CDNpontiac409guy
Banned
WOW..
what a ride
Whatever a person thinks it'll cost, multiply that by 2.
However long a person thinks it'll take... multiply that by 5 ! ! :eek
After a solid 50-60 hours of designing and manufacturing jigs, fixtures and templates... I FINALLY got through the process. What is rewarding about it... is that it seems that my actual machining time on the manifold, was less than 3 hours. Main thing, it's competely repeatable.... sort of like a manual CNC program.
The fit is great... I'm very happy with that. Just a couple VERY minor alteration instructions to give to my pattern maker, and they will do the first run of castings in short order.
A few photos:
The "battle scars" are from this poor casting being tossed about a little ! Used it for setting up the fixtures, while drilling and welding.
Everything machined and fit. The carburetor base was machined at the proper angle, down enough to allow the use of a stock air cleaner. However, I don't think this is how it will end up. Testing next week, will be done wih a 1/2" spacer installed.
Close up, showing contour and alignment.
Yes, the factory type PCV provision..... wait till you see my unconventional approach to the lifter valley baffle
What it'll look like, when you open the hood.
I did a very small amount of trimming at the runner outlets, which has been passed on to the pattern maker.
what a ride
Whatever a person thinks it'll cost, multiply that by 2.
However long a person thinks it'll take... multiply that by 5 ! ! :eek
After a solid 50-60 hours of designing and manufacturing jigs, fixtures and templates... I FINALLY got through the process. What is rewarding about it... is that it seems that my actual machining time on the manifold, was less than 3 hours. Main thing, it's competely repeatable.... sort of like a manual CNC program.
The fit is great... I'm very happy with that. Just a couple VERY minor alteration instructions to give to my pattern maker, and they will do the first run of castings in short order.
A few photos:
The "battle scars" are from this poor casting being tossed about a little ! Used it for setting up the fixtures, while drilling and welding.
Everything machined and fit. The carburetor base was machined at the proper angle, down enough to allow the use of a stock air cleaner. However, I don't think this is how it will end up. Testing next week, will be done wih a 1/2" spacer installed.
Close up, showing contour and alignment.
Yes, the factory type PCV provision..... wait till you see my unconventional approach to the lifter valley baffle
What it'll look like, when you open the hood.
I did a very small amount of trimming at the runner outlets, which has been passed on to the pattern maker.