[4zpeed]

Originally Posted by cnc

I guess depending on gauge u might be able to find something to fit in grey coated wire ….without stripping and painting.

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

Individual copper strands sprayed dark gray I'd say.... mighty tedious though.

I was thinking just pull the copper out of some small electrical wire, black, grey, yellow, dull it and use the plastic. Be easy to take some of the wire and use it to connect the dizzy. Then use some small pieces for the plugs, heat it up and insert it in the head like the dizzy but leave a bit exposed, paint it white for plugs.

I'm gettin these visions and a uncontrollable urge...


Frank

[cnc]

Originally Posted by 4zpeed

I was thinking just pull the copper out of some small electrical wire, black, grey, yellow, dull it and use the plastic. Be easy to take some of the wire and use it to connect the dizzy. Then use some small pieces for the plugs, heat it up and insert it in the head like the dizzy but leave a bit exposed, paint it white for plugs.

I'm gettin these visions and a uncontrollable urge...


Frank

That’s what I was thinking as well pull the wire out if something that small is available

[dataway]

As the model gets to the point where some detailed assembly is required I'm going to depend on the modelers here to come up with solutions for things like those ignition wires ... which you've pretty much solved already. But of course that means I now have to model the OEM wire looms to them

Just checked my drawings, it shows those cap wire holes as 0.036" ... things usually print a bit smaller in OD .. so probably about 0.030" ID. I've got room to drill them out a bit with pin drills if needed.

Solid to maintain shape, or flexible? Could probably make boots out of insulation stripped off other wire. I've got a ton of that kind of thing in the "electronics lab".

Anyway ... before long this project might get fun, I can print up rubber belts and hoses, bushings, tires. I get to decide what options to install.

Greg ... you just made me realize I can use small diameter bare aluminum or SS wire for fuel lines, brake lines etc. Come to think of it ... using larger diameter solid copper wire with the right color insulation might work for radiator hoses etc. Although it would be cool to print them in rubber.

I kinda feel like Sally Field in Smokey and and Bandit when she says "Let's jump something else !!" I can see myself spending a lot of spare hours of my life modeling all kinds of things ... a vintage tractor would be fun.

Before long I have to do some measurements on my real car and check to make sure I'm not too far off. And adjusting some of the parts might be very difficult, others very easy.

[dataway]

Carb and distributor shaft turned out nice. Eventually I'll get the right color filament for the carb. Yes the dist. shaft fits into the proper size hole in the block.
Remember to clock it right so you can adjust the points

Now I have to figure out how to get it to print with the vacuum can in place.

[dataway]

Intake is really taking shape now.
Here is the CAD model, and showing installed on the engine.

It's reaching the transition point where at a glance things start looking real. Eventually I'll have to revisit the CAD model and enhance them beyond what a 3D printer can do and see just how accurate and realistic I can get it.

Right now though, I should be focusing only on what I can actually print, since the goal is to produce a printable model that anyone can print and assemble.

[4zpeed]

Just wondering what it might cost a feller for a Street Dominator intake, Holley 780 an a set Hookers.
Edit - Lookin for a lil extra HP you know how it is. Dude this is turning out to be crazy cool, excellent work!









Frank

[Shiny]

I think you outdid yourself on the intake manifold. That had to be a challenge and it looks incredible.

Are the curves done with something like "spline fits" or do you splice arcs? Generating those "compound" curves in multiple planes must have taken some time.

Does the CAD software make it easy to add a radius along all those "irregular" curves after building, for example, one runner? Or do you have to radius each segment of the runner as you build the volume?

Does your CAD system smooth as part of the design or part of the rendering? Or does that happen when you generate the print file?

Totally cool that the distributor drops into a hole.

I am totally intrigued... thanks again for sharing your work.

[dataway]

I started out doing the intake using "Lofts". I create an outline of the intake port at the flange, create another outline of the hole where it would enter the plenum and the program generates a "shape" that connects the two, then I add a "rail" which is the path the shape would take ... like a turn into the plenum.

I found that approach problematic and way too complex. So I started from a top view of the intake and drew an outline of what each runner looks like from the top surface, then extruded that downward the right depth. That gives me an approximate solid shape. I then carve that shape further by creating solids that I then "subtract" from the first solid. The outlines use a combination of arcs, and spline fits and individual radiuses to achieve the basic profile of a runner.
After the shape is real close to what I want I use Fillet and Chamfer commands to round the 3d edges (like the runner corners) or places like where the runners join the flange to simulate the casting process better.
Since I'm using CAD tools for this I have very limited ability for automatic smoothing. If I was using software like 3ds Max, a modeling and animation program, there would be many options for automatic smoothing.
The method I am using is very much ... what you see is what you get. Lots of compromises between what looks the best, and what will actually print. I'm starting to learn that something just need to be printed in two pieces to get the proper detail. Like the distributor ... no way I can print both the cap, and the shaft as one piece and have them turn out correctly.

I might revisit the cylinder heads and print them each in two seperate pieces to get the details I want on both the front of the head, and the exhaust side of the head. This is a problem that injection molding doesn't have in most cases, it can print in equal detail on any side.

The intake needs some work yet, should finish it off tonight and try a print. And I'm finding I need more clearance between the air cleaner base and the radiator hose in front, and dist. cap in back .... so I need to go down to the shop with a tape measure and look for any gross errors I might have made.

[dataway]

4Zpeed, I'm really hoping to develop a selection of options exactly like you are talking about. I know a freakin single plane intake would take WAY less work than a dual plane. And there are probably tons of Holley carb blueprints I could work from. Headers are simple in theory ... till you start trying to figure out how to thread them through the chassis.

This intake is starting to get ridiculously complex. Still has numerous errors, still has probably 20 missing details and I still have to take a tape measure to my GTO to see how close it is to accurate. I just eyeballed things like the rise.

Printing it now ... I give it a 50/50 chance of success on the first try.

[dataway]

Latest photos with intake, carb and distributor sitting on the block.

Intake still needs the choke stove and bolt heads added.

[Greg Reid]

Just needs a tiny little puddle of antifreeze on the valley pan right beneath the T-stat housing... 8^)

[dataway]

I did find my limit last night on this project ... My mouse was hovering over the button to spend $25 on a spool of iridescent gold filament to print the carb and brake booster, which would take about 3 grams of a 1 kilogram spool .... I resisted the urge.

[4zpeed]

Originally Posted by dataway

I did find my limit last night on this project ... My mouse was hovering over the button to spend $25 on a spool of iridescent gold filament to print the carb and brake booster, which would take about 3 grams of a 1 kilogram spool .... I resisted the urge.

That kinda puts a damper on my hopes of a Holley, then again I could resort to the primitive method of paint,
a feller may tend to get a bit spoilt in this endeavor. Greg's right, a lil tinge of lime green would be perfect.







Frank

[Shiny]

More amazement here!

You motivated me to revisit free CAD software options. FreeCAD is intimidating but I started looking for YouTube FreeCAD tutorials. Something tells me I should work on my car instead of softening my backside in front of a computer but that's another story.

I stumbled on this video describing conversion of 3D-scanned car parts to CAD models. Very cool to me... but I may be easily impressed!

Link to Video

Mike

[Shiny]

So I opened an account with a program called "Onshape" and spent a few hours (literally) trying to figure out how to generate a part.

I struggled a lot, and it was an experience.... some learning, some not so much.

I had a throttle bracket laying around that looked complicated enough to force me to learn some stuff and yes, yes it was. LOTS of trial and error with no appreciation for the right way to do it.

I did not measure, just eyeballed and guessed dimensions as I bounced in and out of the help files.

Attached you will see the part, my part model, and an exported "STL" file.

I could see this taking months to learn... honestly.

What you are doing is definitely fun to watch and most impressive.


Mike

[dataway]

I think that's outstanding. As you probably discovered, features like that depression that holds the cable can be a real pain. There are parts where a feature like that will take 90% of the time to create the whole part.

And you can see how a blue print of the part would speed things up tremendously. I spend a ton of time trying to figure out the actual dimensions of things. I tired very quickly of going downstairs to the shop and removing the car cover every time. Can't wait to start working from the 69 assembly manual which includes a lot of dimensions.

When it comes to scans, for irregular parts I'm sure it would be a great help. But often the output can require a LOT of massaging to get it into usable condition to print. There is a lot of difference between the "Mesh" world, and the Solid Body world.

Scanner would have really helped on that intake. I've been avoiding going down and measuring the rise .. I know my model intake is not high enough ... and I have a bad feeling I'll have to rework the entire thing to correct it.

Like most models this GTO will require some "post processing" by the model builder, some trimming, some painting. I figured the carb could be printed in silver and then washed with some gold model paint.

[Shiny]

I understand everything you describe, which is why I admire your skills and experience. The effort required to accomplish what you have is amazing.

I truly am struggling with just the very basics - like the concept of a sketch vs a solid... It took me a LONG time to figure out how to split a solid to trim it. There are so many options for generating a plane I got lost fast. I finally found out I could "extrude" a line or an arc and use it to split a solid. That was a breakthrough.

Using dimensions and constraints is only a concept for me.

And somehow, I managed to generate two "parts" without understanding how.

The "fillet" tool was my favorite, but even that had a learning curve I'm still climbing.

And yes, those cable clamp features are beyond me, but will be my next challenge. And it is very clear that the finished bracket wasn't precise. The distortion from forming the cable depression was large and there was no trimming operation. I think this is expected for a sheet metal stamping.

I think the software has tools for "sheet metal", which might be a more efficient way to approach this part. Another thing for me to explore.

To your point about the manifold, I learned quickly that it's less about building the part and more about making the part immune to changes. I have no clue how to do this, which is where experience is key. I stretched a couple things and it "broke" others. If I understood why, I'd be learning something useful!

Now that I've dipped my toe in the water, I plan to watch tutorial videos and see if it holds my attention.

Mike

[dataway]

Tutorials are great for this sort of thing, often the solution is easier than you think. And in most cases if you want to do something, you're not the only one, so it's probably in the program somewhere.

Bear in mind a "part" usually defined as a single solid part, soon as you split it in some way you have two solid parts and you are on your way to an "assembly".

Learn to use the "stack" or "browser" or whatever they call the list of things you have done. You can often move things up and down the list and solve things that "break" when you change something else.

Constraints and Dimensions are a blessing and a curse. As a matter of course I usually delete all constraints of any sketch I create, cause I KNOW I'm going to have to change something. And when you add a dimension ... you are not measuring something, you are carving in stone what that dimension is, which will constrain anything attached to it, you can edit the dimension to change it, but you can't drag the object to change it (most of the time). So only use dimensioning on things you absolutely want to stay the same dimension no matter what (unless you edit it).

I figured out a long time ago that software this advanced is for people that know what they are doing when it comes to manufacture and design ... I am NOT one of those people

What is outstanding about 3d printing is you can design the part and then just send it over to the printer and have it made (well, that is somewhat over simplified). What hooks you on CAD is designing something you need that solves a problem ... opens up a whole new world.

[Shiny]

Thanks!

I have to temper my enthusiasm - learning even a little of this is a serious time-sync and I tend to get distracted by other shiny things.

But I will keep at this, at least until I get diverted!

Hopefully I will learn enough to be less intimidated when I next want to generate something I can't buy.

I spent enough time working with talented mechanical designers to know my place. I'm lucky I now have some freedom to choose how I spend my time. This is fun, but not a job!

[dataway]

Going to be a slow down in progress. Working on some CGI for a customers short film project and I'll be packing up the 3d printing gear shortly for the move to TN.

Here is the current state of the CAD model. Working on the timing cover mostly. I have a bad feeling the block is two wide at the bottom .. could seriously break a lot of things if I have to change that.