3D printed Intakes and other items coming for every 348-409 application.

[1964SuperStocker]

I’m not jumping on the bandwagon of kicking the hornets nest, but I too had a question in my mind when I first read about this as to the plastic that you’re printing with…. Is it durable enough to support the weight of, gravity ,vibration, of dual carburetion an air cleaner assembly and linkage….will it remain flat and True……..I know they said that composite decking will not curl, will not warp, but I’ve seen those results ……….

Might help you to know that this Series One intake running on my car was a 10% fill. 100% fill means its a solid piece with no gaps or empty structure inside. We plan on having the general walls around 30% and the corners, fasteners and matting surfaces at a higher fill. In some places it will be 100%. Again if all manufactures are using plastics and nylons to make intakes already, then nothing we are doing is new. Actually the material we are selecting to use currently is over kill in the durability department for what its getting used for. We could easily do without the carbon fiber fill and make our printers happier without it.

 

[1964SuperStocker]

I have a lot of questions!
1. You intentionally made the engine backfire while in the car knowing there may be the possibility that it could explode? Despite the fire risk?
2. Have you spoken to anyone that has printed complete intake manifolds that have had success with long term durability? As in years and
thousands of miles? I ask because I have not seen it done yet. Everything I have ever seen or heard about has been limited to prototypes and
short term use. Short term being under 100 hrs.
3. How resistant to today's pump gas are the materials? Will they absorb gas after long term use? Will the material become brittle?
4. What about vibration and cracking?
5. Is the printing process cost effective over a casting? Or even using the 3d printer to print dry sand cores? It would seem the 3d printing process
for a complete intake would be costly for a production run on something that would be a popular seller such as a small port 2x4 manifold.
6. I understand the materials are heat resistant beyond the operating range of an average engine, but what about heat AND pressure such as under
bolts? Will the material compress over time?
7. Have you done any flow work in general and dyno testing in the past?
8. Will you be using cfd simulations to help with your designs?

If I haven't kicked the hornets nest too hard yet, I would like to know more.

Almost forgot.
We are considering creating 3D printed forms we can cast with but that again costs way more money/time then we are willing to expend on these when just 3D printing the parts now is so easy. I have a few local friends that actually sand cast and they are chomping at the bit to try it. Not right now but maybe later for special editions.

 

[boxerdog]

What ever became of the AFR Titan polymer intakes? They had some interesting design tweaks like different spiders on a common base, but it looks like that plan was abandoned years ago.

 

[1964SuperStocker]

What ever became of the AFR Titan polymer intakes? They had some interesting design tweaks like different spiders on a common base, but it looks like that plan was abandoned years ago.

There is one for sale on Facebook market place locally. They had a good product for a common engine. Saturated market for something too exotic to make useful.

 

[1964SuperStocker]

There is one for sale on Facebook market place locally. They had a good product for a common engine. Saturated market for something too exotic to make useful.

Coming out with a plastic 350 Chevy intake in 2012 when LS engines were becoming super popular swaps was a death sentence for any 350 tech. When working with these vintage engines, the likely hood any of us are going to jump ship to stuff in an LS is very unlikely. Yes the 350 Chevy will be popular again some day but it won't be until my kids are older. We do plan our 3D printing to jump around to different less popular makes once we have established ourselves in the 348-409 community. AMC, International, Jeep, Mopar, Studebaker, Hudson, straight 6 and 8 cylinder engines. I'd be over the moon if I could get a super charger and a 4 barrel on my 1.0L 1986 Chevy Sprint. My family has owned this little rust free 3 cylinder car since the car was almost new. Before you faint, I'll have you know there are way more 1.0L Suzuki based 3 cylinders and followers in the world then there are 348-409 engines and that crowd is crazy about their little fuel sippers. There is a gathering of just these Geo Metro based cars next weekend down in Joplin Missouri for anyone wanting to see what 48hp looks like up close. There are a few modified turbo charged versions with 200hp. Those AFR titans are neat pieces before their time.

 

[55Brodie]

Back in 1986 my wife and I along with my friend and his wife rented a Chevy Sprint for a week in the U.S. Virgin Islands. It had a 3 speed automatic transmission and with the 4 of us on board it proved to be quite a dog. Add in the fact that the island is also quite hilly.
The car's coolest feature was the rental company's anti-theft device add-on which consisted of a length of link chain welded to the floor pan below the steering wheel and a pad lock.
Good times!

 

[Ishiftem]

What ever became of the AFR Titan polymer intakes? They had some interesting design tweaks like different spiders on a common base, but it looks like that plan was abandoned years ago.

Double the cost for the same performance as a cast intake doomed that project. AFR said they could cast those same intakes for 1/3 the cost and a 1/5 of the time but thought the modern cool factor and changeable spiders would be a big selling point. Well it turns out cost matters and nobody wanted the ability to change spiders. Why would you build an engine designed for a single plane and put a dual plane intake on it and vice versa? You don’t. You buy one intake type that fits the build. Done. It was a solution to a problem that didn’t exist.

 

[1964SuperStocker]

Double the cost for the same performance as a cast intake doomed that project. AFR said they could cast those same intakes for 1/3 the cost and a 1/5 of the time but thought the modern cool factor and changeable spiders would be a big selling point. Well it turns out cost matters and nobody wanted the ability to change spiders. Why would you build an engine designed for a single plane and put a dual plane intake on it and vice versa? You don’t. You buy one intake type that fits the build. Done. It was a solution to a problem that didn’t exist.

Ask Bob. My first idea was to make aluminum bottoms and 3D print top half from the runners up. Thinking that most people would want to go from a simple 4 barrel and upgrade later to a dual quad, tunnel or cross ram system. The problem with that is the vast majority of those of us with these engines is no one can tell me right now the volume of the plenum or runners on their current engines intake. All the majority of us know is it works and some intakes (like Edelbrock dual quad over the factory 881) work better than others. So to begin with all I have to do is beat the performance of the Edelbrock or any other cast intake and I have a selling point. If someone actually determines what they need for plenum, runner size and length then with the click of the mouse they can have that. Another selling point. If someone really wants their own logo/design on their intake then another selling point. Molding plastic as the AFR Titan is done is super expensive and requires tons of over head. We have almost Zero over head because we don't need to print anything until its been ordered. If AFR made the titan today, it would be 3D printed, and would have been made for way less than it lost to cast aluminum.

 

[1964SuperStocker]

Back in 1986 my wife and I along with my friend and his wife rented a Chevy Sprint for a week in the U.S. Virgin Islands. It had a 3 speed automatic transmission and with the 4 of us on board it proved to be quite a dog. Add in the fact that the island is also quite hilly.
The car's coolest feature was the rental company's anti-theft device add-on which consisted of a length of link chain welded to the floor pan below the steering wheel and a pad lock.
Good times!

My childhood buddies were all well over 200lbs each. My car looked like a lowrider when they stepped in it. My car is an automatic and has A/C. A/C alone took another 5-8hp away from the engine. A/C was used down hill only.

 

[OkieJoe29]

Very interesting concept! I'm really interested to see the results after hours of runtimes on one. Something like this may be the only way some of us would ever be able to find, let alone afford a cross ram

 

[1964SuperStocker]

Very interesting concept! I'm really interested to see the results after hours of runtimes on one. Something like this may be the only way some of us would ever be able to find, let alone afford a cross ram

I don't think hours of run time is going to be enough for us to release this to the public. I expect we will have weeks of run time on my personal car, then we will consider a limited release to the public. Once we get more feedback then its full steam ahead.

 

[1964SuperStocker]

Just a reminder these 3D printed intakes will be Carbon Fiber nylon. For those who have asked me what the material is we are printing. Also, this first "Series One" intake was geared toward the racers, then we will have a shorter version to fit under a factory hood and include a water cross-over and thermostat/water neck. With the click of a mouse we will have options for those who want a cross-over printed with the intake (like a factory set-up) and those that want to run remote cooling lines.. 3D printed intake explosion video coming up in the next few days. Busy with meetings on our printer expansion and annealing process for finished parts.

 

[1964SuperStocker]

Here is the big bang everyone has been waiting for! Such a fun back fire. Never planned one on purpose before but having two cameras running was perfect. Ok, back to work.

 

[1964SuperStocker]

Here are some photos of the aftermath. Came apart perfectly in the plenum where we had hoped. When you build something, you want it to be strong in some places and doesn't have to be as strong in others. This really couldn't have gone better. Can't wait to get the pop off plates done and try to blow another one. That will happen on an engine stand as the motor will be out of the wagon in two weeks. Time to clean up the engine, compartment and get the power steering, power brakes, A/C all reinstalled on this power everything wagon. Family is complete now and we want to make some road trips and getting the new 700r4 stuffed in finally will make this such a fun family ride. With the 434ci engine clearly. Like anything else belongs under this hood.

 

[348goob]

W O W. !!!

 

[1964SuperStocker]

Finally purchased some horse power for our 3D printed intakes. We were going to have a third party print these for us but the timing to get them done just isn't going to work with my fast R&D/production schedule. My new 3D printer can almost print a complete 1 piece intake but needs to be extended so I'm tripling the Y axis to over 32" in length (horizontal). Adding some hotrod parts like Micro Swiss all metal direct drive hot end and Revo quick change nozzle system. This CORE XY 3D printer should be fast and accurate. The 1000mm (about 39") aluminum extrusions just came in the mail Tuesday to make this a very wide machine. Once I wire up the massive heat pad and adjust the G code for the new print configuration, we should be kicking out a few test prints at about 100-120mm a minute or better. Haven't needed a filament dryer yet but that is on the short list to ensuring our Carbon Fiber Nylon prints go smoothly. I now have 3 machines and this latest addition to my fleet will ensure we are able to make very large objects. We are focused on engine parts currently but if anyone comes up with any good hard to get parts we should consider printing, let me know. (No matter what make, model or project) I can't wait until the nationals this year. I won't be bringing a car to race but we plan on having my engine on a run stand with an intake bolted on. May have the timing cover, valve covers and air cleaner done by then too. We will see only thing I'm not done designing is the air cleaner. More news and pictures to come very soon.

 

[boxerdog]

Valve covers would be cool, maybe a clone of the M/T BBC covers adapted to a W pattern???

 

[Skip FIx]

I vaguely remember a picture in a Hot Rod Book of Engines(maybe #3) in the high school library of a W in a boat with M/T valve covers that my foggy memory thought there was an M/T in both narrow areas of the valve cover. Was that correct?

 

[bobs409]

Wanna see a really BIG 3d printer??

 

[wristpin]

When you're up and running I'd buy a Mopar RB 2x4 4bbl intake!!
I'd also buy a BBC 3x2 intake