May 2011
Updates
As stated in the March 2011 update, I have committed to give a seminar at the MARC convention in San Diego (late June 2011), and my optimistic goal was to have a running engine by then. This will not happen, however I hope to have good castings to display.
In case someone gets this Email without seeing the article on the new Model A engine, the article can be found at
http://www.modelaengine.com
If anyone has a question, concern, comment, or suggestion, please let me know at model.a.engine@hotmail.com, and I’ll do my best to resolve the issue.
Because several people have been added to the update list, and since I have not taken the time to reply, some of the words in this update and the attached picture of the crankshaft and connecting rods will be redundant.
Readers of this update need to understand that this effort is a 1 man operation and privately funded. Every change is being made from an engineering point of view of how things can be made better and cheaper while staying within the restraints of keeping the exterior as original and maintaining all interfaces for attaching parts as original.
Cylinder Block
Lodi Iron Works has cast 5 cylinder blocks. #1 had gating problems and the core assembly was known to be broken during mold closure. The revised gating worked on casting #2, but it had a broken core problem. Casting #3 also had a broken core problem. Cores and the core assembly for casting #4 were made to my verbal procedure and everything was good except for a shift of the water jacket core towards the ports. Attachment #1 is a jpeg image of cut apart casting #4 on the conference table at Lodi Iron Works. Cores and the core assembly for casting #5 were made mostly following a written procedure supplemented with my verbal help, and it was poured on May 20, 2011, with the mold being broken open on May 22, 2011.
Updates
As stated in the March 2011 update, I have committed to give a seminar at the MARC convention in San Diego (late June 2011), and my optimistic goal was to have a running engine by then. This will not happen, however I hope to have good castings to display.
In case someone gets this Email without seeing the article on the new Model A engine, the article can be found at
http://www.modelaengine.com
If anyone has a question, concern, comment, or suggestion, please let me know at model.a.engine@hotmail.com, and I’ll do my best to resolve the issue.
Because several people have been added to the update list, and since I have not taken the time to reply, some of the words in this update and the attached picture of the crankshaft and connecting rods will be redundant.
Readers of this update need to understand that this effort is a 1 man operation and privately funded. Every change is being made from an engineering point of view of how things can be made better and cheaper while staying within the restraints of keeping the exterior as original and maintaining all interfaces for attaching parts as original.
Cylinder Block
Lodi Iron Works has cast 5 cylinder blocks. #1 had gating problems and the core assembly was known to be broken during mold closure. The revised gating worked on casting #2, but it had a broken core problem. Casting #3 also had a broken core problem. Cores and the core assembly for casting #4 were made to my verbal procedure and everything was good except for a shift of the water jacket core towards the ports. Attachment #1 is a jpeg image of cut apart casting #4 on the conference table at Lodi Iron Works. Cores and the core assembly for casting #5 were made mostly following a written procedure supplemented with my verbal help, and it was poured on May 20, 2011, with the mold being broken open on May 22, 2011.
The exterior of casting #5 looks great, and there is no evidence of core shift. However casting #5 is unusable because of venting problems. Casting #5 will be cut apart just like casting #4 to verify wall thickness. Attachment #2 is a jpeg image of casting #5 before cleaning. Attachment #3 is a jpeg image of casting #5 after cleaning.
Several technical meetings at Lodi Iron Works have occurred since the last update. Much is discussed at
these meetings, including lesions learned on the last casting attempt, presentation of new tooling (gages) that will insure that cores are in the correct position during core assembly, changes that will reduce labor, and the implementation of a procedure to insure that previous errors are not repeated.
There was a technical meeting this morning at Lodi Iron Works. I have several action items to modify core boxes that will make stronger cores with less labor. Lodi Iron Works also has several action items including evaluation of a new core paste and to modify the procedure so that the venting problems found in casting #5 are not repeated.
Connecting Rod, Main Caps, and Crankshaft
Good castings of these parts were displayed at the Turlock swap meet and are ready for machining. Compared to the cylinder block, these parts are very simple.
The material that was used to cast these parts is Meehanite SP80 (80-55-06). Other uses for this material include suspension parts, and even off road front spindles where the stub axle is lowered to provide additional ground clearance.
Attachment #4 is a picture of the crankshaft, connecting rods, and main caps.
GD&T, Tolerances, Machining, and Surface Finishes
My plan is to have the cylinder block machined locally (Silicon Valley) and have the crankshaft and connecting rods machined by a machine shop that specializes in crankshafts and connecting rods. On the way to the MARC convention, I am planning on taking the crankshaft and connecting rod castings along with SolidWorks models for machining to Cunningham in Gardena, Carrillo in Irvine, Crower in San Diego, Marine Crankshaft Inc. in Santa Ana, and Scat in Redondo Beach to obtain estimates for machining. The above manufacturers are in the business of machining connecting rods and crankshafts and have the equipment and knowledge to machine quality parts.
Next Update
The next update will be in 2 months or sooner.
Terry Burtz, Campbell, Calif.
