TECH: Make a Bellhousing out of an old Intake Manifold!!

HA HA! I know you do!

 

Interesting thing is they are in SLC under development as we speak!
Maybe I should just move back there...

 

Fuckin bad assed thread..you rule

Im in the refractory business and do a ton of work making special refractory cast shapes for the steel making industry , petrochemical and power boilers..love your furnace.

thans for the lesson

 

AWESOME! Thanks!

 

WOW!!! There are so many ideas running through my head right now!

One question; How did you make the mold to cast your name "ELMER" into the parts?

Mike

 

This will tell you how to make your master, and put your own name on it.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=462249

 

Great tech article, thank you for posting this!!

 

Nice job and a great write up! Casting is fun.
Here is a shot of the little electric furnace I made about 10 years ago.

-mikethegreek-

- notice the "cupcake" ingot mold in the background, ha ha!

 

Great tech post!

Sam

 

Got any details on your furnace?

 

Excellent post. As a high school metal shop teacher I am casting all the time. But I've often thought when I retire, I may want to do a little from time to time. Now I can see I can build my own set-up. Just to reinforce what Electrodude said, be sure to preheat your ingot molds, the previous instructor in my shop had an explosion that left aluminum globs hanging from the shop ceiling and one student scarred on the back of his neck.

The quality of your cast parts is amazing. I'm surprised that you could cast a bellhousing with such a small crucible.

Carry on .... and please continue to post future projects.

 

Brilliant thread, Kris. This is the kind of stuff I like to see being done. I'd like to do it myself if I ever get the time, which I don't see in the foreseeable future: more's the pity.

One thing, though. I once bought a locally cast carb adapter that was so porous I could never get the carb adjusted properly, so much air was coming through the aluminium. What makes for porous metal, and how do you avoid it?

 

When I was just getting started, I was getting the same thing. Crappy porous results. Over time, I've found my problem was where the aluminum came from.

Your local guy is most likely using low quality stuff. Or he may be using good material and he stirs the melt causing the layer of dross on the top of the melt to part. The layer of dross protects the melt from the atmosphere. Molten aluminum will draw in hydrogen from the air. When the aluminum solidifies, the hydrogen is released from the aluminum and will cause porosity. He may need to use degasser. Using flux will also help improve your casting results...

 

Kris,
What part of the SLC Valley are you in? I may just have to drop in next time I come up to Ogden to see the folks.....

 

I'm in Ogden at least 5 days a week...

Bring that pattern with you! I'd love to see it in person!

 

Sorry to hear that. I grew up there and finally left in 1997. Still doesn't seem like to much to come back to. Do you work up there? IRS - GSL - Kimberly Clark or Autoliv?

 

It is "Little Bertha", one of Dave Gingerly's contraptions. It is kind of built like a kiln. In fact, I had the heating element wound by a kiln repairman.

If you have any specific questions I would be happy to try and answer them, though I pretty much just built it from the book.

-mikethegreek-

 

I hate you..... I made a crucible today at work.
I have been in the scrap barrel twice for aluminum water pumps to sacrifice to the casting gods.

 

i found a cool old book for $12 at the used book store all it say on the front is foundering shows how to pack sand into molds and such kind of interesting also here are some of my favorite link s http://metalcast.boorman.us/foundry.html shows a small backyard furnace http://www.backyardmetalcasting.com/ more furnace lore and projects , http://www.artfulbodgermetalcasting.com/3.html http://ronreil.abana.org/sitemap.html this last link there are 4 all have some decent information the last one is my favorite because it shows how to build furnace and different burners ,

 

subscribed, thanks!!!!!

 

Simply awesome. Man, the HAMB is just on a whole 'nuther level.

 

whats your method for getting your hands on intakes and such to melt for aluminum?

im imagining myself jumping fences and being shot at to get a handful of aluminum around these parts haha

 

Wonder about scrap cracked aluminium heads or blocks??

This is a wonderful thread. Did some 30 years ago in shop class and this brought back some memories. I made some hand brake levers for my old mini-bike. They lasted one season until I laid it down and broke them.

If I only saw the possibilities back then..

 

I want through an abortive attempt to get in to casting about 5 or 6 years ago...may get a little farther this time, it's hard to say. But getting ahold of scrap aluminum is pretty easy. We've got a couple of scrap recyclers around here that'll sell to hobbyists for between $1.50 and $3 a lb. I go there when I need billet to mess with.

For casting I've heard lawnmower engines and Hard Disk Drives are a good source of quality metal...Old, tiny, hard disks are pretty easy to come by, and if you tell someone you're gonna melt them down, well, that beats the D.O.D. data destruction requirements by a pretty good margin.

 

I read somewhere that aluminum wheels are a good source because they use high quality alloys. Great thread, thanks.

 

Okay is my mag done yet????????????????????????

 

The problem with aluminium wheels is that in fact some are magnesium wheels , not aluminium . You can t pour magnesium , and this will burn the furnace .
I use pistons from yard . I pay them 1$ / lbs , it s not free , but everywhere I read it s the best alloy .
As they are really hard to break , I first melt them with charcoal , and when I have a puddle it s easy to break in small parts to pour in the crucible .
The main problem I have is findind real bentonite ...
Last thing , to pour I use wood pellets , it s less expensive than propane or charcoal and works really good .

 

Loudpedal,
Great thread! Thank you for your generosity for taking the time to educate us!

SUBSCRIBE

JG

 

Your local auto repair shop will have what you are looking for. Water pumps, ac parts, heater cores, radiators and fuel pumps. We throw it all in a barrel for the scrap guy.
If you explain what you are doing most shop owners will let you scrounge in there scrap pile.

 

WOW! Thanks for posting!