This winter's project. A transmission for the 302 engine

[b.lindsey]

George, its nice to see you back on this project. Truly awe inspiring and you make it look so easy as well. Thanks for the update!!

Bill

 

[RonC9876]

George: I see a complete car in your future. That's if you don't crack from the strain before then. Keep turning out work like this and the rest of us will be cowering with embarrassment! Ron Colonna

 

[steamer]

Damn George....you do mighty fine work....keep it coming, I'm learning tons!

Dave

 

[RonC9876]

If you think his drafting work is good you need to see his art work! Too many talents for one man to have. Ron

 

[gbritnell]

It's been several days but here's where I'm at.
I had to figure the best way to remove most of the metal and still have some clamping area so with the larger cuts on the bottom I clamped from the centerline up. The first 3 pictures show the shifter box area. I cut the cavity and just enough around it to give me a witness. That left all of the other flat area for alignment.

 

[gbritnell]

The next picture is some rough layout work and then off to the bandsaw to get rid of the big pieces.The first detail on the bottom was a boss up against the flange. I roughed around it and then went in with a .125 end mill with a small radius on the corner.

 

[gbritnell]

Next came a setup for cutting the angled surface on the bottom. I roughly set it with a protractor and then went in with my dial indicator and checked the tangent of the angle. Then some more stock removal and stepping around the newly formed boss.

 

[gbritnell]

There are 2 ribs on the bottom of the tailshaft housing, a wider one near the back and then a thinner one about halfway up. (.150 and .063 respectively) The first 3 photos show the wide rib cut and the last one show the smaller on finished. It required several moves in the vise to set up for the angles and then finally some step-off work to get the blend angle between the 2 ribs.
George

 

[Metal Butcher]

Next came a setup for cutting the angled surface on the bottom. I roughly set it with a protractor and then went in with my dial indicator and checked the tangent of the angle. Then some more stock removal and stepping around the newly formed boss.

Great post George! And thanks, you just taught a new trick using a bevel protractor.

Now I know how to use mine to set-up a work piece in my mill vise. This has been a problem for me in the past.

They way you used it with help from a 123 block never crossed my mind.

-MB

 

[steamer]

ya know George....you have had me stumped for some time.

You are impossible to categorize.....

Just when I think your artist...you become engineer...when I think your engineer, you explode with artistry.

In all, your awe inspiring....and I continue to be stumped...but that's OK...I'm enjoying the view none the less.

Some things just don't need labels or explainations.....just a heap of respect.

:bow: :bow:

 

[Troutsqueezer]

Checking the tangent of the angle, George...wouldn't have crossed my mind to do something like that but it makes sense. I'll make a note.

Are you going to have this finished by Winter's end?

 

[ozzie46]

As already stated George, you just continue to amaze!

Keep it coming.

Ron

 

[gbritnell]

I got some more chopping done on the tailshaft housing. I took a little break to give Rick (MB) a hand and then got back to it. As with the gear box housing it's a matter of knowing where to go and just start removing metal.
The first picture just shows some of the roughing steps. The area around the front part of the housing has angles and radii to be cut. I purposely left material on the rear flange with the idea that it would be used for clamping. The housing was 1/16 too long to fit in the vise so I removed the hard jaw from the movable jaw and set up for the angle cut. From the previous picture you can see this surface just to the right of the indicator tip. I then had to unbolt the vise and pivot it to get the bottom angle parallel.
George

 

[gbritnell]

The next thing was to create a step-off chart for the radius. The next 3 pictures show the progression of the radius. The first 2 pictures show the start of the radius from 2 different angles and the third shot shows the completed radius.
George

 

[gbritnell]

The next picture shows one of the radii on the other side of the housing. I didn't show all the cuts as they were similar to the first side. The only difference being that there was extra stock left on the first side for the speedometer boss. There's 2 more radii to go on this side.
George

 

[gbritnell]

The last 3 pictures are from my photography setup which give a clearer picture of the progress of the part. The chunk of aluminum is starting to resemble something at this point.
George

 

[b.lindsey]

It really is taking shape George. Totally awe inspiring!! With all those edges and facets, etc. I am thinking in another life you must have been a master diamond cutter. :bow:

Regards,
Bill

 

[Lakc]

Looks beautiful George. Removing all that metal makes this look a bit more like sculpting then machining. Thm:

 

[kustomkb]

A beautiful sculpture indeed! Thanks for the detailed posts.

 

[Deanofid]

The whole thing is still 'wow' to me. You have so many angles and depths going on at one time, I don't know how you keep track of them. Fantastic as always, George.