Make your own performance parts in just 76 easy steps!!

So, once upon a time, I made my own MAF adapter for a cone filter on my SR20DE engine from fiberglass, and the people rejoiced!

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/grassrootscomposites/7813/page2/ on the right:

It served daily duty for over 4 years. But heat and chemicals over time caused it to become brittle. About a month ago, it slowly began to fail, as the plate and tube sections began to separate.

Luckily, I had begun work on its replacement earlier this year. I learned to cast aluminum a few years ago. I built a foundry furnace from scrap and remnants of industrial grade materials I sourced from a industrial boiler installer.

Of course, now I want to cast everything I see. I decided to cast an aluminum MAF adapter as most of the aftermarket adapters available for this engine are plastic and flimsy, and overtime will also fail due to heat cycling. So I made a pattern to cast from.

A bit of luan for the base, an offcut from a soup can for the tube section, and some durhams water putty to add draft and girth.

Several coats, and some shaping later, and its taking form.

finished, painted, ready for use

I rammed up the mold in my 9x9 flask, using oil bonded sand, and chalk dust to part the mold.

FIRE!!!

The finished casting with holes machined to accept mounting hardware. I may recast this eventually, and tap the holes so its just a single bolt needed, rather than a nut and bolt...we will see

Installed

Overall, I have probably 2 or 3 hours in the pattern, and another hour in producing the casting. I bet I could get that production time down to about half that if I were to cast several at once. I want to be able to sell these to enthusiast forums. If I only get one done an hour, Id have to charge an arm and leg. If I can get that time down, then I will only charge a leg lol.

This was a fun project, and I have more on the way (think, turbo application!!!)

dang, awesome job

been wanting to build my own foundry for years now

I know somebody with a spin-caster if you want to really ramp up production. That part is wicked awesome!

Nice, looks good!

Wow.... Great work there. I like it.

That's very, very cool! Nicely done!

Thanks guys...casting really is a lot of fun!

Man that's awesome! Do you have any issues with the filter popping off with no retainment rib around the end of the cylindrical section?

Well, not yet. The as-cast surface is somewhat rough, so it provides some friction. There also is only a few degrees of draft, so hopefully it wont get the wedge effect of the clamp forcing the adapter out of the filter. Time will tell, I just made it last night lol.

So awesome!

just went and checked over my lunch break. Drove about 15 miles to work, then another 4 to chipotle and back, and the filter is still snug.

Slick!

I still have the shift knob I sand cast back in high school metal shop. Its a fun process!

That kicks butt. How would I cast something like this?

I'm thinking lost wax because of the shape

The shape in general wouldnt be too tough, aside from the ears. The body part and the "stand" part both look like they could easily be sand cast, where youd get a casting flash line that would be ground away during polishing. The body was probably brazed/welded to the stand somewhere in that process.

But the ears look like theyd produce an undercut (negative space that would "lock" the pattern in the sand, preventing you from removing it without damaging the mold). They probably used a "core" - a bit of baked/chemically bound sand, that is inserted into the mold after the pattern is removed.

There are various ways to make cores - back then, it may have been a baked linseed or molasses mixture that produced the core. Nowdays, many use sodium-silicate, or resin bonded cores. Either are effective, its just the baked core methods require...well...baking - an extra time and equipment intensive step.

...either that, or the ears were also brazed welded too

For any and all who might be interested, I could be convinced to cast custom parts for challenge cars. To make the budget minded folks happy, I would charge a flat rate of nothing but the shipping. That said, I would retain the pattern and the rights to duplicate the part for the purpose of sales.