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Technical Casting an intake manifold from Old irrigation fittings and lawn mower decks

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Jethro, Dec 10, 2022.

  1. Jethro
    Joined: Mar 5, 2001
    Posts: 1,908

    Jethro
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Just tried bolting it up and it fits pretty good. I have to change the linkage a bit and plumb some lines but I won't be able to do that till the carbs are rebuilt and bolted down. 20230215_131038.jpg 20230215_131048.jpg
     
    Last edited: Feb 15, 2023
  2. Mr48chev
    Joined: Dec 28, 2007
    Posts: 33,861

    Mr48chev
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Cool, When I bought my Edmunds heads I read up on Eddy Edmunds and he did pretty well the same thing, gathering up scrap aluminum to melt down to cast his parts.
     
    1Nimrod and AHotRod like this.
  3. Atwater Mike
    Joined: May 31, 2002
    Posts: 11,625

    Atwater Mike
    Member

    I recall my projects in metal shop (Santa Clara High)
    Our Student teacher was none other than Dick Beith (E.T. Mags proprietor and holder of B'Ville VW records!)
    Mr. Beith encouraged my 'bootleg' Moon gas pedals, and graded me on them AND the brass one.
    He said 'Heavy foot assist', breaks records. Much laughter
     
    SS327, WalkerMD, VANDENPLAS and 7 others like this.
  4. Okie Pete
    Joined: Oct 29, 2008
    Posts: 4,968

    Okie Pete
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Martian Machine cycle parts in KS goes to the scrap yards and finds broken aluminum wheels. Breaks them up small enough to go into their melting pot .
     
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  5. AHotRod
    Joined: Jul 27, 2001
    Posts: 12,216

    AHotRod
    Member

    Awesome intake ... you make us back-yard Hot Rod fabricators proud.
     
  6. Mr48chev
    Joined: Dec 28, 2007
    Posts: 33,861

    Mr48chev
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I'm thinking that most small shops do the scrap aluminum thing for their castings. A buddy of mine made and sold cast aluminum valve covers that were two piece and you could have what ever lettering you wanted cast into the tops plus the fake quck changes that bolted to a ring that you welded to the rear end of a car. One of those is on the original Munster coach. He melted down what ever he could scrounge up that was aluminum.

    That "Bell" intake is pretty nifty though.
     
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  7. Fortunateson
    Joined: Apr 30, 2012
    Posts: 5,331

    Fortunateson
    Member

    As soon as I started to read this I thought of Burt!
     
    1Nimrod likes this.
  8. Very nice work! I did something similar for the Chevy 230 series straight 6. Divided the Siamese ports in the heads with Devcon plastic steel, made patterns for an equal length runner dual plane manifold. Ran a Holley 390 4bbl. Worked great and TONS of torque!! I had a little local foundry cast it for me.
    manifold 12.jpg
    P8150026.JPG P8150025.JPG manifold 1.JPG manifold 2.JPG manifold 3.jpg manifold 4.JPG manifold 5.JPG manifold 6.JPG manifold 7.JPG manifold 10.jpg manifold 11.jpg Intake Manifold.jpg pontiac_3..JPG
     
    continentaljohn, Pat, RICH B and 15 others like this.
  9. Budget36
    Joined: Nov 29, 2014
    Posts: 13,173

    Budget36
    Member

    Awesome job! Somewhere I have the “Metal casters Bible/handbook” somewhere I picked up, but never tried my hand at it.

    I think I read you need to allow for shrinkage when casting, like 5/10% or something, if so, was your intake mold larger and how did you figure out what percent larger to make it? Or is it not important since all the critical holes are put in afterwards?
     
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  10. 1Nimrod
    Joined: Dec 11, 2018
    Posts: 574

    1Nimrod
    Member

    Sweet, you have a special gift...

    1NIMROD
     
  11. Jethro
    Joined: Mar 5, 2001
    Posts: 1,908

    Jethro
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Yeah , shrinkage is a consideration. Five percent is about right. I also figure about 1/8 inch per foot linear shrinkage when I make long patterns . I still machine and drill holes after but things should basically line up so you don't have to correct things with machining.
     
    Budget36 likes this.
  12. jimmy six
    Joined: Mar 21, 2006
    Posts: 14,795

    jimmy six
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    You don’t show the intake ports. Did you taper them to the 1-7/8” circle? Curious why you cast the 3 bolt carb flanges backwards.
     
    Fitty Toomuch likes this.
  13. Jethro
    Joined: Mar 5, 2001
    Posts: 1,908

    Jethro
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I stepped the intake ports to accept the locator rings , I think it was 1-7/8 down to 1-3/4.
    I only just now after all this time realised that the carb bases are backwards
    I only had a base gasket for a pattern I didn't have a carb ugh! I've never had anything to do with Strombergs before.
     
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  14. '51 Norm
    Joined: Dec 6, 2010
    Posts: 826

    '51 Norm
    Member
    from colorado

    OOPS thats going to be fun to fix.
     
  15. Tow Truck Tom
    Joined: Jul 3, 2018
    Posts: 1,879

    Tow Truck Tom
    Member
    from Clayton DE

    To quote 'Ol Ron from Fordbarn "pobody's nerfect"
     
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  16. Jethro
    Joined: Mar 5, 2001
    Posts: 1,908

    Jethro
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Actually , I was going to cast another one just for fun. I just have to fix the pattern and start again. It's only work and I work cheap.
     
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  17. HEATHEN
    Joined: Nov 22, 2005
    Posts: 8,558

    HEATHEN
    Member
    from SIDNEY, NY

    I was going to ask you why you decided to do that...
     
  18. jimmy six
    Joined: Mar 21, 2006
    Posts: 14,795

    jimmy six
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I asked about the taper because I’ve reworked a lot of manifolds and like the inside of them bigger than the head port. With tapering them a “velocity” effect makes the more efficient for low end torque and to me really helps on the street.
     
  19. Malcolm
    Joined: Feb 9, 2006
    Posts: 8,032

    Malcolm
    Member
    from Nebraska

    Thank you for sharing this with us -- Nice work!
     
  20. Couldn't you just incorporate a bellcrank into the linkage instead of scrapping this intake?
     
  21. 34 5W Paul
    Joined: Mar 27, 2020
    Posts: 308

    34 5W Paul
    Member
    from Fresno CA

    Or 1/4" thick adaptor plates and taper head bolts to flip the carbs?
     
  22. I was wondering why my irrigation system keeps needing repairs and my lawnmowers keep going missing. :confused: :cool:
     
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  23. Sandcrab
    Joined: Jul 25, 2022
    Posts: 75

    Sandcrab

    Jethro, I have done a little bit of that and all I can say is beautiful pattern work. My handle might be a hint as a molder, but I most enjoy the pattern work. I started to make a head pattern to put on the V8 60 destined for the Ruby, but had to concentrate on the '50 Austin to clear some room.

    20220922_155543_resized.jpg

    My go to for aluminum is wheels, but I understand scrapped ones might be less common where you are. They are almost A356, and with a plunge around 600F the castings are a treat to machine.
     
    Last edited: Feb 17, 2023
    jimmy six likes this.
  24. Jethro
    Joined: Mar 5, 2001
    Posts: 1,908

    Jethro
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Thanks Sandcrab ,
    I am a trial and error kind of learner. The mistakes I make are tuition , sometimes expensive but education is not cheap . I have no idea what alloy I've got because I don't know the pedigree of the scrap I use. Heat treating is another " black art" I need to learn. I find that some castings machine alrirght and others seem to gum up and plug my cutters . If I take this hobby up a notch I will have to try specific alloys like A356 . Right now it's still a hobby like arts and crafts . It' really satisfying to design a part and see it to the end, cast and machined. I like to get feedback from experts like yourself how to improve my skills . I hope to get to the point where I can produce fine castings without pinholes and porosity , maybe try my hand at some brass or bronze then maybe iron.....we'll see
     
  25. aussie57wag
    Joined: Jul 13, 2011
    Posts: 671

    aussie57wag
    Member
    from australia

    Very cool. Well done. It will certainly set your car apart from most catalogue built street rods.
     
  26. AccurateMike
    Joined: Sep 14, 2020
    Posts: 631

    AccurateMike
    Member

    I collected up a bunch of intake manifolds. Seemed logical. I'm assuming they probably used ~356 to make them. You need a few more than you are pouring, seems to be some attrition. It didn't hurt that I was buying a core engine a week and not using them. I didn't use waterpumps or accessory brackets They didn't look the same when you busted them up (scientific method). How big is your crucible ? The stuff I used ended up given being away (I wasn't in time). I was thinking about trying to get set-up again.
    manifold2.jpeg
    Finished manifolds.
    Mike

    Edit: RE: heat treat. I picked up two pottery kilns. One free (too big for most) and one $100 (a size that people want). Old school kilns don't have digital controls and aren't worth near as much as ones that do. And then there is this:
    https://www.thermomart.com/Electron...nstrument/Dual-Digital-Temperature-Controller
    Cheap ($128) with ramp/soak. Like everything, look on YouTube for more info. Knife types use them on the smaller kilns.
     
    Last edited: Feb 17, 2023
    Hillbilly Werewolf and rod1 like this.
  27. 49ratfink
    Joined: Feb 8, 2004
    Posts: 18,828

    49ratfink
    Member
    from California

    made me think of Red Green...:)

    download.jpg
     
  28. thanks for the memory of the jimmy. I took the 270 from our race car & bored & cammed it, put a Clark intake & 2 97s Had it in 50 chev vert. This was back in 1953. It ran pretty good. used Lincoln intake valves.
    I think there is an adapter out there where you can reverse the mounting position of the carb.
    Just happened to remember that I had major icing on the carbs in the winter. I see where you have hot water just hope that is enough. I made a plate for underneath the carbs & installed 1/2" copper tubing from my split exhaust manifold to the plate.
     
    Last edited: Feb 18, 2023
  29. Jethro
    Joined: Mar 5, 2001
    Posts: 1,908

    Jethro
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Ok , I addressed the backward carb mounting issue by making some carb reversers . I still want to recast the manifold but I have been having a few issues with my sand collapsing before I can pour. I think my petrobond is a little played out and I need to replace it with some new stuff. I fixed my pattern so the bases are the right way round , so I'll pour another sometime. For the moment I am moving onto getting the carbs sorted and linkage and plumbing done. 20230224_112720.jpg 20230224_112730.jpg 20230224_112809.jpg
     
  30. 34 5W Paul
    Joined: Mar 27, 2020
    Posts: 308

    34 5W Paul
    Member
    from Fresno CA

    Carb reversers!!! Love the idea. Well done all around.
     

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