Thanks Brandon! I use a Sherline Lathe and Mill, (non-CNC).
A few more 3D parts I designed and had printed by Fraxional.
Flywheel with pressure plate & clutch (with the correct small 153 tooth flywheel).
Front side installed in bellhousing.
New corrected Hewland rear transaxle cover. (The one in the kit said Hewlang.)
It’s engineered to mount with magnets. (I had the bosses for the magnets grown into the part.)
Full engine & transaxle dry fitted together.
[:D[ [:D[[*]
Half shaft yokes I designed and were 3D printed by Fraxional. The shafts are brass; the larger one has already been treated with acid for the color. Just dry fitted together.
I’m glad to see you over here. I’ve followed this build since you started, and was affraid I’d never see it finished. One of my favorite cars of the 60’s, and you are doing an amazing labor of love to this not so accurate kit. I will be watching as you progress. Thanks for not just sharing your build but for chosing the Lola to show case your abilities.
Mike
Here’s the valve cover I designed and printed using the ones on my real car for reference. It’s hard to capture the details in the clear resin in photos. The model will end up with cast copies in opaque urethane resin.
This is the inside of the valve cover master. While I designed it with mounting features they filled in when the part was grown. So I milled those features in by hand.
These are the resin versions of the valve covers.
The magnets are installed in one of them and mate to the ones in the heads.
These are the alternator parts I designed and had grown by Fraxional, but I neglected to send one of the part files so the clear piece is the inner/center section that I grew rather than wait for them to make it. (Fraxional does better 3D printing than I can do.)
I grew a new alternator fan too but the inside filled in, a common issue with my 3D printer.
So I machined it out.
Brake pad masters ready to have a mold made. Again, my 3D files grown by Fraxional.
Uhhhhh, I have a question. When this is finished, can I borrow the keys for a weekend?
[:D[ [:D[ [:D[ [:D[ [:D[
Jim [cptn]
Stay Safe.
Thanks guys!!!
I grew the masters of the Wilwood calipers I designed but was not able to get the outsides to look their best without sacrificing the details on the insides where the pads mount.
I machined and hand finished the insides to accept the pads and to fit together.
Fronts on top, rears on the bottom.
The caliper patterns are ready to make a mold from.
Same for the valve cover pattern.
Here are the calipers and one pair of pads I’ll use on the car.
Since this is going to be a relatively modern street car, I designed a custom T-70 styled wheel with seven spokes (instead of six) and printed a pair of masters for the front and the rear. (This is a front.)
This is way more interesting than reading an article after the fact. Thanks for bringing us along. I had a couple of questions, but your last post answered one of them (was wondering if this was a vintage racer as it is now vs. factory spec. Never thought of a street car.) The second is why the use of magnets? Is it to make mocking things up easier as you go along? I’m really looking forward to more.
This is great.
Thanks guys!
I’m actually a bit farther along on this project than the narrative and photos show, I’m trying to get it caught up here so I can post in “real time” as I progress.
Yes, the magnets are for mocking up and fitting purposes in most cases, but I’ve found some other uses for them with moving parts. I was using tiny screws, but they didn’t stand up to the rigors of assembly/diassembly. The heads were stripping out after a dozen uses plus the plastic threads were wearing out. Even though it takes longer to install magnets, the time saved by using them is worth it. I can tear down and rebuild most of the car in a couple minutes now.
The start of the aluminum rims. Some T6-6061 stock and a wooden angle block with 22 and 27 degree angles cut into it. The block was indexed to the tilt-table as a secondary measure to ensure the angles were uniform on all the wheels.
First round of cutting; this will be a rear.
All five wheels, two rears and three fronts, (one for the spare).
I added the radius/fillets and then polished them up.
And a dry fitted front…
This is modeling on a whole new level.
BK
Thanks Brandon!
Once in primer I still was not satisfied so I re-engineered the wheel to be three pieces instead of two.
This is the new spoke piece as it was grown.
And then machined.
This is the rear section of the new rim design; it still needs to be final machined.
The U.V. resin is very hard and brittle. That part did not survive the machining process.
I started growing a beefier part and realized I could probably machine one from scratch faster.
I was correct, made this from scratch before the printer could grow one.
The first front and rear resin copies.
The half-shafts are done for now. I cast the yokes in resin (dyed black) the 3D masters.
The shafts are brass acid treated for the dark finish.
Each U-joint has four bearings/caps (with E clips) and they work. The half-shafts telescope too.
Those half shafts are incredible. A couple more questions. In one of your earlier posts, you mentioned that the brass piece was acid cut. Does this mean you are making your own photo etch? The second is about the tire in the photo of the wheel mock up. Is that the kit tire or did you scratch build it and cast it in black resin?
Yes, I used to make my own photo-etch, but I have come up with a similar process that does away with the photo-resist portion of the process and provides at least as good as results. It still uses the same chemicals to cut the brass. It can be used to make some parts much easier than “traditional” methods like this rearend cover.
The tire is from the Tamiya kit. I have made my own tires, (like these)…
But the Lola kit tires are really nice and it would be a shame not to use them.
The half-shafts are done for now. The yokes are cast resin (dyed black) copies of 3D masters.
The shafts are brass acid treated for the dark finish.
Each U-joint has four bearings/caps (with E clips) and they work. The half-shafts telescope too.