have the recess needed for the bit of the bracket that wraps around the end of the block. I didnt mind cutting the wrap around bit off the bracket, but that would then mean there was just one 13mm bolt on the front holding it on there, no good. So, Into the parts bin again, this time I won, I found an Audi 80 6a 2.0L 16v alternator bracket with no less than 6 securing holes. 2 of which are in the wrap around bit of bracket. I cut off this wrap around bit and I then had 3 securing holes into the front of the block. Perfect. If your confused with all that then you are normal.

I painted the alternator as the core band around the centre had surface rust on it. I cannot build an engine unless every aspect of it is mint regardless how the rest of the car looks so the spraygun had to come out again.
The fan disc had loads of alloy ''fur'' on it, so a quick spin in the lathe removed all that. Shot it with more dolomite grey(which looks ace on engine parts Ive discovered). Top coated with clear to make cleaning the engine easy in future, and making sure it will always look well as well as go well. This engine will be in storage for whiles at a time while the other engines are fitted remember.










The alternator also has a neat cowl fitted to the rear that I may use if it fits(you can just see it behind alt above). Its purpose in the Porker was to direct cool air to it as the alt sat right under the exhaust branch. I might throw it in the bin too if its not easy fit but I painted it just to be safe. It would in fairness protect the rear of the alternator as this one is a bit more exposed in that area than others.

The bracket fitting, 



















I also have to make up a breather plate and frost plug the hole(40mm on the 2e). I hate the oem plastic box breather as it always leaks where the hose joins it sooner or later. I have the pattern made for the for a long time so that will be fast.










I had a look again at stuff in the engine bay and spotted the bain of my life worn again. Id say in all my Gtis I must have replaced/re-bushed these damn things 50 times.

Guess what part it is...










Because I now prefer just changing parts that are pretty boring just once, Im going to design a new one, from scratch. I say that like its a big deal, its not really, but there is miles of room to improve it. 

The problem as we know is the bushings, 










The problem also is that no matter what bushings you fit in there, is that they will always wear. All kits, incl the very dear ones fall down on this simple problem. Its not the bush material, its the road grit and heat that wears these out. Standing in traffic, the heat collects around exhaust and roasts them. Going down a wet road covers them in grime. Remember these are always moving due to engine movement, its not just when your changing gear. Always wearing away....

To combat this problem I decided that two sealed for life splash proof stainless steel bearings would work nicely there to support the shaft. Nicely as in, Ill never have to think about them again. For the selector tube under car, Im going to fit a phosphor bronze cage, c/with stainless ball. I intend to fit a rubber gaiter both sides but I need to see how I am for room tomorrow before making up my mind. I fear that the gaiter nearest the front of the car may not have enough room to bunch up with the lever is moved to 2nd or 4th but Ill see. Ill protect it some other way if I cant. Its the dirt that kills all these bushings.
Why nobody has not used bearings on the vertical shaft before this I do not know.

So a quick pattern is needed, 

Its pretty self explanatory but a few pictures all the same. The heavy round bosses will be drilled out to fit said bearings once the part is poured. For ease of mouldup Im making it in two parts and bolting a small alloy angle to the rear with three hex bolts. 
The scoop out of the bottom is to lighten that area.



























































































Thats where I left it for today, Ill pour tomorrow eve along with a few other bits and then cut the counterbores, and fit the bearings. That will be the end of that parts problems then for good, and I can focus on other more Important items.

BG


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## zippy_vw_gti (Nov 18, 2008)

I am really impressed with the quality of the casting and pattern making. How much time do you have in making your various patterns, ie valve cover, various brackets and water neck?


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

zippy_vw_gti said:


> I am really impressed with the quality of the casting and pattern making. How much time do you have in making your various patterns, ie valve cover, various brackets and water neck?


I do it mostly in the evenings when its quiet and there's no one bothering me, so its hard to tell, but its pretty quick as I was a cabinetmaker for many years so what some may find tough, or tedious comes easy. I suppose in the shifter bracket theres about 1-1.5hrs work. The rocker cover pattern took around at a guess 4.5hrs including priming, paint, and full inspection of all draft angles. I did that over three evenings. I cant remember what the water neck took, but it was pretty fast as it was all lathe work. Im sure I could do them all faster, but taking photos takes time too. Im in no rush, better to have it 100% and take an hour longer, than have it 90% and be an hour quicker is really how I think for yrs. It pays in the long run too, no messing then or frustration.
Im by no means saying its cabinetry either, superglue and body fillers wouldn't go down well on a show cabinet, but it works, and the parts fit as well as they need to. The primer fills the rest.
I cant tell you how important it is to sort all your draft angles and plan them correctly. The gear shifter pattern looks a simple piece, but the draft angles are very complex when you take a closer look. Im not saying that trying to make a big deal out of it either, its just the way it is, and the way it needs to be in order for it to come out of the sand clean. .25 of a mm undercut and your screwed, the tolerance is that small. Remember its just sand, although it may look solid in the photos, its not. A stray fingernail, or a slight slip and its start again time.

Casting a part is also an insanely brilliant way to make something. 
You could machine from billet yes, you would end up with a very bling bling part which I dont really like the look of in an engine bay, spaceship yes, engine bay no. So like, some dont, I dont. You would also need an 80k machine to make it, and a block of 6061 worth about 60euro. Thats before you get into machine time, and for a part like the shifter your looking at a good while bolted to the bed.

You could also fab something from 6061 and a tig, again, I dont like how these parts look, they always remind me of seeing a super model, and then seeing a scar across her body. They will always look homemade. I have tig experience with aluminium, and I prefer to do it just when I need to. You have too much to worry about, warpage, purging, nice beads, working into and out of acute internal corners and being strong and good looking at the same time.
And thats before you have to actually make a strong part. say you picked 5mm plate to make the shifter from, you would have to tig in gussets to make it strong. I dont know if theres even room for gussets anywhere. With casting, a few 4mmx6mm ribs add great strength and take up little room or weight. Bosses can be added very easy too. How are you going to do that with a tig if you want the boss to have just a 3mm wall after its machined? It will only be welded on the outer fillet, inside the hole its not fixed at all. Unless of course you penetrate deeper, tigging an 8mm boss onto 3mm plate is not fun if your after 3mm penetration on the edges of the 8mm boss piece. 

What I mean in a nutshell to end this mighty rant, is that casting gives me massive freedom to do exactly what I want, and have a good looking strong part that looks off the shelf when Im done:thumbup:

More...:laugh:

Had to make another one of these for the 2e block, I added a boss to pattern for a fitting hole/tapping, 



















Got the shifter bracket done, and painted with black guide coat as with rocker cover, 



















The bearings, they are slightly different than the ones I had planned, in that they are able for higher temperature environments, I think they are used in low temp ovens. 










Back to the blanker plate, moulding this is easy, I put it down on a board, and back filled it, turned flask and board over, removed board and Im left with this, 










Im going to place the sprue right on the rear of boss, this will mean Ill have no gate showing on the part externally that will need grinding/cutting off. The sprue dowel is turned at the top with a radius, so that when part is cooled, the sprue necks in where it meets part, and it will just snap off with a tap of a hammer, 










Filled, sprue dowel removed, and funnelled, 










The all important liquid, 










Poured and out, 



















Back to that later for maching/drilling, 

Onto shifter pour while smelter is still hot, 

This is more complex, so you may have to look real close at the pictures to see the profile of the sand, its really, really hard to catch the profiles with the camera no matter what I set it to, 

Two flasks stacked and filled half wayish with lightly packed sand, pattern placed on and pressed down. This bed is just for positioning and packing, and will be coming out again in a minute, 










Pattern now covered with tightly packed sand and drawn off, 










Complete assembly now turned over, loose positioning sand facing up, 










Positioning sand dug out, and pattern is now exposed, this bit has to be done with care as this is where I rake down to the parting line all around, 










I took a few shots of this to try and show you just how complex the parting line can be on a simple looking part. Remember the parting line is also where both draft angles meet on both sides of the part, ensuring the pattern can be withdrawn with minimal disruption, 

You may need to look closely, the sand differs in height of about 75mm between lowest and highest spots, 




























Cope on and dusted well with parting dust(I use joint filler power stuff)










I placed the sprue dowel right on the boss that will support the gear change rod, where the plastic orange bush usually is in the oem one, again, this will be bored out so no cleanup needed.

Filled the top flask(cope) and packed well. Few taps to flasks and lifted it off, 

Bingo, 










Few taps to pattern, and pulled it up out of bottom flask, very little breakout at edges:thumbup:










Closed up, poured, and out, 




























Proposed bearing location, Ill have to line bore these, as the rod sits back at about 80 degrees in respect to the base, should be pretty simple, 










BG


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## Brycejoseph (Jul 9, 2008)

Brian that is super cool! I remember doing this with brass with my dad when i was a kid! I remember pouring melted brass scrap into ingots and a few drops of spring rain decided to fall, molten metal is very explosive when water hits it. Still have the scars on my arm where it burn through my long sleeve shirt. Thank god for my big foundry gloves my dad had me wear! 

That sand has a really distinct smell  Making the pattern is what would get me!

As always inspiring.


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## ArpyArpad (Jan 4, 2002)

once again, amazing stuff!

i see you stamp your initials on the piece. come on man, you can come up with a tiny little logo or something cooler! say, like your valve cover logo sort of like the vw/audi stamps on all their junk


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Bryce, 
Great memories!:thumbup:
The smoke does pong alright, herself now knows every time I was casting by the smell off my clothes, shes getting to like it though, I think:laugh:

Arpy, The stamp is done on the pattern, its small, embossed so cant be sanded off part, and yes its a bit crap, I must make a few tiny prints soon,:thumbup:

Got the shifter bracket almost machined, bored it twice to jig up as it was the strongest way to mount it, I had to do on the lathe, as my boring head was not long enough to get it in one shot on the mill, first picture(shaky one) is after I pilot bored it to 16mm. This 16mm hole will provide clearance for the 15.5mm line boring bar I had to make up, 










The line borer fitted, its high chrome bar(cant remember spec). I drilled a 6mm hole in it, and another 5mm hole tapped to m6 intersecting it for a grub screw to hold cutter. Cutter is a re ground 6mm bit. Line boring is a great way to bore holes accurately. Its the way cam and crank bearings are bored.










The cutter detail, 










Bored. The saddle is move along to bore piece.










Final cut was very light to provide interference fit, pictures of checking also, 














































Driving in lower bearing, 










The oem shaft turned down at ends for bearing, I had to cut off and reweld relay arm to be able to chuck it up, 










Getting there, I fitted an oil seal to a slight groove in shaft to further protect lower bearing of any water/grit that may run down bar. The oil seal skirt hoods over bearing 2mm to provide a drip off edge. Bearings are stainless also.










Top bearing driven on, 



















Spacer fitted to further clamp bearing, and arm fitted, bit of a difference in the two already, it feels beautiful to pivot.










Few small bits to do, and thats her done. I can then fit, and then leave in engine. Hope to start it tomorrow(the engine)


BG


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## vwovw (Apr 2, 2004)

:thumbup:


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## INA (Nov 16, 2005)

:thumbup::heart:


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## vwovw (Apr 2, 2004)

:thumbup::thumbup::heart::heart: sup Issam? and a:beer:


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## turbinepowered (Mar 19, 2007)

If you keep all this up, I'm going to need to invest in buckets to hold the drool it produces... :laugh:

That bracket is _gorgeous_, Brian. I like it!


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## wantacad (Apr 4, 2003)

Seems to me you are just looking for anything and everything to cast now. :laugh:

Fantastic work Brian. :thumbup:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

turbinepowered said:


> If you keep all this up, I'm going to need to invest in buckets to hold the drool it produces... :laugh:
> 
> That bracket is _gorgeous_, Brian. I like it!


 Its not really meant to look good, moreso work good:laugh:, but thanks, !

I can cast you a small bucket and send it over if your condition persists??:laugh:

, Thanks Issam, and vwovw, 

Moar ,

Nearly done now...I swear...

Got the blanker plate bored tapped and fitted, I thought this should be high priority Incase anything falls in there, that would be bad as the sump would need to come off, got the frost plug seated too, in the other round hole to the left, 





































Back to shifter again, for the nearly last time, bit slack on the photos this eve, but you'll get the idea. I didnt bother taking pictures of a lot of the lathe work, since you know how it all works by now on simple stuff, 

Made this, 










The inside is hollowed out as large as it would allow me, and the ends are counterbored twice. Once for the two phosphor bronze bushings I made also, and once for the oil seals. Think of the ends as being stepped, 










Interference fit, and reamed after pressing in, Ill still need to hone by hand to get the correct fit Im after, Ill know by feel, 










Oil seal presses in like so either end, these seals are supposed to be both for rotation, and linear motion, to be honest they look pretty like every other oil seal Ive seen, but I wont get too worried about it, it would be different if I was building a jet engine, 










I drilled and tapped two holes in the bottom side for two grease nipples. Now I dont know as yet if Ill use oil, or grease in there, but there is room for either, but at least Ill have the option. There is another hole in the top(you'll see in a minute) that I could use for an oil fill hole. In case your wondering why I fitted two nipples the reason is simple, when Im filling it(grease gun), the second nipple is pressed, to allow any air out, instead of blowing out the oil seals either end. 



















The rear bracket. Some al angle. I could have cast this on, but the fact that I made a hollow in the base for lightness would then mean Id have to stand a little core there in order to get the top flask off the pattern. The sand would lock under the bracket. Its a little bit more work this way, but its ok, saved me making a core box and all that.










I drilled it again on the lathe, I prob should have milled out this, but all the mess(tools) were on the lathe, so I just used that instead. Its clamped a bit hairy fairy, but its solid and I got the tolerance on the hole I needed, you guessed, another interference fit. This time a fit that Id need the vice to seat.










I put some bond fluid on it and pressed in, I cant remember number, but its for fits between non ferrous alloys, It might come to me yet.



















The two tappings on top are to hold a heat shield that I have to think up a shape for yet, the screw length is random for the minute,










This is the best option I feel for this bush(the crap plastic one) Doing away with bush altogether and converting a short section of the shaft to linear motion with rotation. Ill joint it to the main control shaft with a form of heli joint(probably not a heli as they are 80euro) but something just as good. The heat shield, combined with the polished P.bronze bushings(28mm long each) combined with the oil/grease, and oilseals, and everything else Ive done above should make this a beauty for years.










Im not that worried about the ones(links) higher in the bay and near the box as yet, as they are easy get at, and basic designs, I just want this properly sorted before I fit engine, because I hate working in this area with all the bits in place/in the way.

BG


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## Dave926 (Mar 30, 2005)

Im just speechless. I really dont know how to complement you Brian. You make it look easy enough to probably make almost anyone who has read this thread want to try casting.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Dave926 said:


> Im just speechless. I really dont know how to complement you Brian. You make it look easy enough to probably make almost anyone who has read this thread want to try casting.


Hopefully people will:thumbup:

My advice to anyone starting is to just start. I bought one book yrs ago, and to be honest, it was of little help since much of casting work is in practice, and at the bench. Id say not to bother with melting any metal for two months, but instead buy some sand and start making a few patterns to mould up. Practice moulding up, and getting a feel for sand, and once your confident, get onto filling that mould with metal:thumbup:
I found one internet forum too a while back, but when I registered, I was never accepted, or allowed to post for some reason, so I really had to go it alone.


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## Lord_Verminaard (Apr 6, 2004)

Now THAT is how you do a proper linkage shifter! Looks yummy, I bet you can't wait to row through the gears with that!!!

Makes me want to rethink using cable shift on my Scirocco!!!

Brendan


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## turbinepowered (Mar 19, 2007)

Brian.G said:


> Its not really meant to look good, moreso work good:laugh:, but thanks, !
> 
> I can cast you a small bucket and send it over if your condition persists??:laugh:


Perhaps I could make that my first project, casting myself a drool bucket. :laugh:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Genuine :laugh: @ that Turbinepowered:laugh:

Brendan, I hate and always will cables, I had an 02A c/w cables on my 16vg60 and it was like fitting the gear lever to a basketball, yuck.


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## Brycejoseph (Jul 9, 2008)

Brian,

My dad sent me this link.
Crafting a Tsuba
First thing I thought of was your thread.

Enjoy,


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## polov8 (Apr 14, 2004)

WOW! Those are absolutely stunning!

I can't believe the levels of intricate detail that's gone into them! It's like if the maker could think of another insane level of subtle complication, they'd do it! The stripes blew my mind. 

I'm wittling an old chunk of copper as we speak........:laugh:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

What lovely work does that man do:heart::thumbup::thumbup: Looks like he loves his metals so another :thumbup: for that. I looked at them both, and must look at them again now!! 
Thanks for sharing, :beer: 

Update, 
Bit skimpy on the pictures as I forgot to charge camera and couldnt be waiting for it, but you'll get the idea, dont worry, 

Got the shifter finished and fitted, because heli joints are an insane price(to me at the minute) and, it would take 6 days to have one here in my hand, I improvised for the time being. 
I used a uj from a 1/2'' socket set. They can be good, or bad out of the box, and mine was an old one, and somewhere in between, so I remade it slightly. 
I have no picetures of process, but all I did was knocked out the original sloppy fit pins, bored out holes to around 6.8mm, and then reamed to 7mm with my hand reamer(Its in one of the pics on the bench) 
Next was to find 7mm pins, that are hard and wont wear too fast. Now....whats 7mm in diameter on a vw engine that wont wear fast....correct, a valve stem! 
Cut two bits, tapped them in, and then clinched them with the ball pein hammer. Job done, heli join with no play. Its is im sure a bit heavier than a heli, but I can live with that for a while. Im going to remove the weighted shift rod, as the uj carries enough mass to do the same job.(Its in no way the same weight as the shift rod, but Ill remove rod anyway, once I get a straight link bar/new bars) 

Onto the finishing pictures, I turned a bush for the ball shaft, its press fit on to the shaft, and I it pressed on, 










The 'ball' a little different to the oem one thankfully! 
When I made the bracket, I adjusted it so that the arm sat a little higher in respect to the balls position. This allowed me to pin the ball in place in a way that the pin would be hidden up inside the ball, and leave me with a drip off edge for any splash water. The bush setup also no means that I have a 15mm bearing surface diameter, instead of the original 12mm(the shaft that sticks into ball) Meaning, a greater surface to wear, therefore should wear wayyyyyy slower. 










The o ring stops any possible rattles that may occur at idle, I cant have this engine bay rattling, the shame... 

Under the o ring are two holes that I needed to shove in lock pin, 



















You can see the o ring makes contact just when you shift, and compresses 1/2mm if needed, back to the alloy. Its a pretty easy part to replace too, if it ever needs to be, (the o ring) 










There was 3mm of play there with the original ball.... 

The end of the control shaft needed squaring to fit into 1/2 socket set uj, done, and a slight dimple to locate screw, 



















I also made the heat shield as I said I would, its a simple part and just a bit of aluminium shaped to fit, you can see it below in the fitted pictures, Theres two washers under it to give a nice airspace. It would have probably been ok as it was, but I felt it was a nice addition to the radiating heat from the 4 branch at standstill(town traffic) when you dont have much air movement. 



















From the top, I just refitted the other links for the time being, Im going to cast links with spherical inserts, but they will do for a few weeks until I pick some up that I can press into cast links. 










An idea of the tolerances/space I was designing into, its pretty tight in there, fits though...amazingly.. 










Got the engine dropped in too, I can start screwing bits to it now. Its bolted to an lsd'd box too, I love it. But not the ratios or fd, its a 2y, but Im going to sort that soon to something I like better, 










Im going to give the bottom pulleys a lick of paint also, they are just on there for setup, 

I have to make an alternator adjustment bracket tomorrow I just thought....I forgot about that. Ill think of something...and also the rocker breather , 

Got the rad back together, minor job, but Im glad I painted the cowling, it was gone rusty in spots, so its ok again for another good while, I dont really mind dirt, but rust I cannot handle, 










It will run tomorrow, I must shoot up a video, 

BG


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## ArpyArpad (Jan 4, 2002)

Brycejoseph said:


> Brian,
> 
> My dad sent me this link.
> Crafting a Tsuba
> ...


 thanks for posting that. amazing dedication and craftsmanship:thumbup:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Taking a ''commercial break'' from this for a week, back at it as soon as I return,:thumbup: 

BG


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## Dub-Nub (Sep 27, 2005)

Brian.G said:


> Taking a ''commercial break'' from this for a week, back at it as soon as I return,:thumbup:
> 
> BG


 It's been a week...i come to work to look at this thread :thumbup:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Just back yesterday and back at it this eve, no rest for the wicked:thumbup::laugh:


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## turbinepowered (Mar 19, 2007)

Brian.G said:


> Just back yesterday and back at it this eve, no rest for the wicked:thumbup::laugh:


I am prepared this time, I brought my drool bucket.


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## Brycejoseph (Jul 9, 2008)

I found some awesome links on casting while searching for Audi stuff.

 Reconditioning of Aluminum engine blocks 


These are very dense and very technical, not really light reading


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## Preen59 (Oct 18, 2008)

Finally got all the way through this thread...

Wow.. Stunning work on the casting, mate. And i say this as a machinist/toolmaker/CNC Machinist. Well done!!


And thanks to Issam for giving me the link! :wave:


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## Dub-Nub (Sep 27, 2005)

Yo Brian, did time stop? :wave:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

No, :laugh:

I just stopped for a few days, the good thing is, its the weekend now, so Ill tie up another post and get it up here:thumbup:

Shes alive and running, and ready for car test thankfully, 

Pics, and vid soon, 

BG

Edit/was the weekend! > Got stuff done I mean,


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## turbinepowered (Mar 19, 2007)

Brian.G said:


> No, :laugh:
> 
> I just stopped for a few days, the good thing is, its the weekend now, so Ill tie up another post and get it up here:thumbup:
> 
> Shes alive and running, and ready for car test thankfully,


Car testing your manifold and throttles, too, or are those not done?


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## sdezego (Apr 23, 2004)

If you don't post something soon, I may be forced to go into the garage and actually do something


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## Dub-Nub (Sep 27, 2005)

sdezego said:


> If you don't post something soon, I may be forced to go into the garage and actually do something


Agreed, the most engineering i have done has been reading this thread :laugh:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

I LOLed reading those posts:laugh:

Update on the way, I promise. As for testing the intakes, no, not yet, what you saw being build in the last few posts is just my Nct engine(car test) I need a solid emission correct engine, for when Ive my other engines built, as they will be on the limits of everything. 

If any of you fancy a break from car stuff(like I do sometimes) keep an eye on this link too, 

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?5267240-My-Aviators-Desk-Fan-Design Ye all know at this stage that I need to be stuck in a wide variety of 'making things' to keep me ticking, :thumbup:

Ill update on here tomorrow eve, Im just sorting pictures now:thumbup:

BG


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## Bazmcc (Jan 11, 2005)

So there's a big update coming then?

There must be as you're online.

P.S. I still have that R32 block but I had to set it outside.

P.P.S. Is it worth my while making a hydraulic press for pressing in bushes and bearings or would buying one be cheaper?


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## 2FLY (Dec 3, 2010)

this thread is out off the ****in hook. good job brian, i was lookin at one of your drawings of the 2l intake and was using those dimensions to draw an sri on mastercam and the dimensions didnt seen to line up. im gonna remeasuure and make a new drawing, if you want copy or need anything drawn up just hit me up.


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## dubCanuck1 (Apr 1, 2005)

Any chance for an update?


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## nothing-leaves-stock (Mar 1, 2005)

this is fill with amazing skill. unreal :beer:


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## Bazmcc (Jan 11, 2005)

Brian, where have you been? Whatever happened that last update?


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## [email protected] (Jan 2, 2009)

Brian, 

What are your thoughts on using rapid prototypes (ABS Plastic type) for patterns in short run use? 

Pete


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## naterkane (Feb 8, 2001)

i discovered this thread last night. now... 24 hrs later, i'm caught up. 

and though i have a number of motor/car builds under my belt, you've effectively made me feel like a useless, talentless and lazy person. cheers!


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Pete, Ive thought about it. Printer costs are still pretty dear, but I guess 3rd party patterns would work if someone had them, and wanted a part struck off of them.

Big update coming soon. Some of you may know that I took a pretty amazing job 3months ago. The job lets me display all my skills, and puts pretty much everything you have seen me do so far into use. 

I completed the 2.0l nct engine, and since sold the car as I really want a 2 door for the rest of my work.

Im continuing with the 2.0l 85mm bore engine now, as I originally set out to do. The one with the head Ill be casting. The 4dr Mk2 caused me a lot of distractions so Im just focusing on the engine now.

Ive come to thinking that Im going to chop off the skirt and cast a one piece main girdle for it. The oem block is a bit light in terms of main bearing support.
For full details on the girdle as audi did it, go to club gti, scroll down to engines, go 16v, and look for the 300hp BTCC Audi thread, you will find it easy. Lot of reading there.

Because my new job involves a lot of world travel, I bought a mile muncher for travelling to airport/etc.

Here she is, shes a beaut and I love it as a cruiser, check out the reg too, took a while to find. Engine is small in Us terms, but its plenty big for here-road tax is 900euro per yr on a 2.5 in Ireland Its around 190hp, so fine really..




























The search continues for a black Mk2 2dr. Ill find one.

In the mean time not a minute goes by when Im not planning my next move with regards the 85mm block. It will all happen, just a little slower than it used.

Keep an eye out, 

BG:thumbup:


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## polov8 (Apr 14, 2004)

E39 sport, a great choice! I still miss my 528, but the fuel consumption was crippling! I wish I'd had a deisel, but hey ho......


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## INA (Nov 16, 2005)

clocks ticking hombre


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## LevySUCKS (Jul 6, 2011)

Brian.G, your work is truely inspring, so much that I have decided to follow in your footsteps and begin casting my own parts. I began by reading your entire thread, then I read the dave gingery books ( just the first one and a half so far) all the info I could find on BackyardMetalCasting.com, and a few other books. Since then I had a buddy construct a crucible and lifting tongs, the crucible modeled after yours, the tongs I gave him free reign. 








When he finished making those for me I made a furnace from fire brick i found on my property, remarkably i found.... 75 maybe 100! on my and my neighbors house used as walkway, luckily my neighbors house is empty right now so i ..... "liberated" the bricks. I cut an angle on them and put them into a 30 gal oil drum. 








So far i have melted down about 15-20 pounds of aluminum into ingots.








You can follow my thread on http://www.alloyavenue.com/vb/showthread.php?5716-Levy-s-garage-foundry. I will try to update here as well.


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## MK1 Rabbit GTI (Jan 13, 2006)

sweet setup you have there. good luck with it :thumbup:


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## INA (Nov 16, 2005)

:thumbup:


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## ArpyArpad (Jan 4, 2002)

:wave:


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## dubCanuck1 (Apr 1, 2005)

Brian, tell us you've got some updates!


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## .T.o.n.y. (Apr 3, 2003)

:thumbup::thumbup:


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## INA (Nov 16, 2005)

dubCanuck1 said:


> Brian, tell us you've got some updates!


He has a whole bunch.
Brian just became the next Steve Jobs so expect alot of cool updates from him soon!:thumbup:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Ha! I really wish that was true Issam!! 

Indeed I have updates, and still working long hours deep into the nights as always. 

I recently bought a cnc mill now that I can afford one, so that should be handy. 

So much to do and tell, it will happen!

Never stop trying guys:thumbup: Loving your own pictures in here:beer:

Brian,


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## JohnStamos (Feb 3, 2010)

*FV-QR*

Still following Brian, waiting for your future updates.:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:


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## Bazmcc (Jan 11, 2005)

Brian.G said:


> Ha! I really wish that was true Issam!!
> 
> Indeed I have updates, and still working long hours deep into the nights as always.
> 
> ...


Brian I have a mate planning on buying a CNC mill probably sometime soon. Are there many about at reasonable money?


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Barry, down south there is not too many, but keep your eyes open. It all depends what he wants, and how much hes spending. Done deal is a good site, but it covers south only I think - not too sure. 

Brian,


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## Bazmcc (Jan 11, 2005)

I don't think he's scared of spending good money for the right one. Probably around 10K I heard him mention at one point though.

Travelling for it wouldn't be an issue.

I'll have a butcher round done deal to see what's about.

Are we going to see a few updates or pictures here soon?


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Bazmcc said:


> I don't think he's scared of spending good money for the right one. Probably around 10K I heard him mention at one point though.
> 
> Travelling for it wouldn't be an issue.
> 
> ...


http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/plantmachinery/2682168 :thumbup:

B,


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## Bazmcc (Jan 11, 2005)

Brian.G said:


> http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/plantmachinery/2682168 :thumbup:
> 
> B,


Nice one.

Just off the phone with him there. He's bought a few bits and pieces since so the budget has dropped a bit. I think he's found one that would do most of his current work for about 5K and he said he'd be happy enough using it until he got enough work to justify using something like that one. He said he'd already spotted it and would love it but just doesn't want to go for the bigger one just yet. He said they had 4 of those in at his work where he does the 9-5.


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## chandlerGTi (Jul 13, 2004)

Your "mile muncher" nearly maatches mine. Touring was needed here.

I am enjoying this thread and hope to see some new crap coming down the pike.


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## Malkierie504 (Oct 6, 2007)

holy crap this thread has been absolutely amazing to read. :thumbup::thumbup:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Thanks a lot:thumbup::beer:

Since I was recently to Italy on a few factory invites, Ill share some of those pictures later for you Us guys. I know Italy is a bit from you, and getting there takes a bit longer than for us Europeans so Ill shoot some up once they are uploaded. 

As for what the actual thread is all about, Im resetting workshop a bit as the cnc mill is taking up a bit of time to install, wire, and learn to use. But Im getting there at long last. It feels like a million years since Ive actually done anything engine related :banghead:

Talk soon with some 'interesting pictures' 

Brian!


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## polov8 (Apr 14, 2004)

Can't come soon enough, I love this thread!


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Ok, so a few pictures! I intended going to Italy to show Horacio Pagani something, but as it turned out, I hadn't what I wanted to show him ready, so I went anyways:laugh: Ill probably go again after Christmas. 

While I was there I said Id take in Ferrari and Lamborghini too while I was at it. 

The pictures are grouped as best I can for each manufacturer, my new camera seemed to have jumbled up the order though:banghead:

I flew in Linate Airport. For anyone thinking of going to these factories Ill do a little travel guide.

You fly into Linate(I picked there because all other airports are closed this time of year to European flights(not sure about International flights)
You walk right out the airport door and theres a ton of buses that are easy see. You take the 'Central station' bus that takes you into Milan City, that takes about 15min. From there you get train tickets at the station for Modena. Again, this is easy(they dont talk much English, nor do I Italian!) Train is an Hr long, and costs about 50euro return(get a return ticket, mine lasted a week).
You arrive in Modena station and walk out the door to the taxi rank(or get a bus if you like those)
Your heading to Maranello, its about 20min from Modena station and costs about 20euro. 
Keep in mind I had none of this organised bar booking the hotel. I prefer to travel that way, It means not having a ton of pages with you and crap. I just figure it out as I go along.:thumbup:

Once in Maranello you can pick whatever hotel you like. I had to have the one room Ive wanted for years. The Junior suite in the Planet Hotel over looking the Ferrari factory, and my god I wasn't disappointed:thumbup:




























Not bad eh?!:laugh:

Right, onto some Ferrari pictures in no real order AT ALL, mainly all taken in the museum around the corner from the Planet Hotel. One thing about the hotel also, its right infront of the F1 engine building(opposite side to the factory) and every morning I woke up to the sound of f1 engines on dynos at full tilt:heart::heart: Man thats some sound and one I hadn't heard in too long. Forget youtube, the real thing is insanity for your ears.










Here we are, bad hair days for the week:laugh:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

I forget to mention, I knew that Ferrari had bare castings on display, so I took about 200 pictures of those for later, but theres a few thrown in here too for kicks. I learned a lot by just looking at them, and wondering why they cast them as they did. Turned out it all made sense after a bit of thinking.













































One of the Ferraris I had hired getting a level check before handing over, 




































































































The Alps...a bit random stuck in here:laugh:










tons more uploading...up shortly...


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## huichox4 (Nov 8, 2004)

thanks, this is glorious !! ... One day I will be there ... one day


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## duffmanh06 (Apr 22, 2008)

........ wow .........


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Huichox4, I said the very same some time ago, but I never knew how Id make it possible. But, if you keep trying really hard, you can do whatever you want Ive found. People sometimes say that too much, and too easily giving the effort it can take, but anythings possible if you really want to. Racing up and down in front of the factory driving Ferraris is an experience I cannot describe on here, I just cant put it into words, it was very personal time for me, appreciating the cars for what they are, once you take all the school boy hipe and merchandise crap away from it, its really something. Nothing will replace it EVER. Ill talk about the cars later...

Onto more pictures, because I uploaded assways, we have the Pagani pictures next. I had arranged to meet a month previous(see above). I met Horacio, his beautiful wife Cristina and all the team, and they showed me around. No pictures sadly of any of the factory floors in any of the makes, but thats to be expected. 

So, onto some pictures of Pagani, and the showroom, Pagani is around 20min from Maranello. I just got a taxi as there is no buses out that way, or taxis back, so I got the driver to wait for me while I was there, for fear Id be stranded. The taxi out, back, and for waiting was 90euro. I was in there about 1.5hrs. Pretty good value I thought?

Ill talk about Horacio later, but first some pictures. Ive seen some work in my time, and cars, and art, and machining, and all that other stuff like that, but his cars are like nothing Ive ever seen before when viewing them in the flesh. I went through the cars and every part is just insane. More on that later, Ill left the pictures do the talking first,




























See what I mean...

















































































































































After our chat he went off and got one of his concept prints. It pretty blew me away. Given what I had gone there for, and to see, he told me to use it for inspiration if I ever needed it. It was hard to take it in, that these were the cars, and the guy that conceived them right infront of me, and that he was showing me design issues, and ways he got around it, HIMSELF 
Possibly one of the more inspirational men Ive ever met. A lot of uber car companies have no faces. In Pagani, this is him, right there, chatting away. It was like a dream, who would have thought this day would come.










His wife Cristina kindly told me what he wrote, 

''To Brian, Best regards, 


















































































tons more to come...uploading...


Brian!


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Image directly below bends the mind, doesnt it?


----------



## frechem (Oct 19, 2002)

Wow such attention to detail and insane design aesthetics. Thank you for sharing.


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## Zorba2.0 (Jan 28, 2005)

opcorn: Awesome work. I can't wait to take Metal Casting at school now.


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## sdezego (Apr 23, 2004)

Truly awe inspiring!

Did you happen to study that AMG intake? Just wondering if those blocks were to help distribute flow or if they were needed for some Coil on Plug clearance below. Very interesting.


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## Lord_Verminaard (Apr 6, 2004)

Yeah I was wondering that about the intakes too.

Fantastic pics, thanks for sharing!!

Brendan


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

The welded-in sections in the intake are for the removal of the pencil coils without removing the intake:thumbup:


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## huichox4 (Nov 8, 2004)

Brian.G said:


> The welded-in sections in the intake are for the removal of the pencil coils without removing the intake:thumbup:


beat me to it, haha you can see then sticking out below thats what made me think that they were there to clear something. although one wonders if they have an adverse effect on the actual flow or if it is negligible?

Thanks again for sharing this Brian and for the words of advise too :thumbup::thumbup:


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## MikkiJayne (Jan 1, 2007)

*FV-QR*

That purple carbon fibre is *gorgeous*


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

MikkiJayne said:


> That purple carbon fibre is *gorgeous*


Its insane close up:thumbup: Gives the CF great depth.

Asked him how he did it, they 'just' dye the resin, seems a simple enough concept I thought?

Brian!


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## HwAoRrDk (Aug 2, 2002)

Brian.G said:


> Ill talk about Horacio later, but first some pictures. Ive seen some work in my time, and cars, and art, and machining, and all that other stuff like that, but his cars are like nothing Ive ever seen before when viewing them in the flesh. I went through the cars and every part is just insane.


You're absolutely right. I think no other contemporary car manufacturer in the world so successfully bridges the gap between engineering and art as does Pagani.

I remember with the Zonda R, looking agog at a feature photoshoot of it in EVO magazine, where they had top-down shots of the rear of the car with the bodywork off. Just pure engineering pornography, looking at all the details of the suspension system, the exhaust, etc.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Tons more pictures uploading:thumbup:

Brian,


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## Dub-Nub (Sep 27, 2005)

Why would these objects be inside intake manifold?


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## Lord_Verminaard (Apr 6, 2004)

Dub-Nub said:


> Why would these objects be inside intake manifold?


:banghead:

Brendan


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## CDJetta (May 11, 2004)

Read comments



Brian.G said:


> The welded-in sections in the intake are for the removal of the pencil coils without removing the intake:thumbup:


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## Dub-Nub (Sep 27, 2005)

sorry guys, my bad. I read the previous comments just now.


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## thatGTIguy (Feb 2, 2010)

Here is an interesting website about metals... 

http://www.keytometals.com/page.aspx?ID=Articles&LN=EN


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## sdezego (Apr 23, 2004)

thatGTIguy said:


> Here is an interesting website about metals...
> 
> http://www.keytometals.com/page.aspx?ID=Articles&LN=EN


Wow, there is a lot of good stuff out there.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Happy Christmas guys, 2012 will be amazing:thumbup:

:snowcool::snowcool::snowcool:

Brian!


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Right then, more pictures, this time, Lambo, because thats the order they are coming in:banghead:

























































































































































from a boat!














































more on route...


Brian,


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)




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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Thats all until I upload more tomorrow. 

For those of you who hate sparkling bling, dont worry, we'll be coming back to ground with a big bang very soon:laugh:

Brian,:thumbup:


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## CDJetta (May 11, 2004)

What car is in picture day3lambofactory028.jpg


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## thatGTIguy (Feb 2, 2010)

>


I'm no expert but it looks like this crankshaft goes from cast billet, machined, heat treated, and then polished?


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## MikkiJayne (Jan 1, 2007)

*FV-QR*

Awesome!


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## polov8 (Apr 14, 2004)

More please!


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## ABA Scirocco (May 30, 2001)

thatGTIguy said:


> I'm no expert but it looks like this crankshaft goes from cast billet, machined, heat treated, and then polished?


 Looks more like a forging to me, the parting line on that billet is far too wide for it to be a casting.


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## huichox4 (Nov 8, 2004)

ABA Scirocco said:


> Looks more like a forging to me, the parting line on that billet is far too wide for it to be a casting.


 I think you are right, I didnt even notice the parting line the first time I saw it.


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## AJmustDIE (Dec 22, 2010)

More of your stuff!


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

AJmustDIE said:


> More of your stuff!


Loads of pics coming later tonight....back to the usual stuff, you will like...

:thumbup:

BG


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## frechem (Oct 19, 2002)

Brian.G said:


> Loads of pics coming later tonight....back to the usual stuff, you will like...
> 
> :thumbup:
> 
> BG


Sweet. Looking forward to it!


----------



## JohnStamos (Feb 3, 2010)

Brian.G said:


> Loads of pics coming later tonight....back to the usual stuff, you will like...


 :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:


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## dubCanuck1 (Apr 1, 2005)

Yay!


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

pics uploaded....it was hard to know where to start!

Brian,


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Right, well its great to be back. 

Obviously,the machine below changes things a bit, but remember, Im 20yrs dreaming of one. Before Christmas, I finally put that dream to reality and went out and bought one. 

I had looked at a lot, the newer ones have pros, and cons. Pros are they are newer, and shiny. But, the new machines have pretty small beds for the money, if you want good travel, you go into insane money fast. I also always loved the movable knee on the bridgeport for doing high work.

I went out with all that in mind and bought a hurco. It had very little done, had been painted, and was used by people that didn't really know how to use it for the last yr hence the digs on the table. There is 3 digs, but Im fine with that. The machine is wear free.

I then gutted the machine of all its electrics as they were added to in spots. 
Since the machine is at the bk of my house, I wanted peace of mind in that area.

I retrofitted the entire machine with new parts. I used,

an average new pc/board, incl powersupply.
A pmdx 126 breakout board.
Gecko drivers.
Digikey amt 102 encoders for the x and y original servos.
A nema 34 high torque stepper in place of the z(quill servo) The quill servo although fine, was hard to tune, and get settled at idle. On stripping it down, I found one coil burnt. 

I looked at servos and they are insane dear new. So, I bought the stepper. I know they are slower for peck drilling and such, but its fine after testing it a fair bit the weekend.

I removed the original boom arm and made a new one. This houses the glass covered screen, flipout dust proof lid, and the keyboard. The new console was born...

I used the old transformers to drive servos. The gecko motor drivers called for a little lower voltage, so I removed 4 windings to bring the secondary voltage to where I needed it. 

That feeds a power prep module(converts to dc and some other stuff) that then feeds the drivers.

The whole thing runs off twin parallel ports.

It was a pretty big job, I had to relearn all the stuff I once sort of knew!

The machine runs mach3 which I find great. 
Im running cambam as the drawing tool for the time being as its fine for what I need to do over the next while.

I changed the coolant tank, from the base, to a new tank I made under the left cabinet.
I also fitted a single phase spindle motor to the machine. This took an hr of thinking, as the 3phase is pretty integrated as you can see. I removed cooling fan from 3phase motor and put a pulley on there. A few bits of metal, and some paint and I had a running single phase spindle. 
I also had to refit the coolant pump and all lines as it was 3 phase also. The single phase coolant pump motor I got could not be reversed so I had to remake another Impeller for pump from some brass. This was made by hand for fun, and took some time, and some solder...but it works great.

Since I was also redoing the pneumatics of the machine(needed for brake) I built a mister nozzle too. 
I kept some manual controls on the new console, some like this, others dont. It saves writing it into programme for coolant control, plus, I like buttons...
There is a small catch can at the end of the bed pipes to give you a chance to fish out small parts, or nuts should they get washed off the table. It works, and saves you fishing in main tank. There is also a swarf filter in the corner of the tank where the coolant drains in. The filter section unbolts from the cap.

I redid the drains on bed too. 
Having run a few parts, I can say they work as I want. The perspex shields keep it all under control. All my work is small anyway. For bigger stuff, I can deal with a few splashes.

I made a small shield for one of the coolant nozzles too. The shield is through hole, keeping the nozzle functional when fitted. 

I did some trial cuts to set up the machine and confirm accuracy. 

You can see a test part being cut towards the end.






















































































































I have yet to tidy wiring a little, add some ferrites and add a faraday cage around transformer. The 'important' wiring is high grade double shielded twisted pair robotics grade wire which cost a fortune. But, worth it, as Im seeing no noise at all on the encoder lines.










The motor adapter frame I had to make,










The new impeller, 5 hrs work in that! If I was to cast it there would be just as much work in the pattern, so I said I go right to brass,



















The first proper test part, I used wood as splash shields for this run, as I hadnt yet got the perspex ones done at the time,



















huba huba!!










Next plan is to make a 4th axis to give me more freedom. This will consist of a headstock type setup, running a stepper, and harmonic drive. 

Got there at last!

Brian,


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## sdezego (Apr 23, 2004)

Very nice acquisition.


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## duffmanh06 (Apr 22, 2008)

wow. 



...again


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## polov8 (Apr 14, 2004)

Holy cow Brian! You're gonna be seriously dangerous now!


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## GTI1-G60 (Oct 7, 2002)

Mach3 :thumbup: 
I did a Emco FB2 retrofit, smaller machine but what a pleasure.


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## Lord_Verminaard (Apr 6, 2004)

Wow indeed. Game changer right there!

Brendan


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Thanks for the replies, and a game changer indeed:beer: 

Check this out, 

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?5625485-G60-Displacer-key-ring&p=76468391#post76468391 

More soon, 

Brian,


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## sdezego (Apr 23, 2004)

That is great!


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## Vr6CoRRadO420 (Feb 27, 2004)

:thumbup:


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## whitedog (Jul 16, 2006)

I'm going to add my own note of appreciation here to Brian. 

First, I appreciate his generosity in sharing his projects in such detail. The amount of time he has spent posting and photographing must be tremendous and for him to spend that time shows the generous nature of his heart.

Now, with every appreciation is a resentment.

My resentment is that I have lost hours going over this thread, not just once, but twice (so far) - not so much in detail, just hitting the highlights.

Some of my favorite highlights:

Making the venturi, then setting the welder up and blowing a hole for the gas pipe. It was just funny that with all of your skills and knowledge that the best way to make the venturi was with that method.:thumbup:

Using the vernier calipers for measuring. Not digital calipers that any girl can read and not even the cheating dial calipers, but real, vernier calipers where you have to think. 



> The gecko motor drivers called for a little lower voltage, so I removed 4 windings to bring the secondary voltage to where I needed it.


You say it like someone would say, "The road was closed, so I went around". No big deal, just another bump in the road.

Edited to add a couple more:

Your vacuum pump.

Your flycutter for the oil pump end plate bearing.

Anyway, thank you for sharing and caring.


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## ayton (Mar 12, 2003)

amazing thread; excellent work!


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## evolvo (Jul 4, 2012)

*insane in the membrane*

Hello all, especially Mr. Brian Garvey, I found this thread when it was posted as a link on turbobricks. I am so impressed that I have joined the vortex just to be able to comment occasionally and subscribe so I don't miss any updates. Brian, truly inspiring work and creativity, you da man!
Looking forward to more updates and inspiration!


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## Bazmcc (Jan 11, 2005)

Updates..... there's something we've missed.

Come on Brian, don't pretend you've actually got more important stuff to do than update this thread. :thumbup:


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## whitedog (Jul 16, 2006)

Casting, Circa 1936.


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## schurg (May 4, 2003)

opcorn:


not sure how I managed to miss this thread...holy [email protected]#%, 

hope he didnt start makin parts for that bmw instead of finishing his gti :laugh:


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## arethirdytwo (Apr 4, 2007)

Loving this.


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## roccostud (Jun 7, 2002)

I'm speechless man, If I was only willing to put the time in to try it myself.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

@ Whitedog, I suppose what you say could come across as being, I dunno, ingenious, but, I just do what works. If your staring at a transformer for long enough, knowing that a new one is 350euro, you eventually figure out a way around by applying science, instead of cash:thumbdown: 

@evolvo, No need for the Mr, we are all ordinary folk on here 
Glad you found it, 

@schurg, funny you should say that.....Im fitting an lsd to E39, 

I snipped some posts off another forum of the job so here they are. 

Keep in mind they are snipped, and edited, so I hope they read ok - fill in the gaps if not. 

Im preparing in my free time, to cast a cylinder head. It took me an age to locate resin bond sand, and then to make them sell some. I also had to make a MASSIVE smelter to melt enough alloy, but Ive that done too. So, while the thread is quiet, fear not, Im flat out laying the foundations for part 2. 

Enjoy the following little build, Ill update as it happens, bit of a sidetrack, but what the hell:thumbup: 


'' 

Will be mounting an e34 lsd to it in the coming few days/weekish. I know there is a bit of work to this, and Im not decided on a final drive ratio yet but Ill make up my mind soon. Theres a bit of 'conflict' as to how hard it is to get any Bmw lsd into one of these, 

but Ive got two hands, a welder, a cnc, and a casting setup, so Im sure ill figure something out. 

Im also going to move the traction control button to the steering wheel. Its in a c-nut of a place where it is(as are cup holders, only two faults with entire car). 
Because Ive used up all the spare wires in the steering wheel slip ring ribbon cable, fitting the paddle shifters, Ive chosen to operate the switch wirelessly. 
It will be mounted on a carbonfibre/anodised alloy mix tab. 
I have to figure out that yet, and the wiring, but Im sure itll be handy enough. 

No other mods for the minute, bar four more Vredestein Ultrac Sessantas next week and possibly a carbon/honeycomb engine tray, I have some leftover from something else, 


And onto problem number one. 

Here lies the Traction cntrl switch, in a shocking spot, along with cup holders. If you have a pile of junk left in tray, cup holders dont work too well. 
Keep in mind the Shift lever is in drive here, so you really have to bend your hand around it before setting off when its in park, to press switch. 

I turn it on an off a lot. 
Off when out on the road, and on again when coming into a town. This car flicks the rear or spins wheels very easy on roundabouts, or at junctions, so its nice to have it on for those, to stop getting looked at. 

On the road, a small bit of wheelspin mid corner, and your engine gets cut, and you just sit there, mid corner, all suspension balance upset, waiting for engine to kick again - not good. 

Looking down, eyes off the road to turn off switch is dangerous, so, thats really why I want it on the wheel. 

Shots of wheel below too, to show where I intend putting it, Itll be going at the 4 o clock position roughly, below paddle on right. (wheel upsidedown in 3rd picture) 




























Im sure there are some reading, thinking, ''his problems are small if hes going at that'' but this just annoys me, and I dont like stuff annoying me on a daily basis, especially in my own car! 

Ok, so I picked up the Diff the last day , 

So, Im back at base now again for a while, so Im starting tearing apart the e34 M5 diff now to see how it looks inside. 
My main concerns at the minute, is keeping the final drive ratio similar to mine. I may have to buy another e34 diff for the correct ratio crown and pinion, and also an e39 525-28 diff for mockup. Il,l need to make a custom bracket to fit diff as the hanger is different. 

Ill also need to either buy, or machine a rear e39 M5 diff cover in place of the e34 M5 cover as thats different too. 

Anyways...lots of stuff to think about, and do, pictures later, should be handy enough. 

One or two things, the connector is for the speedo in the e34, and the diff ratio is on the bit of paper, could just make it out off old diff tag. 




























Oil out, 










Gave it all a rough clean too before pulling cover. Its getting all new seals, and paint etc, so Ill be 'surgically' cleaning everything at a later date. 










Drives popped, 










L+R stamped, 



















Flanges coming off, these hold the oil seals, and the taper bearing shell, the bearings look fairly ok, so Ill think if I want to change or not when I clean and inspect fully, It is also behind these flanges that spacer shims go to set bearing pre-load, and mesh correctly, 



















Out, 










Opening lsd, its is of the clutch type, and not torsen, thankfully. Ive run a torsen in the past, and dont ever want one again. 










Bearing unit off, and getting into discs and spacers 










All apart, 










As you can see, the clutch disc on one side is worn, as is the cup that it runs on. Ill have to skim this cup to get back to a good surface. Ill also be renewing the spacers and friction discs with new ones. 

Because Ill be grinding(blanchard) or milling the poor surface, ill have to regain that lost material with a shim under the belleville(dished) washer to keep preload on clutch packs as it would have n=been when new. 











Other than that, its all in great condition, both with the bearings, and tooth mesh wear patterns, so Im pretty happy. 

To read how this type diff works, click here> http://auto.howstuffworks.com/differential4.htm


----------



## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Two more pictures of the car when on lift getting tyres showing its original diff, 



















Some measuring of stuff with calipers tomorrow in order... 

Did a bit of grinding this evening. 

The friction face was a bit scored as you saw above. 

Couple of passes on the cnc with a cup wheel removed almost a tenth of a mm to get the surface back to good again, 










half way, 










Done, 










z axis reading almost a tenth when retracted, 










Both faces blued and rubbed off surface plate, all looks good, 










Ordered new friction discs, and star spacers. Star spacers are oversize in thickness to make up for material ground off above. 

Getting a free e39 diff tomorrow, ill be using this to get my location point/mockup for the new front hanger Ill have to make to mount E34 diff, to E39 carrier, since I cant take my car off the road to do this. 

So...Bmw want 339euro+vat for the cover. Looks like Ill make one instead. 



Im making a cover for the E34 M5 diff as mentioned. The original cover wont mount to subframe, so given the price off Bmw Ill mill my own. 

Below is where I started mapping the holes for the new cover. They are pretty important that they are right in the new milled part, so that it bolts up to diff clean. 

You could measure the holes with a calipers, and a divider and plot on paper, but having the cnc makes this easier, and more exact. 

Ill try explain how its done incase anyone is interested, or thinking of dipping a toe into cnc land soon. 
I remember being the same years ago, thinking cncs were mental, and impossible,- but they are actually pretty simple when you get to know them. 

Bolted diff to table square. 

Fitted a 12mm round over bit. Set mill in center of case approximately and zero'd all axis. 

The pictures are a bit crap as Im just getting to know new phone. 

Anyone doing this lsd conversion can skip this step and go buy an E39 M5 diff cover off Bmw like a normal person would. 

Bolted to table, 



















All axis zero'd approx in the middle of diff, 



















New drawing opened, where the cursor is, where x and y lines meet, is 0,0 and since I zero'd all axis, thats now where the bit is too, on the table, 










The correct number of circles(holes) are drawn in in roughly the correct position, 










The mill is now moved with the jog buttons to all the hole locations on the diff and their coordinates noted, and transferred to drawing. Once you transfer, the circle moves to a new location where the actual hole is on the diff, and where the bit is sitting, this is done for all holes, 'mapping' them exactly onto the new part drawing - as below, 

Bit moved to hole position, 










Note coordinates, ignoring the z thats the up and down, 










Over to drawing, select that circle, 










Click coordinates box, and fill in the coordinates from mill screen above, 










Circle moves to new position, 










This is done with all holes, and all datum points I needed, 










Completed hole locations, now on new drawing, 










Onto finding the axle center line. Straight edge held to edge of holes, and touched off with pointer in mill, 










Y position noted on mill, and then transferred to drawing, 



















Since the inner diameter of flange hole(!) is 100mm, taking 50mm off that measurement and drawing another line give me the center line of shafts. 
There are more accurate ways of doing this with a dial gauge, but its accurate enough considering where it is, 











Then more of the same, finding the other datum points, and case edges, 



















Done, 










Thats the basic outline down now, complete with hard measurements of where it needs to bolt to. 

The rest, is pretty easy, I need to yet draw in the two hanger points(see E39 diff below) And put some proper shapes and profiles on the drawing before I can mill, 

You can see the complete E39 diff below(smaller that M5 diff) and also the difference in the rear covers - the E34 M5 cover is 25mm higher than my diff/cover - which is why I need to make another one! 










The billet cover will look something like the one below, but taller to cover the diff I just mapped above. 










Its actually easier to do all this, than describe it, LOL, 

Picked up this today, its a good chunk for sure, bit more work to do yet on the actual drawing before I cut, stay tuned, 










Did a bit more drawing, almost done, hope to make a lot of chips later! 










Got started on machining, 

Another picture of drawing nearly done. 

Ill throw up a 3d image later to give a better Idea of how it will look. The drawing below is not the final, there was some minor changes before cutting, 










On the table, ready for roughing, roughing was done with a 40mm insert face mill, then the finish pass done with a 10mm cutter to get the corners out. 
All work after that was with a 10mm bit. The great thing with aluminum is that you can cut it pretty much as fast as the machine will go with ease - so its fairly quick. 




























Drilling holes, you'd normally drill holes before final surface is reached because the swarf that comes up from bit can scratch finished surface, 










1st level reached, if you look close, you can see a 12mm wide slot top left. This was cut first, and allows coolant to drain from pocket. Since the billet overhangs table front and rear, this is vital for coolant management, the four holes in the center of part are drilled through, and act as drains also, 










Ill throw up the finish drawing later, hope to get the topside, and most of the rear done this evening. 




























Rounding over edges, 










Its hard to see all profiles while on table, you can now see the sections where the carbon fiber panels will be. Fitting panels like this means you can profile out the inner sections, rather than machining them all out to form a thin aluminum wall. 



















The outline cut is done with a different hss cutter, and cut dry for best chip evacuation, 





































The main cover is now only held to block with a few holding tabs, you will see these in the next bit, 

'' 

Thats where Im at at the minute, hope to get her complete by tomorrow eve:thumbup: 

Again, sorry for thread sidetrack, but sure its all good!(and Aluminium:laugh 

Brian!!


----------



## Bazmcc (Jan 11, 2005)

Good to see you back with the updates. 

I've started to teach myself Featurecam a while back. I haven't had much time to work on it lately but I definitely appreciate how much work goes into setting up CNC programs now.


----------



## naterkane (Feb 8, 2001)

Bazmcc said:


> Good to see you back with the updates.


 agreed! :thumbup: 



Bazmcc said:


> I've started to teach myself Featurecam a while back. I haven't had much time to work on it lately but I definitely appreciate how much work goes into setting up CNC programs now.


 I've been playing with solidworks in my spare time... the learning curve for solidworks is steep to say the least.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

@ Whitedog, forgot too, the calipers, it never lies. I got caught badly once with a dial calipers with a loose clock hand, never again. 

Barry, cad and cam are tough at first indeed. I use pro-e for work which is great. 

But, not everything has to be drawn that way. For example, the diff cover above has been drawn totally with cambam, the cam software. Granted, it has no 3d profiles, but its just what I need. 
If you look at a lot of machined parts, they are 90% done this way, using bits for the profiles. 

Its also faster, as waterline, followed by pencil finishing is very very slow. 

I think the main thing with cad and cam, is to use daily, or play about with daily. Its the only way you'lll find out all the quirks, and remember them too! 

More soon, 

Brian,


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## ArpyArpad (Jan 4, 2002)

im not going to lie, im going to miss the router


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

ArpyArpad said:


> im not going to lie, im going to miss the router


 Well Im not:laugh: Consider it as a means to attaining a cnc maybe?! 

Ok, all done, 

The jig plate for the other side, the block locates exactly on it with dowels, and is bolted down, 





















Roughing out the pockets, 














































Done, and off the table, a little bit of de-burring, and its ready to go, 
































































Just need to drill through the top and bottom bolt holes as they were drilled 1mm shy to stop coolant flowing out of them. 
Next up is the fill plug, and the composite panels, and of course the case breather, 

Updates later, 

Brian,


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## polov8 (Apr 14, 2004)

I'm just........ I mean.......... :what: I'm completely.........:sly: Seriously............  

Every post makes me feel more useless! :laugh: 

This is Fecking awesome!


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## sdezego (Apr 23, 2004)

Very cool as usual, and thanks for the updates! 

I really like what you did with the CNC and reverse engineering the diff's bolt pattern. That type of thinking is what keeps me wanting more here. I tend to visualize things in polar coords :screwy:. I keep telling myself that one day I will have a CNC in my garage/shop to play with  ...I am slowing building up to it.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Polov8, :laugh: Its been a long road, and it all stared at post one here as you know. I dont think Id call it anything fancy such as ingenuity or anything, more like desperation of getting things done.:thumbup:

Sdezego, Scanning it with the mill seemed to make sense. I dont know if you are 'supposed' to do it that way, of its its done like that, but it just seemed logical to me. As Richard Feynman said, ''If you dont like it, go somewhere else'':laugh::laugh: Im sure there will be plenty more 'fixes' along the way as Ive never been trained on the 'correct' way.


Lsd rebuild kit landed. Its a normal kit, plus a slightly thicker disc pictured at top to make up for the refaced cups. 

Eared discs are case hardened and ground 4340/En24 steel. 

Friction discs are also 4340/En24, sandblasted, and then given the thermal Spray process. The deposited material used in the process is usually molybdenum and is around .1mm thick. Molys can withstand very high temperatures without expanding or softening so it is an ideal coating for the job in hand. Due to the surface finish left by the spray process it is also ideal for holding oil. 











Onto the diff cover, I did a lot of tests a long time ago on etching aluminium alloy. Ill be etching the entire cover once its finished, both to clean, and to provide an even surface, and also a key for bonding in CF panels. 

I did a quick test yesterday on how the aluminum looks when etched with sodium hydroxide(caustic soda) The test was done on the parts I profiled out to form pocket in diff cover. You can see the uniform etched surface and the differences below in the before and after (poor) photo.










Im undecided yet as to if Ill anodize, epoxy coat, or just leave in etched state. There may be some salt spray from the road in that area, but this Aluminum is one of the best in this situation. Ill see. 

Had a look in freezer and had just enough prepreg to make panels. I have those setup now to make a 3mm thick panel, ready to machine the inserts from. More later. 

Brian,


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Got diff back together,














































Got the rear cover finished. Had to angle mill the mounting bosses as with the Bmw cover. The entire diff is fixed at a slight angle from straight ahead. This is to to put a slight angle on drive shaft inner cvs, and also main drive shaft end cv joint. If they were mounted straight, the balls in the cvs would stay fixed, and always touch the same point in their cages. A slight angle imposed on them causes the balls to rotate, and touch different parts of the cages as they spin, creating even wear. A big mistake in making your own car, or designing a driveline, is setting up everything inline, and then finding stuff is wearing fast - this is the reason. The same can be seen in a fwd car, the engine is canted at an angle always, to help with cv ball rotation.

I bolted down original Bmw cover, and adjusted fixture plate to get correct angle. Bolted that off, and bolted on the cnc'd cover and machined bosses at same height and angle, as below, 




























You can see the mounting bosses now, the angle is quite something,










Thought about breather, and what I could use. Enter, a boiler jet. The rear of a boiler jet has a cute filter screwed in,










Filter screwed out,










Cover bored, tapped, and counterbored, 










Another cover will locate in counterbore to keep heavy stuff off, and inside a small splash plate will mount on the carbon fiber fixing bolts,

Ready for etching,










Etching, solution is about a cup of sodium hydroxide(caustic soda) in a gallon of water, left for 3hrs ish, or when its all etched. panel mounting threads are not cut at this time, container is HDPE.










Brian,


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## Bazmcc (Jan 11, 2005)

Would Polyethylene be the best material for caustic solutions Brian?

Just wondering as I was thinking about making up a tank for ultrasonic cleaning from an old stainless steel bin and it could be used for other stuff like this too if I ever needed it.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Yes, 

HDPE is high density polyethylene. Most of the scary chemicals come in these containers.

You'll be pretty safe with that. You could pour cold water between HDPE liner and stainless if you are ever doing something that causes heat - exothermic reaction, this can sometimes warp plastic.


Sounds a handy yoke Barry, 

Brian,


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## Issam Abed (Feb 12, 2004)

Brian.G said:


> Etching, solution is about a cup of sodium hydroxide(caustic soda) in a gallon of water, left for 3hrs ish, or when its all etched. panel mounting threads are not cut at this time, container is HDPE,


Would have saved you ALOT of time to just go to an anodizing place and they probably would have done it for free.
NaOH + rinse water + Mild Acid (probably K) + rinse + air compressor = 2 minutes tops!


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

It probably would have if I was in the Uk, but the 'local' anodizing place is a 11hr round trip - doing 80miles per hour, plus, they only do batches twice a week.

So its 3.40euro on soda, or 150euro on petrol, or 80 on a delivery both ways, Ill let you do the math:thumbup:

Brian,


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## INA (Nov 16, 2005)

Brian.G said:


> It probably would have if I was in the Uk, but the 'local' anodizing place is a 11hr round trip - doing 80miles per hour, plus, they only do batches twice a week.
> 
> So its 3.40euro on soda, or 150euro on petrol, or 80 on a delivery both ways, Ill let you do the math:thumbup:
> 
> Brian,


Send it to me then


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## Slayer (Aug 8, 2000)

I'm impressed.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

We know how long that could take me Issam

Brian,


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

All etched,










Because the sodium hydroxide etches just the aluminum, the copper stays. I could have scrubbed off this, but its hard get everywhere, so I gave it a dip in a nitric acid solution. Nitric does the opposite, etches copper, and not aluminum, so you can get back to status quo again, and end up with a clean surface.

You can kind of see the copper here,










In nitric, all done,










The glare is gone, and it now sits with a satin finish perfect for bonding,










Got the boss machined for the fill plug, this mounts in carbon, and also tags into one of the panel mount screws,




























Carbon machining up next,

Brian,


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## Brycejoseph (Jul 9, 2008)

You always blow me away with your work! :beer: for you sir.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Ok, just a quick update, waiting on adhesive for the carbon panels. Panels are cut and ready to go, more soon.

Brian,


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

A quick update of cf milling, its 3mm thick, comprising of two 1.5mm prepreg sheets, bonded together, a while off the platten press and ready for the off, milling with a 3 flute 5mm solid carbide bit, hss bits only last about a minute on cf before they are shot. The cf was an offcut, so I used it. Its also quicker make 1.5mm prepreg than 3mm as its easier compress in the heated platten press.



















Cut,










Cleaned off and sharp corners removed, 



















I cut panels .3mm undersize so that Ill get some adhesive between cf edge, and alloy also. 

Pinion bracket up next, 

Brian,


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## Eganx (Apr 30, 2004)

Cutting carbon fiber must be hell on the tooling.......


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Eganx said:


> Cutting carbon fiber must be hell on the tooling.......


 It is on hss tooling, but not so much on solid carbide - I tend to get a good bit of mileage on cf with those.

Brian,


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## polov8 (Apr 14, 2004)

Damn i wish you lived next door to me.... :laugh:


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## Lord_Verminaard (Apr 6, 2004)

UK to Ireland _is_ practically next door compared to USA - anywhere over there! 

I've never seen CF machined before. Very cool!

Brendan


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## arethirdytwo (Apr 4, 2007)

Seriously! Scale is different in the US though 



Lord_Verminaard said:


> UK to Ireland _is_ practically next door compared to USA - anywhere over there!
> 
> I've never seen CF machined before. Very cool!
> 
> Brendan


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## poopie (Feb 22, 2005)

excellent work. did you cast that chunk of aluminum yourself? lol just kidding.


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## Bazmcc (Jan 11, 2005)

Quick question about a bit of carbon work we want to do Brian.

We were going to make a sort of brace from 6mm carbon fibre. The stuff we were looking at was 1.5mm carbon on either side and a sheet of urethane in the middle. I think that's what it was. This was after deciding that it was going to be a similar cost as doing it in a decent aluminium.

The size we needed came to around £170 for the sheet. However, I can get a roll of carbon quite a bit cheaper and a sheet of glass to make a few bits easily. 

We'd then need to cut out sections of it so waste would be around 30%. And obviously there would be the machining costs and time. Is there an easier way to do this? Would we be better doing 4mm aluminium and bonding 2mm of carbon to the front?


----------



## arethirdytwo (Apr 4, 2007)

Can't help you with the rest but don't attach the carbon to alloy, it will cause galvanic corrosion and separate the two materials. You would have to do alloy, fiberglass and then carbon. 




Bazmcc said:


> Quick question about a bit of carbon work we want to do Brian.
> 
> We were going to make a sort of brace from 6mm carbon fibre. The stuff we were looking at was 1.5mm carbon on either side and a sheet of urethane in the middle. I think that's what it was. This was after deciding that it was going to be a similar cost as doing it in a decent aluminium.
> 
> ...


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Baz, 

Why do you need the core to be alloy? 

The only real purpose of a core is to separate the carbon skins for a higher bending load capability. 

There is one or two things that need to be known.

Does the panel have to take crush loads on the faces?
At the cut edges, where you will see core, does it matter what it looks like, and is moisture absorption an issue? 

A closed cell foam core may do. 
Or, nomex honeycomb

Depending on the above, and it sounds like you just want for looks purposes - alloy panel, cf bonded on, then I would go for a premade sheet of wetlay cf. Unlike prepreg sheet, wetlay has a layer of glass on the rear, so it is isolated from the alloy that way. 

Having said that, bonding cf to alloy is not a big deal if you prime alloy with epoxy first and let dry. 

If you think you will be able to vac bag the cloth onto sheet of alloy, and get a good finsih, you wont. You will have to vac the carbon onto glass, then remove, and bond to alloy. That way you will have a good surface finish. 

See link for glass backed wetlay rigid sheet , 

http://www.easycomposites.co.uk/Products/Wet-Lay-Carbon-Fibre-Sheet.aspx

The glass is used to stop the bag disrupting the cf weave from vac bag pressures/distortions, and is cheaper than cf for backing/single face side applications. 

Hope this helps Baz, drop me a line if you need more info, :thumbup:


Also, when machining finished panel, and you only have carbon on one side, I would cut with carbon face down, this will prevent chips flicking up top fibers, and also scratching should you need to drill. Either support at drill/mill locations, or if cutting pockets, plunge where breakout wont be an issue, and then gradually profile round in a logarithmic spiral fashion until you meet inside edge.

Brian,

ps, be aware that the expansion rates for the two materials differ quite a bit. So either bond at a temp of the parts service temperature, or use a flex adhesive to cut down on panel bowing if panel is fixed, and air temp varies. This wont be a major problem if the part is small, but can get nasty if its huge and the temp difference large. It turns into a bimetallic strip.
(or pick a different core material)


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## Bazmcc (Jan 11, 2005)

As long as the total is 6mm thick that's the main thing. That's what we've made provisions for. It's for a friends car. No massive loads on the faces. As long as it looks neat at the edges it should be fine but I'm sure a machine edge could be tidied or even something fixed to the top edge to finish it off a little. As long as the total piece which is around 43" wide by around 14" tall can hold the weight of an average person that should be enough. It'll be bolted down at either side. That wet lay sheet on that site with 2000mm x 950mm would cover everything with plenty of spare carbon as well.

For the core material I suppose I could always go for something easier to work with and much cheaper like ABS.


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## syracusegli (Jan 22, 2005)

i love this info!


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## 71DubBugBug (Dec 3, 2006)

stunning!


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## evolvo (Jul 4, 2012)

BTT. Need MORE, having withdrawal pain, please help!!!:laugh:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

You're not the only one dont worry. Been crazy busy in the run up to Christmas with stuff, and now it looks as though Ill be spending all Christmas engrossed in patent work/writing 

Im nearly gone mad with no limited diff at the same time I might have to find a bit of time to do something all the same, as i have ALL parts now:thumbup:

Having said all that, I think its about time to wish everyone on here a happy Christmas. Im sure it has been a tough, and different year for some, but remember, you still have your head and your two hands which is all you will ever need to do something about it. 

Its been a bloody cold winter here for what seems like ages. Burning 10euro of diesel per day to heat the shop, so looking forward to some 'inside' time all the same over the 'break' 

Have a great one guys, and thanks for all the egging on, it does really work:thumbup:

Brian,


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Digging this up from the dead, the thread has become a bit of a 'my car project' but there will be casting in the following days so to hell with it:laugh:

The following is pieced together from my local forum, but it should make sense.

Ive also made up my mind to fit a supercharger to the car. Was onto my remaps guy a couple of times discussing stuff, and its possible to remap current ecu, which is good. I kinda dont want to tear up the wiring in this too much as its all a bit Nasa in the E39s so thats a green light right there.
It will be belt driven, and of the centrifugal type. I have also decided after looking at prices for kits(4kdollars) that Im 'old enough' now to build my own supercharger from scratch. Ive been looking at boost maps from different turbos and Im down to just three compressor wheels to choose from now.
Its not going to be intercooled, and run semi low boost. Currently the car has 190hp odd, so If I could reach 230hp Id be happy enough. I dont want to stress the engine too much, as this car is now important to me - as in it has to work if I have to go someplace with work at short notice. I can easily tailor overall boost curve with different sized pulleys.

The charger design is pretty basic, it is of the planetary gearbox design, but instead of using gears, it uses traction rollers. Since I now use a guy in the Uk for metal coatings, and the fact that he can chromemoly spray steel, there is no reason why it cannot be done. Its just metal and tolerances after all.
For the snail, I may cast, or use an off the shelf one, for the main housing it will be cncd billet alloy, the annulus a high carbon spring steel and ground(to be decided), the rollers 4340(en,equivalent) hardened and ground, and chromemoly sprayed to hold the oil, the shaft will probably be an off the shelf turbo shaft.

For the internal oil pump, Im looking at either the guts of an s2000 oilpump, or else a subaru wrx part(s). I want internal oiling - so as not to have to tap into the main engine galleries.

Everything else is pretty handy. I plan to run the charger for a month on the engine but not connected to anything as an endurance run/r+d of moving parts. I plan to dissassemble then, check tolerances/parts, and if all is ok, refit, and hook it up.

Just to clear a few things also, the traction roller gearbox design is as old as the hills. It features in loads of places, and also in current chargers, hks, and rotrex to name two. I prefer this to a gear driven one as I want it to be as quiet as possible since the engine itself is extremely silent - even at reline where it seems to spend most of its time. Plus, its relatively simple to make,as opposed to a gear setup which would mean I would have to buy a lot of involute mill cutters, and also grinding involute wheels after I case harden. 
Nearly ready with design now, just have to figure out oiling system. 

Ill post more later - will be using a lot of off the shelf hard parts - as I just thought this morning that I could. Mainly speaking, the rollers, Ill be using the inner rings as jackets from needle bearings on 'normal' steel live shafts to provide me with an already ground accurate wear surface without all the case hardening and grinding jazz. The same goes for the large annulus ring, a cylindrical roller bearing outer will do that, I just have to find a suitable one yet.

Have been talking to a designer at timken and a few others involved with bearings. 3 out of the 5 of them, one @ timken, think I should leave off the chromemoly spray and use a higher quality(read very dear) traction oil instead. They fear that the chromemoly would flake off after a peroid of time due to localized hertzian contact stresses present between the rolling members.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contact_mechanics
I was aware of the concern, but thought that the parent metal(the bearing rings, 52100 bearing steel) would be able to support the harder face, but it appears not.
At a more extreme level, what is happening could be compared to leaving a sheet of glass on a bed. The glass is hard, but sit on it, and the glass breaks. The same is kinda true for anodizing of aluminum(bed theory), but the contact forces more extreme in the steels.

So Im leaving it off for better durability where rolling stresses are concerned - unlike the chromemoly diff clutches a few posts back where the force is axial through them, and more rubbing than rolling if you like...suits you sir,

Have all rolling members ordered, the 'gearing' was a little trickier than I thought. I needed the correct input to out ratio, but at the same time, I wanted all the rolling member circumferences to not divide into each other exactly evenly - and all while using off the shelf parts.
If they did so, and lets say the internal circumference of the annulus ring was evenly dividable twice by the circumference of the smaller rollers, then both rolling surfaces would touch each other in the same place every revolution - this would be bad over time I feel.

The above is also the same reason why the ratio of differential final drives is never a nice number but instead a figure like 3.67 (gti box) so that the crown and pinion dont fall in the same place every few turns but instead, the pinion makes 3.67 turns for every one turn of the crown. The amount of turns of the pinion at which both teeth remesh in the same place again on both, is the lowest common denominators between both tooth counts on both wheels.

ie, If the input gear has say 24 teeth, and the output 40 teeth, then

40:24 =
20:12 =
10:6 =
5:3

Therefore, the input gear will have to turn 5 times, for the teeth on both wheels to remesh in the same spot as they were when rotation commenced, and every 5 turns after, on and on....

The same principal applies to smooth cylinders as above - you can use the diameter, or circumference if you want, but pointless since pie is a constant on both sides.

Got all bearings and rings ordered at last as above for charger internals, going to make front bracket for M5 diff nose tomorrow as I dont have to do 'real' work :ymhug: 










Oilite bushings are for something else, on the above docket, it states the annulus with an internal diameter of 95mm, its not 95mm, but 90mm which I just spotted now, it was put down on the docket as 95mm as the 90mm wasn't listed on their system. 

I figured out the oiling system, it was pretty complex the deeper I looked.

Since no internal pictures of the pumps and oiling systems exist, it was even tougher to make get a head start.

Initially, I thought of a two stage oil system, one pressure pump, and one scavenge, the scavenge being twice or so the displacement of the main pressure pump, to pump the 'used' oil out of case and back to tank. Similar on how a race car dry sump system works.
That was honky at at first, but it meant the case would need a breather since the pump section is more or less oil tight, so you cannot suck air through it - the x2 volume scavenge would need to get its extra pumped volume from someplace - otherwise, the vacuum present inside the body would suck in the oil seal behind the compressor wheel. Although you need upraded oil seals if dry sumping ian engine in some cases to stop sucking them in, there is a lot of extra air volume generated from the 'bigger' gasses that escape down beside the rings, so if the scavenge is sized correctly, you can pull a tidy vacuum taking advantage of these gasses without using a breather.

The off the shelf chargers have no breather, so I figured this was not the correct way to do it.

I then thought of just using a scavenge pump on the outlet. The idea being that the suction created by it would suck oil out of the tank, into case, through all the bearings, used oil gather in case, and then get sucked/pumped out and back to tank through cooler and filter.
That idea was grand for a while, but if the tank is lower than the charger - which it will be looking at bay, then the scavenge needs to pull a tidy vacuum in order to lift it to charger via supply line, this vacuum is then present on the oil seals once again which I didnt like. I also didnt like the fact that if a seal was cold(-10 winter), it wouldn't have the same elasticity from start, and may let in air around the main shaft which would then kill my vacuum that I needed to pull the oil from the tank. This cold seal problem is a very real issue, and what brought down the Challenger shuttle - the solid rocket boosters were multi piece, and joined with larger O rings. The launch day was too cold, the rockets sections expanded slightly, but the 0 rings couldn't respond quick enough to provide the seal - the rest is history. There is also the problem of calculating oil flow, and resistance through all the drillings, so that no aeration/starvation/cavitation exists at the inlet of scavenge. Im not afraid of calculations, but these are normally simulated after, then developed, and adjusted - they are never the same as initial calcs.

By this time, I was thinking of running external electric oil pumps. Whereby I could vary the speed(pulse width modulation) by using a micro controller. The pump, and scavenge volumes could then be tailored to match eachother so that the vacuum in the case could be balanced to 0 or nearly 0. The pumps were a mental price though, and the whole lot was getting crazy. I also had the problem of what would happen when temperature would change internally, and how that would effect things. I also wondered if the microcontroller would need an input from crank sensor, so as to ramp up pump speeds as the engine revved faster.

I scrapped all that and started again :lol: I looked at centrifugal oil pumps for the scavenge section, whereby they are not positive displacement and could tolerate a bit of 'skid'. Thinking was, that the 1st positive displacement pump would pull oil from tank, and into bearings/case. Then the 2nd centrifugal pump/outlet would pull the used oil from the case, and send it back to tank. Since its not positive displacement, it wouldn't pull a vacuum or put any pull on the seals and would just pump out anything that was there so to speak.
I thought about this another bit, and began to see more flaws. I couldn't be sure no matter how much I calculated that the centrifugal pump would be the correct size. If it was too large, it would act like a big mixer, and aerate the hell out of the returned oil. If it was too small, then there would be a build up of pressure before it and the inlet, and again more case air problems, this time pressure - worse again as it could fill intake with oil if it blew compressor seal wheel.
The other problem was space, getting a positive displacement gerotor style pump of x displacement, and also a centrifugal type pump of the same theoretical x displacement on the same drive shaft is not easy, as both inlet and outlet styles are totally different, and space is really tight.

Scrapped that because of all the above. It then FINALLY hit me how to do it. I didn't need the centrifugal pump on the outlet at all.
Plan is, and that Im going with,
Pipe from tank to inlet, pump inside inlet, pump pulls oil out of tank, sends it through all drillings to bearings and rollers. Once it exits oiling holes at all the points, it starts to fill case - keep in mind that the case volume is really small once all parts are built inside - half cup of oil or less.
The pressure of the incoming oil exiting at drillings then sends the oil gathering in case out a drilling at base internally and back to tank. There will be very little resistance in the return line, so case pressure will be more or less zero in respect to the supply feed line (yet to be calculated).
For the pump, Im looking at all models of motor bike pumps, as they are a nice size to work with. Stay tuned.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerotor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shut ... r_disaster
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCLgRyKvfp0


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

A bunch of 2nd hand pumps, the main one I thought would work by looking at pictures was off a Kawasaki GPZ1000RX. Sadly, the bore on the rotor hasn't enough meat on it to bore bigger for input shaft, so It was back to the drawing board. I dug out an s2000 oilpump I had here, and found it to be the correct size on opening it, and plenty big to bore bigger - so thats what Im going with. At first glance from the outer case, the s2000 pump looked massive, but it was just the way the case was made, and the pump part is actually pretty small.

Pictures of some of the pumps, The top one, end on is one of the bike pumps, the centre rotor being too small to bore bigger, to the lower left, a pretty big Subaru pump, and to the lower right, the s2000 pump - the one Im using, 



















The outer diameter measures bang on 45mm, the pump housing it rotates in 45.12mm, so .12mm for clearance/lubrication.

Hoping the bearings and some other stuff will be here tomorrow, Have the body fully designed, and now deciding on the snail geometry. Going to pull in car tomorrow eve, as I want to change oil and look it over as Ive an nct in a few days. Ill also be looking at charger mounting, belt routing, and hose routing while I have it in.

Bearings showed up,



















The traction roller shells will be in two pieces, they will be spaced on and shrunk fit to the carrier rollers with around 4mm between them to locate with a flange turned on compressor spindle, this will hold spindle axially without further thrust parts.










Biro where compressor shaft will be to give a rough idea. Large ring - the annulus will be driven via engine. The traction roller spindles will be fixed, but allowing rollers to rotate, in turn, rotating biro - compressor shaft, 










Made a start on the steel parts,

Roller cores are bright mild steel, pictured on right, compressor wheel spindle will be En24(4340Equiv). Im not sure of the En24s condition, so Im going to anneal, and re-harden/temper just to be sure, shown on left










Turning first roller core, tolerances are very tight on these so they take a while to be sure of everything, needle roller ring was heated to 70degrees(as hot as it will ever see in service) and then the interference fits worked from there. 0.04mm oversize is what I went with - shrink fit. 
Rough turning,










Done, two to go, 










End bearings are interference fit, shaft .02mm oversize,


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

All three rollers done, bit more work to do with these but critical stuff finished,

Offcut of 6 series in the background for roller carrier, 110mm in diameter,










One of the many drawings - moved to cam software,










Have to re calibrate mill tomorrow, as Im after doing some really heavy milling last week and just want to be double sure all is within specs - tight tolerances with this one,


Got rollers finished thank jebus, everything went smooth. Doing interference fits on a 40yr old lathe that cost 75euro leaves a lot of checking up to the operator, but the fits were spot on on all three.

Drilling the oil way on the top roller, the hole was first started with a bullnose, and then bored all the way through, the opening on other side got the bullnose spot treatment also. Then, a hole was bored from the end of roller, intersecting this hole, and stops short from the front end of the roller. This will make more sense once I post the oil way diagrams, 










A terrible bad shot of the finished roller, showing end hole also, 










The triplets, complete, checked for parallelism on the surface plate using the permanent marker method, and they all rub each other along all faces,










Im glad they are out of the way, because all the rest is pretty easy.

Have all the cam done now too for snail patterns, I must say that drawing and designing on a pc is great, even if you're just using it in 2d mode its really quick. The thought of doing working drawings on a drawing board, and doing all the plan/elevation/and end view projections gives me the willies now!

A fast progress forecast, 

I plan to have the unit itself finished in about 2.5-3 weeks, Im a bit all over the place in the mean time so itll be workshop time, when I have time, but thats the plan.
Once its done, Im going to mount it on mill/lathe, and run it at 8-9k or so for 3-5 hours with a restrictor on the outlet to load compressor wheel/shaft - Ill be pumping oil too obviously. Once thats done, Im going to fab up the hardware to mount to engine, mount it, and run with the outlet unconnected but restricted for 2 weeks or so with all sorts of driving. Then, when that test is over, get boost pipes made up and ready to fit, and spin up to Joe(remap guy). Joe is the only bit Im worried about, as the whole lot will be out of my control then, I know I have nothing at all to worry about, but I only want to see 230hp approx, and not squeeze all I can from it, I hope I can get this point across to him  :lol: I know these engines are fit for 290hp without hardware internal mods, but I dont want to strain it, as I need the car, the engine is sweet, Its not going to be running an intercooler either, so knock could be an issue with higher hp numbers and depending on tempratures. I drive the socks out of this car, so it has to be reliable at high revs, and not under much strain.

Thats the plan anyway.

First side of the roller carrier done, bit of thought needed in the jigging of this,

Drilled centrally and bolted down, external machined to leave a step for clamps once stud was removed,










Working on face with nut and stud out of the way,










Rounding over,










Zero'd machine and left it at that, have to get some long drills tomorrow before I flip it over,


Got it drilled, 










And drilled 6 times for locating pegs in order to position it on jig plate once its flipped, 










The jig plate machined, its been used many times for jigging different stuff so a bit odd looking, the centre hole is also tapped so that I can remove the three main bolts(and rebolt) once I have profiled around them to skim it to finished height, itll all make sense later, 










On, 

First two passes exposing the three profiles, 










Had to leave it at that as something came up, Im kinda glad in a way, because that bit is on its last legs, and pretty slack diameter wise for serious feeds and hogging,


----------



## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Pulled car in this eve, was looking for a biz car and found it on the rear floor, it was damper than I thought, damp enough to make card soggy so off with doorcards rapid to stop all this mess. The windows were fogging up too after a run due to in car heat/evaporation and driving me crazy also,

The door,










Very easy to pull cards, one screw behind pull handle on inside and off they prize(spelling?),

The culprit, thank christ, and that it wasn't coming in someplace else, 










The door card also damp and stained due to the water, thankfully it hadn't gone soggy and was still stiff as new, dried with heatgun before refit,










Cleaned sealer and membrane with petrol and reapplied new sealant, it was some form of clear tiger seal windscreen stuff - grand, 










Done,










Back, 










Other side was cat altogether, twas off nearly all the way round,










Checked fronts too while I was it it, but they were sound. Im thinking that theres air pressure, or external low pressure aero effects at work and sucking/blowing off the rear membranes. Front and rear designs are exactly the same so it cant be method, or adhesive, or any of that. 

Engine, 

Gave bay a quick going over although it was pretty spotless anyway, 










Charger will sit here someplace. Notice too, the cast coolant piece which I made/replaced 20,000 miles ago, well tested now, I had kinda forgotten about it :lol: 










The next thing Im going to do is whip out airbox, and have a better look. Im also going to sit down and read the book on the phones camera, as the picture quality is shocking bad, I know it can be better as sometimes it works great. I need to stop fiddling with the settings and just find one that works. 

In other news, I finally secured a place to order raw uncured silicone rubber sheet, and polyester reinforced sheet the very same spec samco use. I need a few unusual hoses to hook up the charger, and I couldn't put up with cobbling together samco ones with 40 jubilee clips as that looks pants. I also have to get a boost redirect hose in there too. Its 16yrs since I saw how these hoses were made, but I remember most of it. Its a win win situation, I sometimes need to make one off hoses so they are happy to supply whatever I need, whenever I need. The process is actually pretty simple. Hose material is black of course, as the blue is way too max power for me.

Going to change oil tomorrow, and look at drivers door as I strained it trying to open it when frozen solid. After that, its getting booked for nct early next week. Then, the fun can really start with charger, and fitting lsd.

Brian,


----------



## AJmustDIE (Dec 22, 2010)

I wish I knew half of what you have forgotten. :beer:


----------



## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

AJmustDIE said:


> I wish I knew half of what you have forgotten. :beer:


So do I. My worst trait is forgetting Important names, only yesterday I was explaining about differential bore calipers, and all the hydraulics laws going on inside, could I hell think of who figured out these laws for further study means to the person I was telling. It was of course Blaise Pascal or, better known as Pascals law.
This can leave you looking like a complete fool at times, and give the impression that you haven't a clue what you're talking about, especially if you're giving a talk, and you're standing at the scary whiteboard. I think this is what I missed in never going to college, or training in anything, those guys can quote laws all day long, but Id still rather know all about them, than being able to quote who it was. Richard Feynman makes a good point about this when he talks about a bird with his father, I cant remember it exactly, but you'll find it if you google Im sure.

Actually, I found it pretty easy. Here it is. Anyone should watch all of his videos. Ive mentioned him a few times in this entire thread Im sure. He makes me feel ok about a lot of things I never did in college but know alot about, from looking up on my own.






The man changed how I view the world in a lot of cases and also how I thought myself to think. Someone Ill never forget, and someone I admire highly. 

Please read everything you can about him if you have time,

Brian,


----------



## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Just to bring the diff/cover along as Ill be fitting both much the same time, here are a few photos of how it looks now. As mentioned a while back, I got the panels bonded in and fixed.

I had learnt a lot of techniques for fixing carbon to alloy when I bought an F1 rear diff housing and part rear crash structure for study for down the line. This one is investment cast titanium where the rear carbon crash structure gets bonded onto the rear of it. The F1 team I obtained it off didn't want me looking inside the crash structure itself as it contained too many secrets so they cut that off, and therefore kept most of the carbon structure. I didnt really mind though, as it was the bond methods I wanted to see. I knew from someone else, that the diff cover also contained a CF crown wheel windage profile so that was interesting too. 

Here it is below, It was in one piece when I got it but I cut It down the middle with a 55p bandsaw in a local place, the cut wandered miles off but it didn't really matter. 

You can see the countersink mounting screws, and also a ton of excess adhesive inside! 

This is rear view from back of car with it rotated 90 degrees, the reason this one is pretty cool is because it uses no honeycomb stacks internally for impact/energy absorption, but relies solely on a cross configuration of carbon laid up in different orientations for energy dispersal. This leaves you with a very light part. 










Heres the side view, with the rear wishbone rear mount in view, 










And the inside, showing bonded and fixed windage profile at crown wheel, 










And the profiles cross-section, and also the bond at external walls between Ti and Cf, 










Anyways, thats not really that important for this thread, but shows what I was looking at in order to be sure of my own work on the M5 diff cover, and rear CF panels as below, in its finished state, 










And the adhesive pushing up all round edges as planned due to under-sizing panels slightly, and also sealing around fasteners, 










The now hard adhesive which I went for in the end. A guy involved with F1 construction kindly sent it to me, as I was having trouble getting it in small amounts. It is the exact adhesive used in the F1 case above. If anyone wants to know the adhesive spec pm me, I told him I wouldn't mention it in the public domain, or his team/name either. 










The diff cover epoxy coated and dry before fitting panels, I went with a semi flexible epoxy, over a rigid epoxy base coat. Idea being, that the flexible coat will absorb small knocks from stones and other debris, while still having the added backup of the rigid epoxy. Its not super critical that coating holds up, as it was only really for bonding purposes but alloy is not anodized so its an all over extra protection. The alloy is one of the best as it is untreated so it should be grand. 










I have to yet trim off the flash/excess epoxy on cover, it done a long time now so well dry at this stage!!

Brian :thumbup:


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## ArpyArpad (Jan 4, 2002)

nice, i saw that Richard Feynman video the other day and it really makes you wonder how much you really know about things you think you know.:thumbup:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

ArpyArpad said:


> nice, i saw that Richard Feynman video the other day and it really makes you wonder how much you really know about things you think you know.:thumbup:


Exactly, causes you to take a whole different light on everything around you and can be applied to sweeping a floor, or designing a rocket,


----------



## Lord_Verminaard (Apr 6, 2004)

Is that a Rolls Royce sticker on that laptop? One of their US manufacturing plants is in my hometown. 

Brendan


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Lord_Verminaard said:


> Is that a Rolls Royce sticker on that laptop? One of their US manufacturing plants is in my hometown.
> 
> Brendan


Sure is hawk eyes 'borrowed' from a plant a while backeace:


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## Lord_Verminaard (Apr 6, 2004)

Brian.G said:


> Sure is hawk eyes 'borrowed' from a plant a while backeace:


Haha thought so.  I see the logo every day so it's hard for me not to notice. 

If you ever visit the Ohio plant, look me up. lol

Brendan


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Lord_Verminaard said:


> Haha thought so.  I see the logo every day so it's hard for me not to notice.
> 
> If you ever visit the Ohio plant, look me up. lol
> 
> Brendan


Will do, your job sounds fun already:thumbup:


----------



## Lord_Verminaard (Apr 6, 2004)

Brian.G said:


> Will do, your job sounds fun already:thumbup:


Ah, I don't work there, but they have a big giant building in the middle of our little town so it's hard not to see. 


Brendan


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Lord_Verminaard said:


> Ah, I don't work there, but they have a big giant building in the middle of our little town so it's hard not to see.
> 
> 
> Brendan


 If Im there, Ill find you then:thumbup:

Got oil changed eventually after getting a slightly wrong oil filter. In went around 7 litres of Shell Helix Ultra 5w-30. Its in every Ferrari dealers so good enough for me. Its all a bit marketing driven anyway and I dont pay much heed to oil debates. Kinda similar to tyre talk, 'good' ones dont let the car slide off on a wet corner killing me and are fairly quiet, good oils keep the engine moving over the range and dont sludge up, thats all I need from tyres and oil really 

Nct booked for two weeks time, closest they had so have to get cracking at door handle. Looking at Bmw drawings, I think I may have stretched the cable going from lock to handle when it was frozen, but Ill see this eve, hopefully its fixable, so that I wont have to wait for parts. Joey in Bmw motors tells me a lot of lock items have to come direct from Germany and it takes a while.

Ordered an-fittings for diff oil level/fill plug and also got enamel paint for diff case as well as all new bolts.

Supercharger traction roller carrier fully machined also.

More soon,

Brian,


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Hope to get Lsd fitted the weekend so Im prepping it now to put it all together. Checked bearings and they look excellent so Im going to run with them. I do want to check pinion depth and backlash though as Im going but thats easy. 

Got the case washed/cleaned/descaled and painted, 










Hoping to pick up oilseals later, they look to be off the shelf items so hopefully when I spin across to my local farm store they will have.

Got all new bolts for fitting flanges(bearings) and rear cover. 

Have yet to make nose bracket, but Ill do that tomorrow once it get the rear cover on and that way I can mock it up against the other e39 diff to see where nose bracket needs to be/look like. Im going to make this as a weldment from mild steel, as a few guys have asked to post/mail dimensions so that they can make themselves too. A billet cnc'd bracket would be out the window for most.
This is the only part you would need to fab up if you wanted to do this swap yourself. The rear cover that I made from billet can be bought as the E39 M5 cover but its mad money and wheres the fun in buying stuff anyway.

Just waiting for case paint to dry, I heated up case to just handle-able temp pre paint, the paint bonds better this way - and dries rapid too :laugh:


Ill also be binning the pinion crush sleeve and fitting a solid made to measure sleeve - I have seen a few crush sleeves fail in drifters so I just want to be rid of it - even though it might be fine - I dont spare the go pedal.

Ok, so paint dried, 

Made a solid sleeve from some alloy I had lying about, the step on the outside is nothing to do with anything - it was this diameter so left it as is. Getting the sleeve length correct can be a long job, but thankfully I hit it bang on on the second go.

The idea of the sleeve is to keep the taper bearings apart enough to allow clearance once you have the end nut tight. 

The sleeve finished at 19.84mm - this allows the bearings to have the correct preload and torque required to turn it with crown wheel out.

You can see factory one on the bottom - this collapses as you tighten nut and you keep going until you reach the correct preload. On some Jap yokes these sleeves can collapse altogether when dogged which is why I dont like them,










I then fitted diff to check pinion depth - no pictures of this as my hands were full but all you do is ink up the teeth with a marker, and spin the pinion. You are looking for the marker to be rubbed off crown teeth in the middle, or a little towards the center of diff. Idea of the contact point being nearer center is that when the teeth are loaded they deflect a bit, and the teeth then mesh in the middle.
It was bang on. 
Pinion depth has nothing to do with backlash - thats up next,

Backlash is the play between the crown and pinion, I normally set this to 5 thou - you need to do this with no oil in the diff for it to be really accurate and to 'feel' it,

The dial gauge is bolted to case and the tip rested on the outermost part of the tooth(any).
The pinion is locked in vice, and the diff/crown rocked, the 'rock' play turned out to be 5 thou, nice!

If ya wanted to change this, you would have to shim over crown wheel and more into the pinion. This is done by removing a shim on one side, and adding it to the other side. Shims nomally sit behind the races, or bolted flanges, 

Rear of gauge showing check point(crap picture)










New bolts - these have to be in before you check anything - they are in to stay now given tolerances are ok, 










Oil seals yet to go in above - but pinion seal in nose is fitted - Mchales had them \/ 

Rear bolted up, meant to take a picture of inside showing splash deflector at vent - its just a thin bit of stainless on the rear of CF panel bolts that keeps the major oil away from breather vent, rear is sealed on to case with sealant,











A spare 'normal' E39 diff beside it to show the mount I have to make up for the M5 units nose,










You can see Ive 3 good tapped holes to bolt new bracket to - have to make that next, more shortly,










Brian,


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## frechem (Oct 19, 2002)

Did you paint the case with some POR?


----------



## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

No, washed it with phosphoric acid which neutralizes/converts rust,

Black paint is single pack enamel, which has been on my outside light for 6yrs and holding well. Sales guys always say to put it onto very hot metal - bonds better, I believe them:laugh:

They state no primer needed, just acid wash,

Brian,


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Got bracket made,

Mocked up the other diff to get location of nose bracket, 

Fine cabinetmaking here :lol: 










The front flange is 100mm in diameter, the M5 front flange 105mm, so 2.5mm in the difference from wood base to flange centre line between both,










2.5mm spacer under wood block at nose above,

Jig brought in to locate at nose bracket and drilled for bolt,










M5 diff fitted to jig and a mild steel bush/spigot turned up and bolted to jig at location of other bracket, 2.5mm spacer removed from under nose support wood block,










Strip of steel shaped to span both holes at bottom of nose,










Bent piece fitted at top hole, piece fitted from bottom strip upto spigot and the lot tacked up,










Managed to mislay all the old bolts off original E34 bracket so using wheel studs for the mock up,



















Bracket removed and finish welded,



















Wire brushed and painted while still hot - and refitted,




























Done, very handy

Nearly ready for fitting now, need a few more bits and in she'll go,

Brian,


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

As it turned out Im short a few bits to swap in lsd right away, so I have to wait until they come. Mainly, needle bearings for the drive shaft, as I have to use the M5 rear section which means re-staking the joint - dont want to use old needles. More on that very soon.

Got the photos of the traction roller carrier finally uploaded, had reached 'maximum occupancy' of photobucket current pro account so had to go a different paid category for even more storage  I use it for both cars, and work so dont mind too much.

I think the last time you saw it I was waiting on a new bit, as old bit was shot for any sort of decent feed rate. Well I got bits and hogged through it rapid,

The bit, 14mm hss 2 flute 102mm long,










Down to previous holes machined when at other side, - counterbores for bearing races also cut










Bulk of material machined away from around bolts to provide my datum surface while still bolted down firmly, once machined, I fitted a bush to centre - this stops the legs bending in from the internal stress in the aluminum after machining away its core. Its a lot like wood in that it moves when its cut. Bush holds them in place when 3 bolts are removed. Fitted centre bolt at this stage to jig plate,










Drilling locator dowel holes - bolts still in,










Bolts removed and bosses machined away, these are milled .1mm below datum surface,










Removed off table with bush still left in place. Stress relief @ 176c for one hour did the trick and bush dropped out under its own weight once the inward spring went off 'fingers'. I could probably have got away without this, but the inward spring in 'fingers' could have made assembly a pain.(locating dowels)

Off the table and de-burred,










Rollers pushed in for a 'look'










Annulus fitted and ''shaft'' fitted for mock up, all looks and feels good, 










Other side, just spotting a dowel pin @ 6 o clock used for jig location not removed, will pull it out tomorrow,










Thats another bit posted - I intend to track on with this until lsd bits arrive, cant be idle anyway!

Main body casting up next, so a bit of pattern woodwork coming up...then some of the hot stuff,

Brian,


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Bit of woodwork this evening, got the main case for charger almost done bar a bit of flattening, 

Was eyeing the end of a plank of Brazilian Mahogany Ive had for ten yrs, its 15x4 16ft long  but got sense and made pattern from aero birch ply instead. 

Took a bit more work, but no cost. A few of them were cut on the mill, stacked, and glued together. 

Cutter was a 14mm 2 flute hss, 5krpm, feedrate judged by ear, but around 400mm per min @ 6mm per pass - 3 passes, just for any cnc guys looking. Air blast every 6 seconds or so, knitted manually into the gcode post generation from cam. You get a LOT of chips machining 14mm wide. 

End cover pattern that will house oil pump and pulley also milled. 

No draft angles were taken into account when milling solely to keep mill time low. Shrinkage was taken into account of course, and drawings resized. This results in the pattern being about 1.5mm bigger in diameter. 










In order to create the necessary draft angle on the part, 1.5mm wire is glued on in three places. Draft angle is required on a pattern so that it comes up out of the sand clean. No draft, or ANY 90 degree sides and your mould is ruined - it will lock into sand. 

Below, it is glued to centre line of one ply section, and to the bottom edge of another - on the inside, 










Sections all glued together, wired section sits in the centre, other wired section sits next to base solid section,(inside) 










3rd wired second on left - this is the pulley housing as mentioned, the wire is used to lap the filler onto, automatically forming the required draft angle. 

Filler put on heavy on main pattern on right, its real easy sand so comes of fast. In a case like this, I prefer to lather it on large - air bubbles and stuff dont matter as they would on a car as they can be filled easily, 










The end housing pictured above was cut 1.5mm smaller, so that when the wire is added, and filled, the new perimeter matches the main case, 










And, dont ever buy this paint, its complete crap and takes 4 days to dry, lost three patterns last week because of it - sand kept sticking to it on the 4th day. Had to bin patterns and start over. Not related here really, just keep walking should you ever see it for sale, 










The main pattern rough sanded, you can now see the equal draft above and below wire in centre where it touches the CF- this will be the external parting line and where the top and bottom moulds meet, 










Internally, where the wire sat near the bottom wall, was filleted to this wire, this gives the internal draft angle - Ill photo that tomorrow correctly, 

Below is where I left it for today, want to leave filler to settle before flatting and giving the final top coat/sanding. 

I still have to complete the pulley/end cap pattern, hope to pour tomorrow eve, woodwork is easy, cnc makes it way easier, 










Brian,


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## gopher11 (Nov 24, 2004)

wow.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

gopher11 said:


> wow.


 I just remembered there that I recently traveled to Donington track to look at some 60s F1 cars and their suspension systems, was in the locality meeting a guy about developing pneumatic springs for ex-F1 race engines so had the full run of the display halls 

Will pop them up later for the eye candyness of it all, 

Brian,


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

The following set of pictures contains a LOT of close up shots of various early cars and suspension details so they might come across as a bit boring to some. But, enjoy all the same. 

The collection was nearly too much to comprehend I have to say, I didn't know whether to cry laugh or puke :laugh::laugh: 

Those of you that are sharp will spot two pictures where I got two very special once in a lifetime photos and indeed experiences. 

Anyway, onwards, here is the set, hope you have good broadband, and feel free to take any shots for your own use,


----------



## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)




----------



## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)




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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Pneumatic valve train - which is what I was there for in the first place,


----------



## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

BRM crank, 
































































BRM pistons are tiny,


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Thats pretty much it, massive thanks to Roger, and to Patrick too for the Rolls Royce tour, 

Just for you Brendan:laugh: 










Next stop shortly Lotus, then Koenigsegg, hope you all enjoy the pictures, they will past the time until next update in a few hours while Im pouring metal:thumbup: 

Brian,


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## Lord_Verminaard (Apr 6, 2004)

Wow. Stunning. Those old F1 machines are beyond comprehension. 

Thank you for sharing! 

Brendan


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

You are welcome Brendan, the Ferrari 312 has to be the most beautiful creation I have ever seen to date, anywhere, in any material, serving any function. It is just divine, do want  :heart::heart: 

Brian,


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## polov8 (Apr 14, 2004)

Hey Brian, When exactly were you at Donnington, 'cause I was there about 4 weeks ago and there was some irish dude stepping accross the ropes to take pics..... :sly: 

Place was nearly empty, I was there with my Dad and my American friend


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## MikkiJayne (Jan 1, 2007)

*FV-QR*

Fantastic pics


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

polov8 said:


> Hey Brian, When exactly were you at Donnington, 'cause I was there about 4 weeks ago and there was some irish dude stepping accross the ropes to take pics..... :sly:
> 
> Place was nearly empty, I was there with my Dad and my American friend


 That dude was me:thumbup: Ropes are only a guide for honest people 
They didnt mind, the guy I was over to see owned the car in the lobby 

Im trying to remember you, can kind of:thumbup: 

Brian, 

ps, how did you know I was Irish>?


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## polov8 (Apr 14, 2004)

I think we watched you climb back over a rope and you said something like "Gotta take the chance when you can" or something. 

Funny, what are the chances?


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

polov8 said:


> I think we watched you climb back over a rope and you said something like "Gotta take the chance when you can" or something.
> 
> Funny, what are the chances?


 Ya, I remember! I took many chances that day! I think one of you said ''what ropes'' too:laugh: 
I only met 2 groups in there, was dead quiet for sure. 

I dont know what the chances are, but very very slim! Who knows when ya meet someone you may know online. The same thing often crosses my mind when in planes, or waiting at a gate, 

Brian,


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Got another bit of this done, 

Turning spigot for pulley pattern, 










Bonded into centre hole, 










This got finished internally too, 










Bad picture of draft angle I mentioned, 










Pulley end done and smoothed, 










And case, 



















Trial mould to check everything, case pattern left up on packers to get parting line on pattern, approx same height as parting join of two mould boxes - these stack onto eachother, 










Filled up with sand and struck off level, 










Pair of boxes(flasks - cope/drag) turned over, packers that were under it now on top and removed, top flask also removed, 










Sand leveled off and made smooth to top of flask, and to parting line on pattern, parting dust applied - talc! 










Riser wood form inserted into a 10mm peg hole in pattern, 










Filled way up to top of riser form with sand - I should have really used the bigger boxes for higher riser - head pressure but It should be ok, sprue, or 'filler' form not inserted for trial, 










Riser form removed, 










Cope flask off, all draft angles are fine, no sand trapped or funny surprises. The flask is left on its side here, so you can see holding power of sand. Its just fine sand mixed with engine oil - nothing else. Packs up very well, 










A poor shot of bottom flask, and also pattern, again, all ok here, 










I nearly always leave top flask down onto bottom flask like this when doing a trial, I slice the sand while doing so to check compaction - if it cuts clean like butter, its packed enough, if it crumbles, it needs to be packed more. See below for clean slice of lower sand mould, 










Onto the real run, no pictures along the way as theres too much for doing, sprue where its filled on right, riser as seen above on left, 










Poured fine despite low head height. No porosity. Gate can be seen from sprue to parting line. 
The idea when filling a part is to get the metal in fairly smooth, and for the sprue(filler) and gate, - way in, to freeze off first, and the whole part gradually freeze off towards the riser. The riser freezing last, and filling the areas under it as they freeze off and shrink, 










The riser volume should have been three times what it is here, but I couldn't be bothered pulling down the larger flasks as they are for a different resin bond sand and would have taken insane cleaning after. Either way, directly under sprue will be getting bored away anyway should there be any porosity there, 

Metal pouring temp was fine(I guess it by colour of crucible most times!), you can tell by shine - even though I will probably paint the main body dolomite grey - love that colour on cast parts. Some parts you will see are dull, these have been poured too hot, 










Slight bit of cleaning up do do at parting line as with all cast parts, and chop off riser and sprue of course, then a light wire brushing, 










Left it at that to air cool as I dont want to force cool and shock it, will probably heat treat later/tomorrow and begin machining then. 

Almost finished running numbers on compressor wheel size, down to two now thank christ. I will have an overall sizing by swapping pulley size but I still want to be in the zone so that bearings and rollers dont have to be driven at excessive rpm because of a poor compressor wheel size choice, 

Got the end cap poured too shown above, same story really, will post pics tomorrow, 

Brian,


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Got castings heat treated, 

Got lathe work out of the way first, 

Roughed/finished the compressor end where the snail casting will attach to(thats going to be an interesting casting!) This is done in preparation for the mill later, 










And the pulley end, this took a bit of thinking, as you have one chance with a raw casting in terms of jigging it. Any datum surfaces you need on there for later have to be machined now, otherwise fixing or datum setting 3 or 4 steps later could be impossible. 

It was gripped at the spigot end on the bare casing - all lathe machining was done in this one clamping, 










Faced off, bored through, and roughed out centre to grip internally with chuck when doing nose, Light recess also cut for accurate centre locating on mill later, 










Chucked up and indicated against light ring step cut in face in the previous step, - this faced ring will also locate charger in bracket later, Nose machined, plus recess for bearing, outside of nose turned for chucking on mill and will also hold a dust cap/seal assembly. 










The circlip groove cut, and all fitted to test, 










Grand, next... 










A steel press fit ferrule was turned for internal bore - this is to act as an axial thrust face for floating oil pump rotor as the thrust face to go with the alloy was a little small, 










Pressed in with press using spigot 'tool' - ignore the marks internally, these are from the chuck and get machined away, 










Missing a few photos here as battery died, but doesn't matter. Turned down the oil pump rotors I had to reduce displacement, also bored out rotor larger to accept a large diameter shaft, 

Housing was clamped in chuck and the space machined out for oil pump assembly, I also changed the geometry of the passageways behind assembly to further reduce pumped volume. I dont want this thing pumping for the sake of it - just need circulation. 
I used the blu-tac method to find approx pumped volume, whereby you fill one lobe section with packed blue-tac. You then find the volume of this piece of blue tac and go from there. Both parts are fitted before packing so that the lobe section - space is at its largest. 
You can then do a bit of maths and find out where to place the raised section below assembly in order to control when the lobe starts to fill, and when it gets exposed to the outlet point(inlet to main case). Like all calculations and general design processes, it tends to be horrifically boring after a time and makes very bad forum reading which is why I keep all math/design calc off threads in general. The fact that many of them are doing on *** boxes/envelopes/newspapers doesn't help either. 

Theres a few other drillings and things going on below, but they'll make sense later. I wish sometimes that I had made 3d drawings of all parts and how they go together as it would be easier describe, but all Ive done is 2d drawings which is all I need to picture the whole thing and machine it. I will do a pen drawing of oil-ways tomorrow though as they are semi complex. I have no idea how the 'shop' ones are oiled, or how the pumps work as Ive never seen one, but I know this way will work - so good luck to them! 










The 2d drawings can get crazy which is why layers are a good idea - you can turn on and off different parts of the assembly - you can also mirror parts of it at will, since the part on the screen may have to be machined on the reverse side which means it would be cut the wrong way when face up on mill table, some parts of drawing below are mirrored for machining and not end views, 










You can see the raised part under pump I mentioned - it is this that controls what goes on, The plate that covers the pump and holds the end bearing also has deeper passageways cut for inlet to case, and pickup, 










They lie eccentric to each-other so accurate machining needed, 



















Finished machined outside while on table to save doing it by hand - you can see cast size was pretty near and also sat fairly good on table in reference to the metal being in the correct place in relation to the drawing. Its important to have enough metal where you want it, and not have it in the wrong places lol. This all depends on the very first jigging the part gets. If its not right then, it'll wrong for all the rest of the machining. Its a bit like chess...Id say 










Left it at that, theres a bit of oil way drilling to do with this yet but handy enough. Very happy with metal quality, its very tight and like billet for such a small riser, 










I still will test the delivery volume/rate before bolting it all together though, I do not want ANY sort of unnecessary pressure between the oiling jets, and the feed from pump. Since there is no relief valve I cant have any at full rpm. I have an adjustable orifice designed in on the bearing plate I can adjust to suit. Since pressure is resistance to flow, and the resistance is the jets, unnecessary pressure means the jets blowing oil out for 35ft, and drilling/burst strain - dont want any of those. 

One other thing Ill be checking is internal pressure within the case. Im relying on the displaced oil exiting from pump/jets to pump 'used oil' back to tank. Flow resistance in the outlet, and the pipes back are the enemy here, but I think they should be ok. I can make a balance drilling between the intake/outlet to reduce this, but I really dont want to as its power wasted in pumping. 
The failure that can happen from high case pressure is blowing out my oil seal behind compressor wheel, and behind pulley - not good! 

Brian,


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## MikkiJayne (Jan 1, 2007)

*FV-QR*

:thumbup:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

:beer:^ 

Got another bit done, mainly the case machined, 

Here I had the inside machined already, so bolted down in centre while still held by other clamps - removed outer clamps then and finished machined top face/outer perimeter, 










'Action shots' of outside milling, 



















Face datumed off, 










Finish drilled deep holes on stand as I hadnt a bit long enough I could use with mill, 3 are tapped to hold cover, 3 go all the way through to hold on snail + charger to bracket, 
You can see inside machining here too, 










Holes tapped to mount carrier, 










Thrown together rough, 




























Someone asked the day before yesterday via a pm how I got rights to make this due to patent Infringement. The answer was, I didnt. This is for my own use only and Im not selling it, or making anymore. 
Apart at all from all that, this operates on a totally different principal from the patents already there concerning traction drives, and the methods used of applying more pressure to the rollers for traction at higher loads. 

I will show very clearly their methods, and my method which is totally new. 
I also want to make it clear that this is not a copy of any traction method, as Im not into copying others designs - you tend to learn or discover nothing new from doing that. 

And to go even further to explain the variable load system, 
Its very easy make a traction drive with large pressures between rollers to cope with high loads/speeds. The trouble with this is when the load/speed is low, you still have those pressures, and therefore higher rolling resistance - which is bad and sucks power. 
What you really want is a system whereby at light loads/low speeds, the pressure between rollers is low, and at higher speeds/loads it ramps up - reducing slip. 
If I was a tuner, and cared about my design I wouldn't show it, and do out perfect drawings and get a patent on it - Im pretty sure it would be awarded against prior art. But, Im not a tuner and couldn't care less and have other things to be doing - Im familiar with patents and its a LOT of work, hoops, and money. 

I could have copied exactly how the other guys have done it, but anyone that knows me, knows thats not my style and too 'easy'. 

Traction roller gearboxes have been around yonks, as have chargers. Its the way you fashion them together that counts. 

Anyways, you'll see the differences soon enough, and the 'novelty' factor of mine - it may look the same, but its far from it internally. 

// 

Located the correct compressor wheel I want, should be here in a week. Am waiting on a new grinding stone for mill as I have VERY accurate finish grinding to do on the rollers - more on that later. 

Will be turning up the pulley shaft and pulley + thrust piston, and also the oil pump cover and bearing plate next. The bearing plate again is a small cast item, cast because the silicon in the cast alloy provides a great bearing surface. 
I also have to cut drive notches in the oil pump rotor in order for the pulley shaft to drive it. 
At the same time Ill probably start to lay out the snail patterns as they are going to be semi complex and require drying times. 

I must draw out the oiling system too so that you will know whats going on, its pretty busy in there, 

Brian,


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## AJmustDIE (Dec 22, 2010)

Can you be my uncle or something? :laugh:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

AJmustDIE said:


> Can you be my uncle or something? :laugh:


 Easy on, Im still young:thumbup: :laugh: 

Brian,


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Update, 

Ton of sand + resin binders arrived today - its mainly for cylinder head prototypes down the line but will be using a tiny bit of it for making the turbo snail. 
I have used chemical bond sand before, but not here, so its great to finally have it and call it mine. 
I have done a fair bit of r+d finding the right sand+binder ratio and I can safely say this is the one. 
It is a big step, but now the moulding possibilities are endless. It cures up hard as a brick, so you can make complex moulds and build/glue parts together and pour into those. Its how nearly all commercial casting is done. Oil bond is very good for some parts, but chemical bond is the one for bigger jobs. 

Did a small test a while ago in the supercharger case pattern, just mixed some up, and tamped it in then cured. 

Amazing stuff, and moulds cores can be handled without much care and keep good for ever. 

Main moulds as well as the cores can be made with this. 

Below it just out of pattern, and its not painted with GZA4 yet. GZA4 is a mix of very fine graphite/zircon powder which is mixed with alcohol to make a paint. This get painted onto sand part below to further smooth the surface, 










Its as hard as a brick above - this takes a lot of stress out of doing a big mould up as it takes a bit of abuse and wont fall to bits if you touch it with a finger nail. The downside is it has to be broken/smashed off part once poured but thats ok. 

Compressor wheel ordered and on route, inducer/exducer diameters - 65.6mm / 91 mm. Its a good quality part and by turbonetics who have been about longer than I have. 

More on charger later, 

Brian,


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## frechem (Oct 19, 2002)

Interesting stuff. It looks like angel food cake.


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

frechem said:


> Interesting stuff. It looks like angel food cake.


 I had to google that particular cake, you're not wrong:laugh: 

Brian,


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## AJmustDIE (Dec 22, 2010)

Crafting your own turbocharger.
You sir just don't know when to quit. :beer:


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Compressor wheel landed the last day and still in box, I can now crack on with snail casting, and the main shaft now that I know for sure the compressor wheel bore. 

Looking fwd to it!

Brian,


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## polov8 (Apr 14, 2004)

_*YOU'RE *_looking forward to it? How do you think we feel!


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## MikkiJayne (Jan 1, 2007)

*FV-QR*

twitching...
need updates....


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

polov8 said:


> _*YOU'RE *_looking forward to it? How do you think we feel!


:laugh:

Cast a pretty complex part yesterday using new bonded sand, all I can say it MY GOD its fantastic to use. Takes ALL the stress out of doing up a big mould(s) as with the old oil bond stuff.

There will be loads more detailed pictures of open moulds now pre pour, as they are bullet proof:thumbup:

Should have made the change yrs ago:facepalm:

Brian,


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## polov8 (Apr 14, 2004)

Hey Brian

I had a thought yesterday, is it possible to use your new bonded sand as a solid block, and your CNC to machine out the shape of the things you want to cast, presumably with a vacuum nozzle sucking up the debris instead of a water feed lubing it?

I just thought for your future cylinder head project, you could get the thing designed in CAD, and transfer it straight to the CNC to machine out the molds and cores and go straight to casting? 

Andy


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

polov8 said:


> Hey Brian
> 
> I had a thought yesterday, is it possible to use your new bonded sand as a solid block, and your CNC to machine out the shape of the things you want to cast, presumably with a vacuum nozzle sucking up the debris instead of a water feed lubing it?
> 
> ...


You could do that Andy, with some sort of cutter, but far easier to make the patterns instead since you then too only have to machine them once - you can then pull as many castings off them as you like. If you were to machine the sand, you would have to do it every time for a new same casting. 3d profiling can take hours.

Im guessing Ill need more than one, good to have spare raw castings should some be non usable, or if I screw up machining one

Good idea all the same,

Brian,


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

Here is something I was doing a short while ago, Im sure many members and viewers thinking about or involved with casting or F1 motorsport will find it very interesting,

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthre...d-Parts-a-closer-look&p=82917158#post82917158

Brian,

:thumbup:


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## Monster Cookie (Jul 27, 2013)

So... we have this large skid of titanium at work that we bought for a song.

Wanna try remelting and casting Grade 5 titanium parts?
It may be a bit more difficult LOL.


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## RevHead351 (Oct 12, 2013)

*raor brilliance of people on this forum*

Just have to say I'm overwhelm reading this thread of the raor brilliance of people on this forum 
My eye balls dilated on some of the workmanship and skill levels i could only dream of.
Keep up the fantastic work guys will be reading more and more went through all 20 pages of this thread.
DDDDAAAAMMMM i wish I has this skill level , I can barely start a lathe/mill just find the on/off switch.

cheers


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

RevHead351 said:


> Just have to say I'm overwhelm reading this thread of the raor brilliance of people on this forum
> My eye balls dilated on some of the workmanship and skill levels i could only dream of.
> Keep up the fantastic work guys will be reading more and more went through all 20 pages of this thread.
> DDDDAAAAMMMM i wish I has this skill level , I can barely start a lathe/mill just find the on/off switch.
> ...


http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?6904660-16v-variable-runner-intake-manifold 

:thumbup:


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## EFB055 (Aug 24, 2014)

Brian.G said:


> http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?6904660-16v-variable-runner-intake-manifold
> 
> :thumbup:


Just spent a whole weekend reading through this and all the links that have been posted along the way.

I was just wondering if there was any updates on your 8v throttle bodies or the BMW's supercharger? Was loving the progress!

:thumbup::thumbup:


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## turboSlap (Feb 5, 2009)

Sitting over here in chicago working nights reading up on VEMS and other stuff on the project pad and this thread turns up, don't know how I missed it but so flippin cool to see something of this caliber coming from home. Amazing work. Haven't been on vagdrivers since I hopped on the plane here in '09, will have to go search for this now!!!!


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## Brian.G (May 8, 2010)

turboSlap said:


> Sitting over here in chicago working nights reading up on VEMS and other stuff on the project pad and this thread turns up, don't know how I missed it but so flippin cool to see something of this caliber coming from home. Amazing work. Haven't been on vagdrivers since I hopped on the plane here in '09, will have to go search for this now!!!!


Love that City! Im there now and again - we should meet up

Where are you from?

Brian,


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## turboSlap (Feb 5, 2009)

Yup, shoot me a message here if you're around.....I'm from just outside Boyle. Been here about 5 years now though.


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## turboSlap (Feb 5, 2009)

I haven't logged into vagdrivers.net in an age...... I do remember a user name BrianG or something that had some pretty cool stuff, is that you???


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## turboSlap (Feb 5, 2009)

Oh yeah.... Give us more stuff to ogle over soon please


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