When is Billet cool? Part IV

Nope... Still not cool...

But I needed a bracket to hold two fuel pressure regulators near the carb on my '28 Roadster.

So I put a piece of aluminum on my Bridgeport.



( after a some measuring, cutting and trying out templates, etc...)

First couple of cuts.





After the rotary table I did the straight cuts, and I drilled the lightening holes.

 

When you build it yourself ,Only exception

 

OK... This pic is kinda fuzzy.

But it shows the mounting points for the bracket.

1/2" round, 1" long, drilled and tapped with 1/4" thread, rounded off on one end.

Welded to a piece of aluminum to space it 3/8" away from the bracket.



Test fit the regulators, after the mounting points were welded on.

 

On the car, with all the hoses on the regulators.






Last pic...

I thought it stood out a bit to much, so I ran one of the crank case vent hoses over the top of it.

Much better...

 

Why not make it out of steel?

 

Yeah, I could have done that too.

But it was a lot of fun to make it out of aluminum...

 

Take it off the car over the winter and leave it on the back porch. It'll oxidize and then it'll be cool. Nice work, though.

 

That's pretty goddam slick, the way it "becomes" part of the support rod. Nice job!

 

How about painting it with some zinc-chromate primer, so it looks like some old aircraft part?

I like the part you made, but it would look more at home on your car if it were GREEN...

 

Thanks guys...

 

NICE!
dont stop there man its lonely make more pieces like that on that engine.
WHY cause its KOOL & you can!!

 

really good thread, I hate the fact that billet became a dirty word, blame that one on the chinese and their catalog parts. I make all kinds of this stuff myself, made everything on my off topic setup one piece at a time. I have never mastered the art of using the rotary table to make the curved cuts though.

 

I'm going to do my entire manifold like that, I did a few pieces and I love the look.

 

medalshapes - I used Big Al's brake and throttle pedals on my old '41 Ford and they were 100% billet aluminum. Well, I couldn't have that look on a cool kustom, so I took them apart and had them powdered coated black and no one ever knew the difference.


CRUISER

 

that looks bad ***, especially with that supercharger!

 

Looks like great work. A little paint or powder will make it not "billit looking", yet still show off quality work/design.

 

What I did to set it apart from the typical '80s bubblewrap billet that I do not like at all, was to file and sand every edge and corner.

That way, the mill is only one step in the process.

Like the bandsaw was too ( and my trusty old hacksaw for parts of it, I broke the bandsaw blade and didnt feel like repairing it right away...), and the welder.


I just realised that the lightening hole pattern is kinda fitting for the regulators as well.

That pattern was used by Maserati to lighten the frames on some of their racers.
And the regulators are off 2 Maserati Bi-Turbo's...

But that is a coincidence...

I use that pattern all the time, because I like how it looks.

 

That is not what I think of when someone says billet! That is a knock out on a one off piece, not ordered out of a specialties catalog. Congrats on some great craftsmanship!! ~Sololobo~

 

billet is cool when it's a crankshaft.

 

To answer the why not steel.
For someone like me with only a drill press and hand tool, some times using aluminum is the only way you can make the part, with out consuming way to much time.
And besides I like the aged aluminum look.