Still working through the cylinder head operations. I am clocking and matching heads to cylinders.
Ageless 9 and 18 Radial
- Thread starter rlo1
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Machined all five of the bronze bearings for both engines. Turned out very nice and I am really glad I kept hunk of bearing bronze from 15 years ago! Expensive stuff.
Cut the engine mounting ring for the engine stand for both engines. Will be firing up the TIG rig soon.
Looking good I have almost finished my 9 cylinder which has taken 5 years on and off and hopefully I will soon be running it up. I am currently also in the process of completing a hit and miss Rina engine which had been put on the back shelf whilst working on the Hodgson but is coming on nicely.
Built the alignment fixtures for both engines crankshafts. Used a caswell cold bath black oxide process on the cylinders. It turned out to be pretty good and it was simple. You can see the untreated cylinder on the right.
Been working on the cylinder head CAM programs. What you see here is the result of four operations totaling over seven hours of machine time per cylinder head. The machine work is only 75% complete as each head will need at least 3 more operations to finish. I expect another 3 hours of machining will be needed to complete the head. I need 27 good ones for both engines. Aluminum is getting expensive..... lots of trial and error.... 
. I understand now why people have told me that the cylinder heads are the hardest part of the build.
. I understand now why people have told me that the cylinder heads are the hardest part of the build.
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With a 5-axis mill and tool changer, you'd knock those babies out quick. 
Lacking that it's a slog. That groover is a tight fit.
Lacking that it's a slog. That groover is a tight fit.
Rcexl 1/4-32 - They look somewhat scale.
I also went with 1/4-32 to keep from having to cut half of the head away to make room for the larger plugs.
Machined the intake and exhaust manifold faces and thread milled the 6-32 hold down. 17 minutes per cycle. Working on my fixture for the valve seats. Will use the microarc 4th axis for both valve seats and finish work on the top of the head. Slow but steady.
Machining the rocker box’s for the Cylinder heads. Op1 is about 20min per part and 30min for op2. I am going to make 60.
Op1 cuts the underside of the part and cuts it out. It produces 2 parts per cycle.
Op1 cuts the underside of the part and cuts it out. It produces 2 parts per cycle.
Making rocker box’s. Op2 is a 2hr cycle that does the finish work on the part and the fin grooving. It makes 4 parts per cycle.
Turned the oil sump tubes and fit them up on both engines. Will silver solder the oil tubes after I work on the crankcase surface finish by brushing the aluminum.
Making a lot of crankshaft parts for both engines. Cutting 303 stainless steel for the shafts and carbon steel for the crankshaft cheeks. Note the $23 Guering drill bit on the turret. It is impressive because it’ll drill a 3 inch deep hole (0.125) no problem in the stainless, it’s an amazing drillbit. Note to self: Buy more endmills when not running aluminum! Lol.
