I thought for you guys with ODDBALL motors this might be helpful. I did this strictly in Drill Press mode to show you don't need a Bridgeport for this stuff. If your gaskets are accurate enough, use them as patterns, if not (mine were way off) then I highly reccomend the "set screw transfer punch" - These things are in that "must have" category - they save tons of time laying stuff out and are pretty much dead accurate. As an example - when I was finished I bolted the flange on using all the screws - finger tight - I drilled the holes using a 3/8" bit and the bolts are 3/8" (granted they are a tad undersize as made - but you get the point) Comment 1 - notice that I drilled two pilot holes - that allowed me to drill (holesaw) each side part way through before blasting all the way through with one. If you go through on the first holesaw - you lose your pilot for the second one. The second hole will inevitably "walk" (up/down left/right) without the pilot. By going 3/4 the way through on one holesaw, before blasting through on the other one, will prevent the misaligned holes. Comment 2 - notice that I drilled two holes on the periphery of my OVAL - this allows the chips to clear when you start getting deep (teeth buried) - it makes a huge difference. Lastly I ran the hole saw SLOW - running them TOO FAST is a sure way to kill it in a hurry. I also applied cutting oil with a small brush constantly - keeps the hole saws sharper longer. FWIW - look at the third pic - you can see the "cresent moons" left over from the gasket tracings - this is how far off my holes would have been had I used the gaskets for templates.
where can I get a set of those transfer punches? I've never seen such a critter! I gotta have me some of that!
Enco also sells the transfer punches. they have a web site and will send you a catalog if you request one. A good place to buy machine tools and measuring equipment on a budget. Frank
Very good thread I never thought about useing a hole saw good idea. J&L sells them and they are very handy. At work we call them transfer screws they also sell transfer buttons or (blind hole spotters) they dont have threads but are handy for blind holes that dont have threads and of course your transfer punches that I think every one should have. bret
Drilling holes at the perimeter is a great idea. I didn't when I made my inake flange and it was pretty slow going once you get to the depth of the teeth. I ended up finishing from the back side. I ran mine at 320 rpm.
Transfer screws aren't too expensive. They usually come six to a screw top metal container that doubles as the transfer screw wrench. I got mine at MSC (Manhattan Supply Co.). You can make your own transfer screws by getting some cup point set screws that are driven by an Allen wrench. Cut off a short section of the correct size of Allen wrench (it's hardened metal so use a Dremel or similar) that's long enough to drop into the set screw and have about an 1/8" sticking out. Leave a bit of the hex showing so you can screw it in and out with a box wrench or socket. (You may have to grind the wrench or socket flat on one side so the wrench/socket hex will reach the short piece of hex on the transfer screw point.) Grind a point on the short piece of Allen wrench. A lathe is nice, but you can grind it to an acceptable center by hand with a gridner. Don't get the tip too hot or you'll ruin the temper. You can also spin the short piece of Allen wrench in a drill press after an initial rough-in done by hand on a grinder and bring the point to a perfect center with a Dremel or other hand held grinder. Drop the pointy tipped short piece of Allen wrench into the set screw and you have a very nice home-made transfer screw. Retaining the sharp tip with a drop of suitable adhesive is a good idea. Very nice tech piece on knocking out your own header flanges.
Missing something here on these transfer screws / punches. Once you've screwed them in what do you do? Sit your piece of steel on top and give it a whack with a hammer? If so, you would need as many transfer screws as there are holes in the head. Am I missing the point (no pun intended)? Pete
Nope you're not missing a thing! They sell them in sets of 6 (at least that's how mine came). The way I did this particular project was to first drill 1 hole through as a starting point. I installed that one screw and LIGHTLY tapped over each point to make a mark _ each location had a transfer set screw in it. I then removed the flange flipped it over and took a prick punch and hit each location HARD. I figured no sense in beating the crap out of the points as they'd be a pain to sharpen, but No Problem sharpening a hand punch. I suppose you could do this all in one shot, but seemed easier to drill the one hole first to get it started in the right place.
i got a set of them from grizzly they have no threads. a little shoulder that holds it up. http://www.grizzly.com/products/item.aspx?itemnumber=h2705
Thanks for that. Great tech. I'm gonna look out for those little suckers next time I'm in an engineering shop. Pete
Time to open those ports up to the gasket size I guess. Looks good! What thickness steel did you use?
one more thing if your using more than one transfer screw you need to try to get them all close to the same amount of point sticking out. That way the plate wont rock and when you give it a wack you should get all your holes transfered. I usally just eyeball them looking down the side. Bret
So after the flanges were done I needed to form the header pipes to mate to my oval openings. At first I just hammered them, but that was WAY too much work and no where near as fast as it ought to be.......so I broke down and dug through my scraps of metal and found this "mushroom" headed piece-o-junk from the pile. A little work on the belt sander and a little more with a grinder and then the D/A and I was in business. I still may tweak it a wee little more but you can get the idea from the pic how it works. It was DEFINITELY worth the time to make. FWIW my first thought for making this "punch" was to weld some heavy walled tubing - preferably something that had a bend to it. I lucked out when I found this scrap. Dehudso - I used 1/4" for these - mainly because the project it's for is weight conscious - If these were for a street car I might consider going thicker. C9 - great idea about making your own out of set screws. In a pinch that could be a real time saver.
Thanks. Neat header tool. I've made several from the ground up headers. Initial shaping was done in a vise and tacking the tube into place with a MIG. After the headers were built, the flange end of the tube was final-formed to the flange port shape. I've have had good luck with heating the tube ends with a torch and tapping to shape with a ball peen and smaller ball peen and in some cases with rectangular ports, the rounded pick end of a body hammer. I like your idea better though. Far as welding the tube to the flange goes, I like to use a TIG here, but again, a wire welder would work as well. Nice part about the TIG is the small hardly needs finishing bead size. Fwiw - I've always used 1/4" for the flanges. Never had a leakage problem and that includes using the Olds Rocket (303 etc.) embossed shim stock style gaskets and the later 455 Buick style looks like asbestos contained within sheet aluminum which is all crimped. Reason I recommend skipping hot rod style one piece gaskets is they are high temp paper and once they get wet from cleaning the engine they deteriorate like Kleenex (Tissues to the Oz gang) and look like heck. The one piece gaskets were originally made as a convenience because it's easier to hang header and gasket from two bolts than to do the multi stock gaskets with all the bolts. It really ain't that big a deal, some areas can be tight, but you can always tie the little gaskets of with thread that disappears not long after the first fire-up.
Oh yeah , making that tool to punch into the tube to shape it to mate to the flange was definitely worth it!! If I was gonna do a BUNCH of these I would thread my "tool" to allow me to use a rivet gun (or zip gun). In the mean time I struggle with my leather hammer This is definitely the easiest set of headers I've made - of course they're not done yet.....
Looks good, glad to see progress on this puppy.....Littleman.........the list of things to do is gettin smaller.
another winning post from hemirambler, soon i`ll be picking your brain about a phase converter, i`ve seen your posts on mm on this subject . gary
Thanks Gary, Feel free to ask away - I'm certainly no expert on phase converters (or anything else for that matter) but I will certainly help if I can. There's been a couple of posts here on the HAMB already about making phase converters - I know I have posted a schematic or two, not that I could find those posts since it's been awhile. Lemme know!!
Well I might as well keep going..... Today's dilema occured when I went to cut my stubby tube supports. They ended up so short they wouldn't fit in my tube notcher. (tube notcher - another "must have tool" - IMHO) I ended up turning a step in a piece of bar stock to allow me to hold the stubby piece. If you don't have acess to a lathe you could just slip a piece of stube over the right sized stock and end up with what I had - I can't see why either way wouldn't work fine. I thought this just might help someone out of a similar bind.
Like the scott injection I have the same kind of swedging tool for headers. It fits into the air chisel and saves a bunch of time. "wear ear protection" Oh yea use a little grease and it wont get stuck.
Yeah -- I have lusted for a Scott injector for years. Thanks to a buddy of mine at work I landed this one. Sometimes it's good to mention to your pals what you're looking for. What size air chisel do you use. I tried mine today with a POS air chisel I had and it didn't hit near hard enough to work. I suppose I could have heated it some, but I just reverted back to my big hammer. Oneyed, Is your "wear eye protection" a bit criptic??? If so you're preaching to the choir.......... tig welding without depth perception can be a bitch at times! I know.
I got my chisel from a surplus here in Denver. All it says is air here,oil daily the guy at the surplus says they are from WWII era factory man that thing is powerful.Here is the Algon I have I love old injections. Yea the eye thing atleast I have an excuse if it comes out crooked, my buddies don't.
Looks awesome! Keep up the good work. Are you concerned about the 1/4" flanges warping? I've heard that thin flanges would warp. Or is that just an old wives tale?
Oneyed, Yeah I'm a sucker for those old injectors, but unfortunately with everyone asking/getting BIG bucks for them it's awfully hard to get them anymore. The persuit of the ALMIGHTY dollar I suppose. I wish they were worthless so I could have a bunch of them. BTW I LOVE the Algon!!!!! Vision, you should hear my buddy's logic how having one good eye is this huge advantage at swapmeets. They're hysterical....I tell them I can fix that problem for them....... Dehudso, I have 1/4" flanges on everything I own - hasn't been a problem yet. We'll just have to wait and see I guess.
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