Folks Of Interest any interest in 3D printing

I would think an adapter for a carb might be a useful product. Example: I have a WCFB caddy intake that is a dual quad setup. I can’t pop for the $2,500 for carbs so I have to use a later style carb. Speedway sells a cast aluminum adapter, but the reviews are not that great. The castings are rough and ugly.

I would like a nice 1” spacer that is aesthetically pleasing to the eyes, plus it would double as a thermal insulator.

 

This would be a great application to use additive manufacturing to help develop exactly what you want. With CAD you can get a model that meets your criteria of being aesthetic - that can then quickly be printed in a PLA plastic and shipped to you for fitment testing - making sure it fits on your intake, making sure it fits the carbs, making sure it clears everything, figuring out if you need to add or subtract material somewhere for some feature or do-dad.

After all of that is done - it would be possible for some FDM machines (not the cheap ones) to print your exact part in Nylon. There would need to be a little post processing (adding thread inserts perhaps, or crush spacers, definitely sanding it flat on 2 sides). I have one machine that will be capable of doing that once I finish the heated enclosure. Now Nylon holds up well to heat - but some carb spacers are probably approaching the limit for heat. The only way to find out for your setup would be the test it. If that doesn't work - the CAD model still exists and the the part would just need a few tweaks, scaled up a bit, and then a pattern printed to have a nice one sand casted in aluminum. OR a more expensive material could be sourced such as PEEK - which will hold up. Various options depending on the desired outcome.

If you can get me some dimensions of the pattern on the intake and of the mating carbs - I would gladly help you with this.

 

That would be awesome.