New resin part Ideas from me.....

[426-Hemi]

My machined master copy parts for molding in resin.

Well I guess this is where I'd put this. I'm unsure if it gets moved, someone direct me to where this topic goes in PM!

Anyway, while I've been healing, one of the things I found I was able to do with little trouble or hurting myself was run my Unimat Machine center, whether set up as the mill or the lathe didn't matter, I was able to use it endlessly, without any trouble, or hurting myself because of my accident with my hands.

SO, Once I learned this, I sat out to use up some scrap plastic I had laying around.....

I made up the following:

Distributors with drive stems
Oil Filters

Did not get pics of these once made, BUT I still can as I have a pretty good supply of them now!

Then once I seen I could do this with no issues, I tried aluminum, THEN things got interesting!

I began turning out the following in Aluminum:

Valve cover breathers
Magnetos (DIFFERENT from the distributors listed above)

Then I found that I had some larger stock, to use for machining. Mostly plastic, BUT......

I turned that and made the following:

Lenco 4 Speed transmission:

Now as you all know, and know me, I'm a Mopar kinda guy, but this transmission was made to couple to a 440 or a 426 Hemi (respectively) I made it in such a way that it could be used on ANYTHING with little modification, have a look:

Seen here in TWO pieces, it will be molded in TWO pieces as well, as this allows the transmission bell housing to be positioned at any side for the "starter buldge" to be placed where needed with little to no modification to the transmission!

I have yet to work out if I'm going to offer the shifters with it or not or let that up to the consumer to do, how they see fit.

THEN.......

I've been doing research, A LOT. Found some interesting things. One of such said things was an intake that Mopar was working on in the early 60's..... BEFORE the 426 Hemi came along! It caught my modelers eye..... A Cross-Ram, (Not so interesting, right? WRONG!) This one, wasn't just "any" cross-ram, it was a quad 4 barrel Carter intake! It had four, 4 barrel carter AFB carburetors on it, 2 on each side of its twin carburetor plane! INSANE, a "16 pack" anyone?

WELL, I'm gonna mold this beast! I have extras for the design of, BUT "HAD" to see what troubles I could get into with molding it, as there a lot of "open" ares, as well as some under-cuts so............ I had to play a bit to see where I had to fill in, and what might take to make it so......

Basic Cross-Ram, intake with the tops machined off..... YES I did load this into the Unimat Milling Machine set up and cut the single carb pads off each of the planes! (where the little mount hole is for a carburetor)

BUT, then I SEEN something...... What do I have before my very eyes? WELL have a look for yourself, THIS is what I SEEN!

What the..........................?

Can it be?
DON'T rub your eyes! Your NOT seeing things! I seen the space to sit 2, YES TWO (thats no typo) 6 pack set ups! On a SINGLE Cross-Ram intake! SO, NOW, this is 2 completely DIFFERENT intakes, out of one casting, but, it doesn't end there...... OHHH NO.....

Heres the REAL four 4 barrel Carter Cross-Ram:

Something isn't it? Yeah you bet it would have been! There wasn't many of them made! These were made BEFORE the 426 Hemi came along, BUT was fitted to the same engine! See, Mopar had the 426 Wedge going and was a VERY strong engine for its time! BUT it was getting to the end of its usefulness! Thats when they began trying different carburetor set ups on it. Then it came down to have the 426 Hemi take over. BUT, before that happen, the got to the point of trying a wild cross-ram on it with the four 4 barrel carter AFB carburetors on it.

The "orange" one, is the "standard" issue cross-ram. 2 Carter 4 barrel AFB carburetors, then its WILD version beside it, unpainted, four carter 4 barrel AFB carburetors!

Then I think they got to the point that it was "over Carburetion" and dropped it after this:

This guy was part or something to take the standard version 2 carter 4 barrels, and add a plate that bolted in place of the carbs, to be a span to make a normal cross-ram except 4 carburetors at once! I don't think it lasted long as I have yet to have seen this. Its been said that this set up is nearly impossible to get working correctly!!!!

NOW.........

Back to the model building for a bit. I plan to take and make not only the twin 6 pack version, BUT a single 6 pack version, as well as the four 4 barrel version, and then an add-on kit to take a standard cross-ram and add four 4 barrels to it, with the plate like seen in the guys hand! I've got a ways to go on all this as my hands aren't permitting me to make any molds, BUT, what I am able to do is physically sit down and make the master copies for when the time comes!

Granted this is a load of parts coming from me in a time well...... All I have is time at this point, All in the while moving forward in my part making and offering them!

Let me know what you guys think..... A little input is always good!

Thanks for looking!

 

Edited October 28, 2015 by 426-Hemi

[DeeCee]

That stuff is awesome John, love those double 6 packs mate, your mind really did have a lot of time to work overtime.  

[hedotwo]

Fascinating read and work on the manifolds.  Overcarburetion?  That's an understatement for sure

[vintagedragcrazy]

Those are both wild John and I'm sure that they will be great when your done.

vince

[426-Hemi]

Thanks guys! I'm still at the design stage on a few (A LOT of shapes to figure out how to machine), and turn, BUT with that the ole Unimat gets run time (I ENJOY it) plus it keeps the mind sharp all in the while, PLUS those master copies, well, will deserve to be molded and seen hundreds if not thousands of each made over time!

Not the first time, and sure won't be the last, thats forsure!

Outside of working on the roadrunner, this is what I been up too "machine work" in between times!

My next attempt, is machining out HEADS....... I got a V-16 Hemi to build for molding, including, the block, heads, valve covers, oil pan, and intake. (SAME Hemi V-16 seen in my Rat Finkelstein build ) THEN I have to finish up the head work on a Hemi-6 (hint, hint ) And some others I got planned but time...... Its really hard to believe when you sit down and get "hands on" just how much time it takes to do one sit up, chuck up, put in, all thats needed for what seems to be a simply machine skill action, to see the finished "cut" NOT finished product..... as certain things make a "head" for instance, you have to get angles right, 2 different angles per side, and then ANY angles on each end (both matching) and then before all that, when the "block" is 100% square, the thickness cuts BEFORE any angle cuts are made........ It really does get interesting, and needless to say, time consuming. measure 50 times, cut twice. I say this is you cut once, thats the "hog" cut (removes the most stock), and then a 2nd cut as a "finish" cut to get a clean smooth surface! Fun no less, I'm not complaining, not by a long shot I actually enjoy it, as it at times tests what I'm able to do, and how sharp my mind set is to do it, if its complicated......

 

ALSO, theres NO "programming" with this, I simply make the CAD drawing as a guide/blue print, and then I literally make the part from that "sketch" with the controls of my hands directing the machine!