February 2013
Cylinder Block
In the last update (Nov 2012), I had good news that casting #23 is a candidate for machining, and casting #24 may also be a candidate.
Casting #24 was poured in the earlier part of Nov 2012, and for a variety of reasons (weather, holidays, sickness, etc.); I did not take possession of casting #24 until Jan. 25, 2013.
Upon close inspection, casting #24 looked great with the exception that the timing gear cavity core was out of position which resulted in wall break-thru. My guess is that the core assembly and drag bumped each other during mold assembly.
The first 5 attachments show casting #24 as received from the foundry.
Cylinder Block
In the last update (Nov 2012), I had good news that casting #23 is a candidate for machining, and casting #24 may also be a candidate.
Casting #24 was poured in the earlier part of Nov 2012, and for a variety of reasons (weather, holidays, sickness, etc.); I did not take possession of casting #24 until Jan. 25, 2013.
Upon close inspection, casting #24 looked great with the exception that the timing gear cavity core was out of position which resulted in wall break-thru. My guess is that the core assembly and drag bumped each other during mold assembly.
The first 5 attachments show casting #24 as received from the foundry.
Casting #24 was then prepared for pressure testing by smoothing out the upper surface of the cylinder block a shown in attachment 6.
When the water jacket was filled with water, casting #24 began to leak at the rate of I drop every 3 seconds from a small porosity pinhole in the upper wall of the valve chamber. Once the pinhole leak was found no additional effort was made to pressure test.
Attachments 7 and 8 show the pinhole.
When the water jacket was filled with water, casting #24 began to leak at the rate of I drop every 3 seconds from a small porosity pinhole in the upper wall of the valve chamber. Once the pinhole leak was found no additional effort was made to pressure test.
Attachments 7 and 8 show the pinhole.
I met with Jorge Costa, the new Manufacturing Manager at Lodi Iron Works when I picked up cylinder block #24. I explained the porosity problem
that plagued the first 20 castings, how Mike Frank changed the parting line from horizontal to vertical to solve the problem, and the lack of documentation (discipline) needed for repeatable castings. We ended the
meeting with the understanding that Jorge will read the Core Assembly
Procedure” that I wrote 2 years ago (and needs serious updating), Jorge
will make a set of cores for casting #25, and Terry (me) will be available
(live in Lodi for a few days) to help with the assembly of cores and the mold.
It needs to be noted that casting #23 had 3 porosity leaks, and that 2 of them stopped leaking (by rusting closed) during the 2 months that it sat in the H frame press. To put things in perspective, the water jacket of casting #23 was filled for pressure testing, and 2 months later, the water level dropped about ¾ inch.
The next step will be to have cylinder block castings machined. I am patiently waiting for Lodi Iron Works to produce several good castings in a row before I commit to having the SolidWorks machined model converted to machine language for a Mazak with pallets or equivalent.
Connecting Rod, Main Caps, and Crankshaft
Good castings (1st attempt good) of these parts for the new Model A engine have been made on the automated line at Lodi Iron Works and are awaiting a good cylinder block casting so all can go together to machine shops for bids on machining.
The material used to cast these parts was Meehanite SP80 (80-55-06). This material is close to the material that is
used for similar parts in modern engines. This material is also used for suspension parts, gears, and highly stressed parts in new cars.
The next update will be when something good happens or 2 months.
Terry Burtz, Campbell, Calif.
(live in Lodi for a few days) to help with the assembly of cores and the mold.
It needs to be noted that casting #23 had 3 porosity leaks, and that 2 of them stopped leaking (by rusting closed) during the 2 months that it sat in the H frame press. To put things in perspective, the water jacket of casting #23 was filled for pressure testing, and 2 months later, the water level dropped about ¾ inch.
The next step will be to have cylinder block castings machined. I am patiently waiting for Lodi Iron Works to produce several good castings in a row before I commit to having the SolidWorks machined model converted to machine language for a Mazak with pallets or equivalent.
Connecting Rod, Main Caps, and Crankshaft
Good castings (1st attempt good) of these parts for the new Model A engine have been made on the automated line at Lodi Iron Works and are awaiting a good cylinder block casting so all can go together to machine shops for bids on machining.
The material used to cast these parts was Meehanite SP80 (80-55-06). This material is close to the material that is
used for similar parts in modern engines. This material is also used for suspension parts, gears, and highly stressed parts in new cars.
The next update will be when something good happens or 2 months.
Terry Burtz, Campbell, Calif.
