I have a 181 mercruiser from the early 70's that I'm putting into a trike. Does anyone know of a person or company that makes an intake/exhaust flange? All the machine shops around here say that it will take more time to create the program than it will to cut it out. I cut the stock manifold down but I need a flange to weld my headers to. Thanks.
Don, you are new here, so give the search function a try. there is an entire thread on Mercruiser mods. Also check the HAMBo'Dex vendors, there are a couple that burn flanges. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/the-elusive-224-3-7-mercruiser-banger.256713/
I've made a number of flanges from flat stock using gaskets as patterns. Hole saws, files, rotory cutters, what ever it takes to round out the holes. Jigsaws also work. Torch or plasma cutter will do alright, they tend to harden the edge some, but once its cut away you are good to go. Water jet companies are around and cam cut any thickness you need off gasket patterns.
You can do it like Joe H, which most us have done it that way, or you can find a buddy with CAD who can draw it up for you. Should only take 10 mins, for a simple flange. Worst case, put your hand drawing and a $50 bill in an envelope and send it my way. I will send you back a flange, cut out of your choice of material within a couple of weeks.
There is a company called "Send-Cut-Send" that does exactly this. I have a friend who uses them all of the time, and he has had some pieces made for me. One example was a couple of "Hurst style" motor mount adapters for an early hemi. I think they can work from full-size drawings or certain types of CAD files. Check them out.
Headers by Ed made my Hemi header flanges. They're beautiful. http://www.headersbyed.com/ Caution: he loves to talk on the phone.
I will admit to knowing nothing about what I am going to say next. It would seem an easy thing to do these days. Couldn't a computer scan of the gasket be fed into a cutting machine? It should take less time to do it than for me to type this.
There is no "just have the computer...." a human has to touch the part, load the steel, clean and ship the part, etc. True, computers and lasers have made parts manufacturing easier and more accurate, but a human still has to work it at some point, especially for one-off parts as opposed to mass production. That said, Hells Gate Hot Rods could probably fix you up: https://www.hellsgatehotrods.com/product-category/flanges/exhaust-header-flang
I could make your flange....IF, I had a pattern to go off. I do all my stuff on old school manual machines. However, it might be better for you to seek out a local, or semi local outfit that can do CNC flame cutting or water jet. They would need a pattern too. Attached is a simple two bolt phenolic carb insulator I made. If it is a s imple as that, it's just a matter of distance between bolt centers and the main bore diameter
@Don56 , are you returning here? I think we may have list him. If you return, are you able to post a photo of the exhaust flange gasket?
If you live in a metropolitan area, I've had pretty good luck searching Facebook or Craigslist services for 'waterjet' or 'laser cutting'. The ones I used would make parts from a sketch or tracing. For an exhaust flange I'd think that'd be fine. For complex/precision parts I've used CAD services I've found on Facebook or Craigslist to generate a .dwg or .dxf file that I can take on a thumbdrive to a waterjet/laser facility. Etsy also has a bunch of freelancers that will make a CAD file from a drawing, but I've never used them. If you want to try your hand at it, you can download a free-ware program called 'Inkscape' and create a .pdf image of the part you need cut. I've made quite a few parts by taking a picture of the mating part, importing it into Inkscape, tracing the photograph then modifying/scaling the drawing to the dimensions I need. The laser cutting machines I'm familiar with will take a .pdf if it meets some specific requirements for line size and color. If you live somewhere remote, your best bet is probably SendCutSend. If you can make a sketch/tracing they also have a design service.
Thanks everyone for the advise. I had talked to multiple machine shops in the area, they either don't do one off parts or they said it would take longer to program the machine than it would be to cut the part. That's why I thought maybe someone on here had done it before and maybe had the program on file.
Be sure to post what you end up doing. My AVATAR has a 181 block with a temporary 153 head. You should add your general location and maybe someone will know a shop near you that would make one. Charlie Stephens
These guys may have what you need: Exhaust Manifold Adapter Plate Kit - GM High Output 181 c.i. Cheers, Harv
I found a local machine shop that will make my flange. One other question. I'm using a th350 transmission, the mount is at the rear, if I use a front cradle for my front motor mount, will that put the motor to transmission joint in an excessive bind?
Draw it in CAD or have a friend draw it in CAD and then use SendCutSend. Order minimum is like $30-40 though so have them draw some other stuff you want.
The local guy I found wasn't going to do the job like I imagined he would, so I bought the adapter plate from Barr Marine. On one side the openings are normal, fit the head openings perfectly. On the newer head side the openings are quite a bit smaller. Will need to have a machine shop open them up to the proper size.
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