How it's made: engine

I hadn't seen that before, thanks for sharing

 

+1, thanks for the post!

Rick

 

That was cool to see.

 

I found it unsettling. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it. But the thought of my aluminum cast block being set in a sand castle and perfected by flawed human hands seemed disconcerting

 

I agree, it didn't look very scientific to me

No wonder my engine is running like crap and they can't/won't fix it

 

How else would the block be made?

Anyway, you have to admit that holding the valve seats in by thermal expansion after supercooling/shrinking them in liquid nitrogen is pretty cool...

 

Thanks a bunch for this... What would be interesting is to see a video on how "production" vehicle engines are made as a comparison

 

I have "no idea". That's the first time I've ever seen an aluminum block being produced. It was a complete surprise. Definitely makes it seem more like art than science. That's the unsettling part, but admittedly born of ignorance. I know how to do basic top end hotrod engine work, cams, rockers, timing, but had never in my life seen a block produced before.

 

I know of racing blocks made in the Detroit area being machined out of a solid piece of aluminum billet. These are "one off" blocks but different than sand casted. I don't know why it would make a difference other than the precision aspect of a machined piece.

 

I didn't mean my remark with any disrespect, btw. Being curious about this, I found this video. Evidently, sand molding is the way it's done with everyday engines, too, but quite a bit of it is automated and quite high tech. Check out this video. It's reassuring.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXVLbzI3xTE[/ame]

 

I didn't think you did, and I was really kidding about being unsettled. I'm really pretty confident in Ferrari motor manufacture, so much so that I'm close to buying a Cali with an astounding 40,000 miles on it already.

It's funny, sometimes my posts really reflect my mood. I've been really edgy for a while now, and people sense it, very easily in fact.

 

Back in ancient times, there were "shop" classes taught in high school. I was exposed to sand-casting "hands-on" back in the day. It's been one of the primary ways that things have been made from metal for hundreds of years. The techniques have become more refined but otherwise it's the same technology that was used to make cannons and bells and countless other artifacts.

 

Billet blocks -- billet anything -- tend to be lighter.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsmiIeAkE-o&NR[/ame]