Thread: Spiral Milling along with a bit of turning (large, lots of photos)

Originally Posted by JHOLLAND1

thanks for pics and hx Ross

are the pistons and conn rods original?

is the drilled flywheel original?

j

J:
The pistons are new for our current rebuild. Block bored and honed new pistons purchased from JE in LA. Pistons are forged blanks but fully machined inside and out....
We used to be limited to the available forging blanks when making new pistons for a job. The aspect ratio of old pistons is quite high being pretty tall from pin to crown. A problem for custom
piston makers in years past. With advances in cutting tools and machinery some makers now offer pistons fully machined from (shudder) billet.....This is not marketing buzz in our case as it
allows designing a piston of modern material and modern profile on the skirt to classic proportions.....

This engine had been "hot rodded" by the previous owner. They had modern rods made and drilled the flywheel. This was a classic example of what can happen when modern (relative term here) car
guys get working on old cars. You have to stay true to the era IMO....you can't make a space ship out of a Piper Cub, but there are guys that will try. Lots of re-work needed here to get a sound foundation
to build a proper period engine.
Rods changed to have Babbitt poured directly in the big ends...on old not surface treated cranks i favor Babbitt to thin wall inserts..softer and you don't need to grind to any standard size on the journal (remove less from the original part)

Main bearings re-done completely...Originals were allowed to run without proper "crush" between the case and the shells causing fretting on both bearing shells and housings. Case with block fitted was line bored
to give good housing bores. Then new bronze shells were made using the process as described above. Shells Babbited fit to the case and line bored to give the proper crank /bearing clearance....

The cam was likewise in need of rework...bearings, gear, profile....

And for those wondering...most if not all the work i do is time and materials....almost impossible to estimate this sort of repair with any accuracy, you never know what you are going to find inside.

Cheers Ross

Ross you have the coolest job. Getting to work on such rare cars with such fine tools, I can only imagine.

thank you Ross for tech details.
JE Pistons operation is most impressive

j

Originally Posted by JHOLLAND1

thank you Ross for tech details.
JE Pistons operation is most impressive

j

Yes...around here be it a DFV or a 1913 Peugeot, JE is the first choice....Great quality, and good support.
Cheers Ross

Will you try to repair the lightened flywheel or make a new one? Hard to believe someone would do that to something that is so rare...I am not any purest but you do have to be realistic. Hot rodding a 32 ford is quite a bit different from something there is only one or two of. It just doesnt seem quite right to my sensibilities.

Glad at least to see someone with the resources to have things done right.

Charles

Inspiring photos of beautiful work, as always Ross. Thanks for posting!

Again I find myself wondering what machines the original parts were made on and how it was done. I once restored and used a 1908 Lodge and Shipley lathe. If it was representative of the machines of that era, with dials of about 1.25" dia and graduated in .005 increments, I wonder how machines like this ever got built. There sure weren't any machines like your Deckels then, but the cars sure were complicated.

I don't see the point of Hot Rodding a car like that, and I am a Hot Rod junky. Seems like the first place to start with hopping up a car like that would be to take out the original engine and start with something better in the first place. Then ditch the original everything in favor of better stuff... some people just make odd decisions.

Great pictures as usual, thanks for sharing.
As with previous pictures from you I always have to recalibrate my expectations of what stuff that old should look like. Its always better then I would imagine. Tool making machinery from that time seems so obsolete one is tempted to disregard it as junk, but obviously not so. What did they machine that engineblock with for example. A huge horizontal doing 200 rpm with a not-even-HSS cutter? What would that mills tooling set look like? I can not imagine and feel totally disconnected from that aera.
So much more cool to see it.

BTW Ross, I picked up the boxes recently and almost broke my back. PM coming.

Martin

Originally Posted by Martin P

BTW Ross, I picked up the boxes recently and almost broke my back. PM coming.
Martin

Pretty sure i warned you....

Cheers Ross

I like the nonchalant display of GP Bugatti wheel in the background.....

Charles

Ross,

i see what appears to be the hand drawn 2d print
of the slinger as a background when showing the details
of the new slinger . . . . its never been asked & i hope
i am not intruding, but is this a typical approach for
a project such as this new part? how do you guys
create your 2d plans & are they turned over to the
benefactor when the project is completed?

i really like your creative or maybe coincidental partnership
of the hand drawn print with the slinger. IMO it makes
for a great story . . .

always like it when you get this type of masterful effort out to us
normal shop rats. living here in missery -- small town to boot;
i feel lucky you can be in a position to make a choice to do this for us.

thanks

Originally Posted by Charles P

I like the nonchalant display of GP Bugatti wheel in the background.....

Charles

Charles I wouldnt be too surprised if you looked around you would find the rest of the car there too.

Charles.

archimedes:

The hand drawn sketch for me is pretty common.
The paper tablet makes a better background for photos than the worn and dark wooden bench top.
Plus i sort of like the look.........

I use several methods to solve for the parts i need to make. Often there is a worn or broken example that gives clues to the
needed dimensions. I will usually sketch the relevant features and their sizes on paper.
I don't have a CMM so if layout is critical i will use the machine to measure the part and location of features.

I keep personal note books of the sketches with notes on disassembly and construction details. Some guys go the digital camera route. I do that some, but notes are just better.
Important finished sketch work is included in the customers files......
Sketches are also used to enter information into my CAM/ Cad programs I am lucky enough to have a full, up to date 3D plus version
of SurfCam and further i have full DNC software/Hardware for the FP4NC i use daily.....
In addition i also have a current version of SolidWorks....

Often i get work where the original component has been modified or replaced. Old photos and other similar cars coupled with a bit of logic can often solve the mystery.

Biggest current problem i face is what to do about a replacement....Sold my interest in the business this year, but i will remain for an additional 4 years. New owner wants everything to continue,
so someone has to be brought up to fill my role here.....

Cheers Ross

Originally Posted by CBlair

Charles I wouldnt be too surprised if you looked around you would find the rest of the car there too.

Charles.

Actually there are two GP Bugs in at the moment along with an Alfa 8-C 2300, a 6-C 1750 ,a Maserati 8CTF a Ferrari LM, a Miller rear drive 122, a Parnelli F1 car(VPJ4) and a Williams FX3/1 .....in addition to the TurCat of course....

Cheers Ross