Two: Take note of gasket lines and make your cuts accordingly. Cutting closer now means less grinding later.
Three: Make final cuts. Stand back and check progress. Realize you still have a lot of shaping and finishing to do. Give a quick thought to grinder wheels loaded up with aluminum exploding in your face.
The rest of the shaping of the case will be done with a hand saw, file, possibly a mill, and a flap wheel or sanding disc. I'll avoid cutoff and grinding wheels at all cost. Done for now.
Yeah, you basically shape the bottom of the case to mirror the top. The case is held to the manifold with eight bolts around the bottom opening. I had considered going with a manifold that allowed the use of an unpruned case, but decided against it. Partially for aesthetics. Also because I wanted to use early heads, which goes back to aesthetics again I guess. Plus I suppose I am saving a few pounds. I believe Barney said something like "I don't understand why you wouldn't prune the case. No sense in hauling that extra weight around".
looks good! are you using the small cutoff wheels as a grinder? (just the edge) they work pretty good for me, i always switch rotation back and forth and it seems to unload itsself im picturing a trashcan bubble in a 40 hood
Keep on posting the blower stuff! I just scored a Navarro manifold, stock 4-71, and a Cragar drive setup...been dragging out lots of old tech articles and staring in amazement at all the hardware. By the way, one of the best tech articles is still theancient Cobbs article posted in Ryan's history! I'm thinking of an oil feed system like his...lubing the blower as a separate lump seems too 1910 for me. I can see Barney's point on losing all the weight possible...that blower is one heavy lump to be putting in the front of an early Ford! By the way, for ugly late heads fans, there is a Navarro to full flange 4-71 adaptor available for that setup.
Have you seen how these guys prune a case? http://www.fordflathead.com/cart/in...=112&prevaction=category&previd=7&prevstart=0 Don't you have a machinist friend that lives in a cave, that could maybe do the same thing for you? Save a lot of elbow grease. But maybe not as fun.
Very cool! You know I have been collecting stuff for a while. Well I've decided I owe it to myself and Flatdog to make some progress. Hassled that guy over the phone enough so I had better make use of the time he spared to talk. Manifold was the biggest piece of the puzzle for me. ($$$) So now I have it, dammit. I have a snout that looks very much like one of the old Beatty parts. I'd like to identify it if possible. Where do you suppose you would get oil pressure for the blower without starving the engine? Just wondering if Cobb's setup was meant for flat out only where you would have higher oil pressure? Is your Cragar stuff for a flathead or other? I'll have to finish the pruning then start on the rebuild. That stuff you sent is what I'll be using. Extra long feeler gauges are all I'm lacking. (I think)
Yeah, I had seen that. Phil down at SRMW is amazing. If I were going to prune a few cases I could definitely see hiring him to write the program to do it. But I'm fortunate enough to have seen all of the work he puts into the back end of each part, so it's way too much to ask for a one off deal. And hiboy32 - I know the question has already been answered, but yes it is a 4-71. The angle makes it look bigger.
Oiling...all speculation on my part, early in research curve here... Gears and bearings seem to just run in a reservoir; common hotrod practice seems to be just to fill it part way up gears, check and change oil separately. GMV used drain holes (which need to be plugged in normal hotrod build), haven't reserched where oil came from for them, but oil chamber isn't pressurized I'm sure. My thought was to route stock filter return into one end for a continuous dribble of new oil, run hardline at chosen oil level to other end, thae a drain tube again at chosen level into valley. Cragar stuff is of unknown history...I think 3 row (barely familiar with it yet), crank and snout stuff, sprung idler. The 4-71 kit shown in one of the articles pretty much matches the bits I have. I'm going to start like Cobbs by breaking a '40 Ford pulley... In any case, you can pull a good deal out of a good flathead oil system without starving anything or needing the Lincoln pump... Mine is kinda a Flatdog memorial project too. Something I've always thought about (since my father dragged me away, squealing piteously, from an almost possible $75 SCoT setup in 1964...never thought I'd actually be able to do anything, but I suddenly tripped over pieces all at once, and...well, screw property taxes! Responsibility is WAY overrated!
Looks great, but what am I missing here? How does it mount after you cut off the mounting ears? I always thought a "pruned" case was one in which the protruding lip for hanging on the side of the diesel was cut off. Thats how I did mine.
Case is drilled and tapped same as the top, but with a few added bolts. Manifold actually has a flange around the top which you bolt through straight into the case. It took me a minute to figure it out when I first saw pics of similar setups too. (Cobbs, Navarro, etc.)
Would love to see pics of how the blower is mounted to the intake. I have a 471 I am going to use on a 235 six and love the looks of the shaved case. Love the pic of the blown flatty. looking good man!
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