Technical Custom building a 4-53 Street Blower

We have finished enough of the wooden intake model to get a basic pattern for building the real thing. It doesn't have all the bling and the details like the real one will have. This means no chamfers, radii, bosses, bolt holes (except for the intake runner flanges), ports, and flowing contours. It's a somewhat crued model, but it should work satisfactory. The object is to get the important measurements and locations nailed for the runners and plenum. There is plenty of room to add the other stuff like the pop-off valve, thermostat housing, and ect.

BTW, once the entire project is finished, I will be gathering up all my receipts and creating and itemized list for the materials. This will be posted during the assembly process for any one who wants to know how much this will cost to build complete.

I need some input on the basic design. I can post more pictures, if needed. Please feel free to post any comments you may have...

Photo #1


Photo #2


Photo #3

 

Beautiful work. This is like a primer on doing a machinists dream project when you have access to the right tools for the job.

 

Yeah, I guess it could be considered a machinist primer of sorts.

As Lain Murphy had mentioned, some parts of this build might be over done, but that's actually the beautiful part about it. I can express my artistic creativity, and still know it will all work in the end. It will also show that it still can be done with a reasonable investment too.

People will be able to take what I've done here and tailor it to their own liking. If they can improve upon it, then by all means do so. If they tone the build down a bit, that means the cost only goes down from there.

 

HEY BBM, beautiful work wow !!

Are you planning on casting this intake to suit both a tall deck and lo deck Desoto Hemi??

If so can you PM me with details please?

Lain youre blowers are very nice - I have one and am waiting for it to arrive along with a bunch of other stuff. it will be going on a 330 Desoto Hemi.

Very nice work !!

Rat

 

Hi, Rat.

The intake is designed for a 291 low deck Desoto. We haven't looked into making them for tall decks as our project vehicle will have this motor. It will be made from tig welded aluminum. We have no intentions of putting them into a casted production. Information and measured drawings of this project will be available at assembly time.

I believe there was several people making manifolds for tall decks here on the HAMB. I think they were for a 4-71 and 6-71 blower application. One of those guys was talking about making them as cast. I'm not sure though. Do a search, if you haven't already done so.

If there is enough interest in the manifold, there maybe a chance that we could do a limited run as a "U-Fab" or a welded version. We could even do one for a tall deck possibly. This would be far off for us at the moment. We are not finished with this one yet.

 

I was hoping for more responses to the intake. I will probably start the actual machining and fabrication as early as tomorrow morning. It should be a fun project to work on. Wish me luck guys and girls...

 

Nice work so far BBM

On that last big post that you replied to mine,
By all means, I am not wanting this to be any kind of tiff or anything either. I was just straightening out some stuff from the earlier posts.

I like what you have here too. I like that you are targeting the DeSoto's and such. That is one area I wont really mess with.

Mine is the flathead and small chevy. I have a small block chevy that I am working on now and will show some pics of it on here with the 6v53 setup.

Get ahold of me sometime in the email on this site, I would like to talk to you sometime over the phone more about the blowers.

Thanks,

Lain

 

So far... So good! I made the intake flanges for the manifold late last week. After I got them done, I rushed off to see how they bolted up to the heads. Perfecto!!! They fit like a glove and all the locations for everything was pretty much right on the money. I couldn't have asked for a better fit!

This week I'm back in the shop to do some more work...

@ Lain

Everything is cool with me. I wouldn't have a problem speaking to you about the blowers sometime by e-mail or phone.


Here is some more photos of the project:

Intake Flange Drawing


Aluminum Flanges


Flanges On The 291 Desoto

 

What is going in the milled edge of the holes. Are they going to be for "O" rings or were you just blending the sharp edges? Kind of hard to tell from the photos.

 

im going to guess that it is for runner locating for the welding of the intake

 

52Plybizcoupe is right. The milled pockets at the port holes are for locating the intake runners for welding.

I'm still deciding on which side the weld will end up. On the top side where it can be seen, or the bottom for a cleaner look. I guess it depends on weather or not I can get the tig torch down inside the runner port. I have to look at it some more tomorrow.

 

I've decided to weld the runner tubes from the bottom for a much cleaner look. So, the pockets on the top of the flanges will now go all the way thru. They are shown above to just have the port size holes all the way thru. I need to open them up to the outside tube dimensions and make the tubes long enough so they slide thru the flanges to about a 1/4 inch from the bottom. This should give me enough room to weld all the way around it with a decent amount of weld pentatration. Any weld that is left sticking out will be removed during the machining of the sealing surfaces. If you look at the wood model, this is sort of how the aluminum prototype will look. No weld on top of flanges and the outsides of runner tubes. This will also help with some of the pre-machining and machining of the parts and hopefully minimize the heat warpage issues.

 

Wow,I dont know how I missed this thread. But that is some outstanding machine work.


This should have been on tech week.

Keep us updated. I would like to see what a turn key kit would be also.

 

O U T S T A N D I N G !!

Rat

 

I had to make custom runner tubes from solid stock. I can't order square tubing with the correct sizing without special ordering it. You have to order so many feet of it before they will run it off for you. Special dies would need to be made for the extrusion process.

The outside dimensions are commom 1 1/2 X 2 inch, but not with a 3/16 radius at the corners and a 1.610 X 1.200 inch inside dimension with a 1/4 radius at the corners. There will be about a 5 mm wall on the 2 inch sides and almost a 4 mm wall at 1 1/2 inch sides. So, this means that the tubes are pretty much port matched to the stock 291 Desoto heads. I suppose that someone could substitute 1/8 wall square tubing. However, unless you relieve the inside corners of the pockets on the flanges, you wouldn't be able to weld up the runners that same way I've chosen.

I hope to have the runners finished up by early next week. So, look here to see new photos then.

The plenum portion is next on the list at that point and then the adapter plate.

 

Ok, guys and girls. I couldn't wait to post the real deal on those intake runners. So, I thought I would give you a sneak peek on how they will look and go together. I'm going to wait to weld them after I make the plenum.

Here's a render from Rhino 3D:


As you can see in the picture above, the runner tubes slip thru both of the upper and lower mounting flanges. The tubes stop at both ends 3/16 of an inch before flush. The holes are actually .040 smaller in this region to act as a stop. No guess work or measuring needed at this point.

The tig welding will be done in the area around the tubes in the recess. Once they are welded up, I will carefully mill of the excess weld and square and parallel the two flanges.

If you haven't noticed by the render, the two holes on each end that are closest to the coolant ports are very close to the tube wall. The render does not show it, but there are small radius releaf cuts milled into the tubes for the bolt heads to clear the side wall. That will be shown in the actual photos later.

 

Cool as always!

 

As always nice "attention to details"

 

what a amazing post if i read tech stuff like this i wonder why to hell i am learned not mechanic . great

 

Oh boy, pls let my work look even HALF as good as this stuff.

KRAZY !!

Rat

 

Thanks once again guys.

The details are what's important for a build like this. If I've figured everything correctly, the manifold should go together and fit like Leggos before welding. This will make it much easier for someone else to weld, if I decide to do a "U fab" out of the manifold.

I'm thinking about getting a hold of Lain and see what's up with his blowers. Maybe we can come up with an adapter plate that will fit his 53 series blowers to my manifold. But for now, I will make one for my custom featured here.

 

The major machine work for the intake runners has been completed. Well, except for the coolant port holes and the plenum mounting holes. We will open the coolant holes and thread them for the fittings later. This depends on what we figure out for the plumbing.

I've already started the premachine work for the plenum. It will be comprised of 3/8, 5/8, and 2 inch aluminum stock...

The Intake Runners:


Note the radius notches in the tube wall in the forth photo.

 

The welding of the plenum is almost complete!

 

So where is the picture?

 

Won't have one intil next week. I want to finish the thing first. Soon... Very soon...

 

Sorry for the long delay on an update. I was out of town for a few days...

The intake manifold is nearing completion. The plenum is now welded and machined to the size. The top plate is already machined. I just need to finish up some bolt holes, and a few other minor details.

Yes, it looks sick! (At least we think so. )

Don't worry guys. More Pictures will be posted this week. I'm guessing this Thursday or Friday.

 

I had a chance this afternoon to snap several pictures of the adapter plate and the plenum. Obviously, the plenum is not ported for the runners as of yet. That will be completed over the next few days.

I will also be finishing the runners for the manifold. We have decided to put 1/2-14 NPT holes in the front coolant ports. The driverside rear port will be 3/8-18 NPT setup for standard SBC temp sending unit. The passenger rear will be the same as the front for the heater hose. We will be using brass 1/2 NPT to 5/8 barbed 90 degree elbows or similar for those ports. We must double check the fit before we get a final determination of which set of fittings we will actually use. It will be standard off the shelf parts for sure...

Here's a peek at the adapter plate and plenum:

 

DAM you do nice work that is a thing of beauty

 

Well, here it is! What everyone has been waiting to see...

It's done with the exception of a couple of vacuum ports and the pop-off valve. The later part I still need to order. I will be finishing up the vacuum ports (2) in the rear of the plenum tomorrow.

276/291 Desoto Hemi Manifold For A 6V53 Blower:


Manifold With Adapter Plate Removed:


The runners bolt to the plenum using Stainless 5/16-18 SHCS. There will be a gasket sandwiched between. The threads will be sealed with a little RTV sealant during assembly.

 

OMG - Auto ART at its best - and its fora DESOTO no less.

WOW ....wimply outstanding work.

Now, how do I get to twist your arm into kockin up a tall deck 6-71 intake.

Fantastic work and craftsmanship!!

Rat