LSx Engine w/ 1" bore

[aonemarine]

With vapor polishing - How does that affect dimensional tolerance? Do parts shrink or warp?

They seem to expand slitely to me, cant say I ever measured them before and after though.

 

[aonemarine]

AH HA Found what you need to see...
http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/showthread.php?t=19073

 

[bigmellon]

Really cool project! Great links. Thank you. This makes me want more side projects just to play with casting methods!!

I am looking around for a decent source for vacuum assist casting materials. You seem to have a lot of equipment. Did you make it, or is there a webstore you might recommend? My searches seem to always push me into the big dollar vacuum casting machines and automated processes.

 

[aonemarine]

Riogrande.com or contenti.com
Pretty easy to fabricate most of what you need, but easier to buy some things like the vaccum flasks.

 

[bigmellon]

Cool! I will check them out. I like the detail I am seeing and the surface finish of the castings.

I was originally thinking about making my mold with core sand sort of like the following:
https://youtu.be/yXVLbzI3xTE

 

[bigmellon]

I am looking forward to the NAMES exhibit this weekend! Not sure whom is going, but I am excited that it is here

I believe I am settling in on the LS7 engine rather than specifically the LSx block. Not only is the LSx block cast iron, but it supports 6 head bolts per hole which would be difficult in the small scale I am working with. The LS7 is an aluminum block, o-ring cylinder liners, and 4 bolt heads. It's kind of gorgeous too.

My shorter term goals are to make the heads and a block... Crank, cam, and accessories thereafter. Not sure if anyone would be interested, but it seems that it might be fun to make a handful of blocks. Maybe some guys would get a kick out of working on some of the other pieces? PM me if this is up your alley.

 

[barnesrickw]

It's just that easy. Cool video.

 

[dnalot]

The regular white silica sand that was used is too large of a grain to really get the surface finish right on the parts

What you want is Olivine sand. It is very fine and makes very nice cores. It also works great for filling tubing before bending. I bought my bag from a pottery supply co in Seattle.

Mark T

 

[bigmellon]

What you want is Olivine sand. It is very fine and makes very nice cores. It also works great for filling tubing before bending. I bought my bag from a pottery supply co in Seattle.

Mark T

AWESOME! Thanks for the pointer. I will go pick some up.

 

[jamestat2]

Went to NAMES yesterday! My buddy and I where blown away by the talent displayed there! 5 feet in the door and my camera was clicking away! Spoke with Ron Colonna for a while! Didn't even know who he was until I got back home and started looking up some things and saw his picture.

This is a nice project your working on. I will be watching with great interest!

I am currently working on building my first cnc machine. It will be a "VERY" rigid 5 axis cnc router with a lathe type attachment in the bed that will be removable. I am making it sturdy enough to machine aluminum. It is going to have a 16 inch "Y" axis so I can do larger deeper projects.

Started out wanting to do foam a 34 coupe body for covering in fiberglass then thought "Why not make it really rigid!" that way I could use it to do larger aluminum projects like model engine blocks and such. So here I go making it heavier duty! LOL!

Anyhow. Wish you luck.

 

[Swifty]

Jamestat2, I would love to see a picture of your heavy duty router project, why don't you start a build thread.

Paul.

 

[bigmellon]

NAMES was incredible. I really like how open everyone was to newcomers and how everyone was interested in sharing technique and insights. Really cool show and a fun experience chatting with everyone there. Some absolutely amazing handiwork gentlemen!!

 

[barnesrickw]

Hawaii is full of that olivine sand if you have any friends. Here on Lake Michigan, Muskegon once had many foundries because of the availability of Quartz sand. It must work well too.

 

[jamestat2]

Swifty, I have really just begun working on the parts for the router. It's kind of a mishmash of material that I have and stuff I am machining from stock at my buddies machine shop. Most of the stuff is from cncrouterparts.com. If you go there they give you alot of the files for their parts for free (In various formats.).

I am just changing alot of their plans to make the parts beefier. Like the gantry (X-axis) I am developing from their plans is 3060 series 15 80/20, and I am backing that with 1/4" X 7" cold rolled steel bolted to the 80/20 every 6" (I'm actually using 8" but I am cutting it down on the bandsaw and machining the edge to 7".) to run the Extended Linear Carriage Bearings on. Same goes for the Y-axis. I have some material laying around so I am using 3" channel aluminum with 1530 series 15 80/20 and bolted to that I am using 1/4" X 4" cold rolled to run the Extended Linear Carriage Bearings from cncrouterparts.com that I machined myself.

I am currently in the middle of doing a '52 F3 Rat Rod project so I am just building the parts when I get sick and tired of sanding bondo and doing rust repairs! LMAO! It's a serious project but it is going to take me a while. Plus the electronics (servos and such) are going to cost me around $1500 and I have to save up for them. Since I'm a no credit type of person! (If you can't afford to pay cash for it don't buy it!)

I will get some pictures of the parts and start a build thread but I am warning you it will be long and drawn out! LOL!

Not trying to highjack Bigmellons thread here so I will start one.

I am waiting to see the process he is going to use to cast these parts! I am very interested in casting and have never done any so this is all very intriuging to me!

 

[bigmellon]

I am attaching my engine block study for the LS7. I did need to make one major modification to the design - stretching the cylinder bore spacing a bit to account for water jacket and space for adequate bearing surface. It's not much, but it is the only dimension that isn't perfectly to scale as of yet. They really squeezed some tight bores into that production block!!

I found using 3D CAD to model this very helpful. I enjoy symmetry and this is a perfect example of how to align the two banks without causing other issues. Someone might find this helpful for their project too, so I figured I would share and open this up to critique...

I am less concerned with a running engine, and more concerned with accurately portraying the engine in my model.

Hope you like what I have pulled together so far.

View attachment LS block study.PDF

 

[Metal_slicer]

I like it I like it!!

 

[bigmellon]

So, I have to say that I have really enjoyed this exercise going through and reverse engineering the LS7 engine. I found it easiest to model just one bank (4 cylinders) at a time. It enable me to look through the inside of the block and make sure I had proper clearance, etc. It just gave an overall better working environment.





After making the one bank, all I did was glue two halves together with the combine feature of Solidworks. Pretty darn close!! Obviously, I built in the cylinder offset, but overall this sure was a simple way to get in there and work through the details.



After combining the two, I was able to add in the cross webbing, bearing supports, and can start working on specific detail to the combined overall block (front timing cover v. bell housing, etc)... Still lots more to do, but this has been enjoyable so far.

 

[bigmellon]

Here is a copper head gasket that I drew up real quick.



And then a cutaway of the block with gaskets, sleeves, and camshaft installed. This mainly shows the water jacket in the block and also is a decent angle for seeing the cam, lifters, and relative proportions of the internals.

 

[bigmellon]

Here is a picture of the block with camshaft installed and the full oil galley system in place.



Apparently all LS engines have a conventional oiling system, and the LSx block specifically calls out a "priority mains" oiling system where oil goes first to the main bearings and then to the cam and lifters. Pretty neat actually, and my setup actually accommodates both. I am however a little worried about very long small diameter holes being drilled through the entire length of the block.

Some oil system references to keep handy;







This last one shows the priority oiling passage.

 

[Cogsy]

Here in Australia a few years ago, they had a problem with quite a few LS1 engines starving the bottom end of oil. Horror stories of people going through 3 engines in 10,000 miles under warranty in brand new cars. Not sure how they fixed it but it doesn't happen anymore.