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Art & Inspiration FORDILLAC FLATHEAD IN 1/3 SCALE

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by gbritnell, Nov 23, 2014.

  1. understatement of the year x4
    hey your drawings don't look half bad either......another understatement.....
     
  2. You sir are a madman! That is amazing work indeed! thanks so much for showing the steps, its quite interesting to see.
    Timothy
     
  3. PKap
    Joined: Jan 5, 2011
    Posts: 593

    PKap
    Member
    from Alberta

    Thank you for taking the time to explain the details of how you do your set ups and calculating. It's very enjoyable to follow along and gain a little insight from a master instead of just being wowed by the finished piece. I love the incredible attention to accurate detail that you hold yourself to.


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  4. gbritnell
    Joined: Apr 26, 2013
    Posts: 194

    gbritnell
    Member

    It's been awhile what with summer activities and all but I've still put some time in on the engine.
    I finished the exhaust manifolds and a representative fuel pump.
    The exhaust manifolds are made from stainless steel. I had to modify the bender that I made previously for another engine so I could get a smaller radius. The tubing is 316L, .375 O.D., .035 wall.
    To assemble the exhaust I had to make a fixture to hold everything in place for silver soldering. The flanges were mounted to the fixture and then the pipes were bent, cut and fitted to the flanges. Everything was then fluxed and silver soldered with 56% silver solder.
    [​IMG]
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  5. gbritnell
    Joined: Apr 26, 2013
    Posts: 194

    gbritnell
    Member

    After soldering the pipe joints were lightly filed where needed then polished.
    [​IMG]
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  6. gbritnell
    Joined: Apr 26, 2013
    Posts: 194

    gbritnell
    Member

    Here's a few shots of the engine with the headers and fuel pump installed.
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  7. David Gersic
    Joined: Feb 15, 2015
    Posts: 2,730

    David Gersic
    Member
    from DeKalb, IL

  8. What are the spark plugs to be used??? or are you making them also??...This is all so amazing,
    What do you do in your "spare time"?
     
  9. gbritnell
    Joined: Apr 26, 2013
    Posts: 194

    gbritnell
    Member

    wbrw32,
    In the past I have made my own plugs due to the fact that nobody made them. About 12 years ago a fellow started having plugs made in several different sizes, the problem is the most inexpensive ones are $21.00 each plus shipping so you're looking at about $180 for 8 plugs. The ones I made hold up quite well considering the engines are only run for exhibition at engineering and car shows.
    [​IMG]
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  10. Mr Britnel...Thank you for your reply.....I.m just a curious old man (82)..I did the Scale Model Airplane thing back when we used spark ignition,before glow plugs..Just wondered if you were using those type of plugs.. was making a joke about what you do in your "Spare" time....I will keep following this thread...THANKS ONCE AGAIN
    Bob
     
  11. gbritnell
    Joined: Apr 26, 2013
    Posts: 194

    gbritnell
    Member

    Just a quick update video of where the engine is to date. I have the piston rings made and installed. The engine was run in on the lathe with oil in the pan to check the pump and lubrication system. I have two large pieces to complete, the base and the radiator, along with a number of small pieces, linkages, brackets etc. It looks like another month or two to see if it runs.
    gbritnell
     
    1934coupe likes this.
  12. Buddy Palumbo
    Joined: Mar 30, 2008
    Posts: 3,871

    Buddy Palumbo
    Member

    Amazing ! Thanks for the video update.
     
  13. Mart
    Joined: Mar 3, 2001
    Posts: 4,893

    Mart
    Member

    Fantastic. Absolutely jaw dropping, beautiful work.

    Mart.
     
  14. gbritnell
    Joined: Apr 26, 2013
    Posts: 194

    gbritnell
    Member

    It's been quite awhile since the last posting and a lot of work has been completed.
    The first thing is the plug wires were made along with wire looms to keep everything looking neat. I originally was going to use boots for the plugs but decided that the open connections looked more period. The distributor terminal boots were made by first putting one ring of shrink tubing onto the wire just above the terminal. Over this another piece of shrink tubing was placed which covered the terminal and the first piece of tubing. Once shrunk it formed a tight fitting boot for the terminal.
     

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  15. gbritnell
    Joined: Apr 26, 2013
    Posts: 194

    gbritnell
    Member

    Next up would be the base and motor mounts. The base is a piece of 6061 aluminum plate with the edges chamfered. The original plan was to put rubber cushions between the front engine mounts and the motor mount but even after using some hard neoprene bushings they were so small in diameter that when the bolts were tightened the bushings compressed too far. I just replaced them with spacers to maintain the original dimensions.
    The front mount was drilled and bored with lightening holes which also gave it some character.
     

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  16. gbritnell
    Joined: Apr 26, 2013
    Posts: 194

    gbritnell
    Member

    With the engine mounted the throttle linkage could be built. Every hot rod needs a Moon gas pedal so I set about making one in miniature.
    The pedal was drawn up to the required size and all the curves and center points plotted for the radii.
    A fixture plate was made to hold the aluminum blank and each of the center points were spotted so that they could be picked up when the fixture plate was mounted on the rotary table.
    For the diamond tread I took a piece of aluminum larger than what I needed and set it in the mill vise at 45 degrees. With a hand ground end mill I cut the pattern into the plate leaving an uncut frame around the plate for rigidity. After the first pattern was cut the plate was turned 90 degrees and the remaining rows were cut.
    The shoe pattern was then laid out on the back of the plate making sure to center the diamond treads, and then cut out.
    This was filed and fitted to the shoe base and then using tiny screws it was mounted and JB welded in place.
    A mounting bracket was made out of stainless steel and mounted to the rear of the block.
    All of the linkage was then made up with threaded ends for fine adjusting.
     

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  17. Buddy Palumbo
    Joined: Mar 30, 2008
    Posts: 3,871

    Buddy Palumbo
    Member

    Very cool , as usual . The pedal was a neat touch .
     
  18. gbritnell
    Joined: Apr 26, 2013
    Posts: 194

    gbritnell
    Member

    The last big project in the build was to come up with a radiator.
    When I built the 302 engine I tried to fabricate a radiator. This was back in 86 and I didn't know a lot about the subject. At that time it took the finished engine to a radiator shop and told them what I was looking for. The owner was very helpful and said that he could provide a copper core which was used for heater core replacement. I gave him some size requirements and he came up with a nice piece with the header plate already flanged. I then built the top and bottom tanks.
    Move ahead 30 years and the picture has changed. Not to many rad shops around any longer but I looked up a couple and with engines in hand to explain what I needed I went shopping. I explained what had gone on years earlier and he said that he couldn't help me out with the same thing but could have a core custom built. He called someone while I was there and said that a core that size I needed could be built for $225, with tanks. I said how about pricing it without the tanks as I wanted to make my own. He said the price would still be the same.
    It wasn't so much the cost but I had no idea what this thing would look like so I thanked him and went to plan B.
    This plan was to buy all the necessary material to build my own rad from brass. Even with the price of brass somewhere just a little below the cost of gold I gathered all the necessary pieces and set to work.
    The tubes are 3/16 diameter and there are 4 rows of 17 tubes for a total of 68 tubes.
    The header and side plates were milled from 1/8 x 1-1/2 brass strip.
    The top and bottom tanks were milled from solid brass, the top being 1 x 1-1/2 and the bottom 3/4 x 1-1/2.
    There are 46 fins made from .025 brass sheet. These were cut out, milled to size and then soldered together as one large piece for drilling and reaming.
     

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  19. gbritnell
    Joined: Apr 26, 2013
    Posts: 194

    gbritnell
    Member

    To assemble everything and keep the proper spacing I made up brass bushings that would slip over 4 rows of tubes. With the header and side plates assembled I inserted 4 tubes with a row of spacer bushings. Onto these tubes I started stacking a row of fin plates with bushing etc. etc. until the whole core was assembled. I then started feeding the remaining tubes into the core. Some got a little tight so the holes were chased out with a reamer.
     

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  20. gbritnell
    Joined: Apr 26, 2013
    Posts: 194

    gbritnell
    Member

    The top and bottom tanks were milled from a solid bar of brass. In the past I have tried to make up dies for forming radiator tanks without a lot of success. There's just too much metal to wrap around the ends and it wrinkles too much.
    To put some character into the tanks I milled some shallow recesses to simulate a full sized tank. The sides of the tanks were done in the mill vise and then the blocks were mounted in a V-block to knock the corners down to lessen the hand work for finishing.
    Along with milling the tanks the fittings were machined for the inlets, outlets and filler neck with cap.
     

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  21. mcmopar
    Joined: Nov 12, 2012
    Posts: 1,734

    mcmopar
    Member
    from Strum, wi

    As a toolmaker myself, it is mind boggling the amount of time you have in this. I built stamping dies for Hutchinson tech, holding .00005 tolerance. Your work is beautiful, and I appreciate the beauty of it. Please keep us informed.
     
  22. low-n-slo54
    Joined: Jul 25, 2009
    Posts: 1,920

    low-n-slo54
    Member

    I have trouble with the Lego instructions. You're work is awe inspiring.
     
  23. gbritnell
    Joined: Apr 26, 2013
    Posts: 194

    gbritnell
    Member

    Finally the big moment! Could it all be soldered together or would I just end up with a pile of ugly looking brass pieces and a lot of wasted money and time.
    I started soldering the tubes into the lower header plate using 50/50 solder that had been cut into tiny strips. The temperature was brought up using a propane torch and once at melting temp the solder was applied along with brushing on some Ruby fluid. This cleaned everything and allowed the solder to wick into and around all the tubes.
    With some heat built up in the brass I worked my way down the core, swiping the solder sticks against the tubes and fins and then brushing with flux. Everything went quite well and once I got to the bottom I did the tube ends sticking out of the other header plate and then worked my way down the other side of the core.
    I was very happy with how it turned out.
    When I soldered the tubes into the header plates the solder filleted into the corners of the recess where the tanks had to go so I had to make a scraper to carve out the extra solder to insert the tanks.
    With this done the tank were soldered in place.
    The tanks had been buffed and the fittings soldered in place prior to soldering onto the core. IMG_5826.JPG IMG_5832.JPG
     

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  24. gbritnell
    Joined: Apr 26, 2013
    Posts: 194

    gbritnell
    Member

    With the rad finished it was time to make a mount for it. I wanted to keep with the style of the front motor mount so a piece of aluminum was machined in a similar manner only made a little heavier to support the weight of the rad. The side mounting brackets were made from brass and mounted with stainless Phillips head screws.
     

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    Lou E likes this.
  25. gbritnell
    Joined: Apr 26, 2013
    Posts: 194

    gbritnell
    Member

    I have used a lot of stainless socket head screws in the assembly of the engine. While not being totally correct there is a good reason for using them. When designing and building miniature engines wall thicknesses are somewhat out of scale so to fit a hex head bolt with socket clearance takes up quite a bit more space.
    That being said I was going to use stainless socket head screws for the head bolts and the more I looked at them the more I had to something else. They just didn't look right.
    On most modified flathead engines with aftermarket heads acorn nuts are the norm so this is what was needed.
    I ordered longer stainless screws and cut the heads off leaving just a small portion of unthreaded shank to mount the hex heads. Stainless hex stock was drilled and cut into short lengths for the bolt heads.
    The screw shanks then had 3 flats filed into them to allow silver solder to flow into securing the heads to the shanks.
    With the heads soldered in place a forming tool was ground up with the required radius and the heads were formed on the bolts. This was followed but sanding and buffing
    Ah! that looks much better.
     

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  26. gbritnell
    Joined: Apr 26, 2013
    Posts: 194

    gbritnell
    Member

    The final update is the fabrication of the water connections. I purchased some .375 stainless tubing to form the upper water pipes. I first made a template from a piece of heavy copper wire to get the right angles and lengths and then cut and bent the stainless tubing to match. The excess length was trimmed off and then the pipes were buffed.
    I cut short pieces of neoprene tubing for the soft connections and with them installed measured the O.D.
    I then turned up stainless steel rings about .010 smaller than the O.D. These would be the bands for the hose clamps. Stainless bushings were drilled and tapped and then silver soldered in place. After cleaning with fine emery cloth the bands were held in the mill vise and split with a .040 slitting saw.
    The stainless socket head screws are 2-56 thread.
     

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    Surfcityrocker likes this.
  27. Ebbsspeed
    Joined: Nov 11, 2005
    Posts: 6,250

    Ebbsspeed
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I think my brain is twisting into knots as I read this post and look at the photos. AMAZING!!
     
    Johnboy34 likes this.
  28. PKap
    Joined: Jan 5, 2011
    Posts: 593

    PKap
    Member
    from Alberta

    I am blown away by the level of detail you have maintained throughout. I used to be a goldsmith, and understand the level of concentration it takes to do accurate detail in miniature. That is a beautiful work of art, the fact that it runs blows it over the top.
    Wow!


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  29. gatz
    Joined: Jun 2, 2011
    Posts: 1,817

    gatz
    Member

    As toolmaker too, I can really appreciate the fine details and ingenuity of your engine build.
    great craftsmanship!
    What method did you use to emboss the FORD script logo on the radiator top tank?
     
    Last edited: Nov 16, 2015
  30. Buddy Palumbo
    Joined: Mar 30, 2008
    Posts: 3,871

    Buddy Palumbo
    Member

    Just keeps getting better !
     

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