Casting my own aluminum head

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eaw46
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Re: Casting my own aluminum head

Post by eaw46 » Tue Nov 24, 2015 6:26 am

A 3D printer can be had for under $1K and you can use one someone else has for much cheaper. You could print out the Piston you want in plastic and then use it in a sand mold to form the Piston you want. Eddy


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Re: Casting my own aluminum head

Post by lt.luke » Tue Nov 24, 2015 6:29 am

Was that "Farmall C-60" 8 HP rating at the drawbar or the engine?

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Re: Casting my own aluminum head

Post by lt.luke » Tue Nov 24, 2015 6:31 am

eaw46 wrote:A 3D printer can be had for under $1K and you can use one someone else has for much cheaper. You could print out the Piston you want in plastic and then use it in a sand mold to form the Piston you want. Eddy
My local library has one. You can print anything you want for cost of materials. Except gun parts & sex toys. Lol

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Re: Casting my own aluminum head

Post by Seff » Tue Nov 24, 2015 7:47 am

I could end up having a hard time finding someone over here that knows how to regrind my cam. Kind of a lost art in my country.

Casting pistons: I'm worried about uniformity. The head casting can be plained off much more easily than trying to make four identical pistons.

3D printer could be good for prototypes.


I looked under the thermostat housing( had no thermostat?) and into the head. Seems the water jacket is practically inside the entirety of the head. Two-part casting might be the wisest course of action.

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Re: Casting my own aluminum head

Post by Wolfman » Wed Nov 25, 2015 6:03 am

Good question, Luke ?? The 8 HP was surely getting to the ground. Anything less, it wouldn't pull itself. No doubt the reason there was a need for more HP. The rest of that story. There was 3 things that could be done to increase HP on a C-60. Beside installing the "domed" pistons, there are "necked down" valves available. The valve stem diameter is reduced in the port area. Instead of making the port larger, the necked down valves make the stem smaller, in effect, making the port larger. And there is a replacement carb. available. Larger throat. More air and fuel gets through. The original carb. was pretty small. All three mods are suppose to give a 100% increase in HP. 8 HP to 16HP. Quite respectable ! Except for the additional cost of the carb, the rest can be accomplished for the price of an overhaul. I have done several of these for local farmers and from what I have seen, I believe it ! But I admit, I have never put one on a dyno.
Where is here, Seff ?? From the way you were talking, I thought you might live outside Taladega Speedway.
The inside of an L-134 head is mostly air, until the coolant is added. But there are still certain aspects that have to be maintained.
The coolant comes in through the water pump at the front of the engine block. Moves back through the block and around the cylinders. Then the coolant flows up through the top of the block, through the coolant passages into the head. Then to and out the thermostat housing. The passage size is critical. If the forward passages are too large, the coolant will move up to the thermostat without flowing to the rear of the engine. The rear of the block will overheat. Passages too small and you have reduced flow and overheating. Also the coolant passages in the head need to include the area around the spark plugs. Heat in the plugs need to be able to be conducted to the coolant to be removed. There is more to this than just casting something that looks like a cylinder head. :wink:
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Re: Casting my own aluminum head

Post by Seff » Wed Nov 25, 2015 6:15 am

There, I updated my profile a bit. Sorry about that.

I hear you on having to cool the area around the spark plug - in that case, a design that "hugs" the shape of the combustion chamber relatively snugly would be best. See the picture below for an idea of how it's done. The picture in question shows a Model T head, cast in two pieces, which would accomplish exactly that. The question now remains; how thick does the chamber wall need to be when working in aluminum as opposed to cast iron?

Image

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Re: Casting my own aluminum head

Post by lt.luke » Wed Nov 25, 2015 6:38 am

To Wolfman's point, maybe it would be worthwile to pick up a bad head and slice it in half? That way, you can create an accurate reproduction of the water passages?

I don't know much about the 3-d printers, but perhaps they could be used to create a disappearing mold cast?

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Re: Casting my own aluminum head

Post by Wolfman » Wed Nov 25, 2015 6:41 am

I have worked on a Model T and I am familiar with an aluminum, high compression head for one, but the one I am familiar with is one piece. It does improve performance considerably !
The head I know about looks to be the same size and general shape and thickness of the cast head.
The aluminum used makes all the difference. You don't want to melt down pop cans. Know what I mean? I am sure you do. 8)
I would stick with the same dimension and thickness as the original. High grade aluminum is as tough as cast iron.
Problems usually arise when wall thickness is reduced in an attempt to save weight. You are already accomplishing this by switching to aluminum.
Just change the combustion chamber size and shape accomplish your goal.
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Re: Casting my own aluminum head

Post by Wolfman » Wed Nov 25, 2015 6:42 am

Good idea, Luke !
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Re: Casting my own aluminum head

Post by Seff » Wed Nov 25, 2015 7:06 am

I'll start probing for a bad head; that's a good idea! Best cut right at the top?

I was going to use old pistons, that seems to be the most cast-able aluminum according to the people who like to cast? I forget what the alloy is called.

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Re: Casting my own aluminum head

Post by lt.luke » Wed Nov 25, 2015 7:39 am

Seff wrote:I'll start probing for a bad head; that's a good idea! Best cut right at the top?

I was going to use old pistons, that seems to be the most cast-able aluminum according to the people who like to cast? I forget what the alloy is called.
Cut it like that T head up above. Might be able to seal and install it in a similar fashion, but I have no clue.

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Re: Casting my own aluminum head

Post by Seff » Wed Nov 25, 2015 9:22 am

Would come down to experimentation.

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Re: Casting my own aluminum head

Post by 2/14Marine » Wed Nov 25, 2015 4:36 pm

It woud be cool to have a lower compression aluminum head with the markings of an original MB or GPW head. Once painted you would have the extra HP with the looks of an original.

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Re: Casting my own aluminum head

Post by lt.luke » Wed Nov 25, 2015 4:59 pm

2/14Marine wrote:It woud be cool to have a lower compression aluminum head with the markings of an original MB or GPW head. Once painted you would have the extra HP with the looks of an original.

Javier
He's casting it himself. No reason he can't put the original markings there.

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Re: Casting my own aluminum head

Post by tamnalan » Wed Nov 25, 2015 7:00 pm

I think a small turbocharger would offer more performance for less effort. Something like the unit from a 1.6 or 2 liter ecoboost motor. Sure would NOT look stock, though.
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