(29 April,  2008)

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      I would first like to thank everyone for the kind words concerning the injury to my hand. Everything is healing pretty good, but it will be nice when the feeling and senses return. Time will tell ! After the show Toledo Model Show, I was test running the engine for a prospective customer and noticed that there seamed to be a little more smoke coming from the exhaust, than normal. Although it is impossible to control all the oil and "smoking", and my ever continuing search for perfection, I thought this may be a good time to completely tear down the engine and check for wear and possible problem areas. What I discovered was a little unsettling. The reason for the excess smoke was the cylinder liners were deeply scratch as were the pistons, rings, main bearings, and rod bearings. Not knowing where the problems was, I removed the old cylinders and replace them with new ones The pistons and rings were also replaced along with the rods and main bearings. After starting the engine, the smoke was still there. Once again, I completely dismantled the engine and discovered the cylinder liners and pistons were deeply scratched again. After some sleepless nights and a conversation with my good friend, Paul Knapp, I found out that the wrong aluminum had been used, not only for the pistons but the main bearings and connecting rods. When selecting the correct aluminum the first area that I look for is the tensile strength and machineability. Unfortunately, the aluminum that was selected was high in copper. This oversight on my behalf (and a wrong suggestion from another source) resulted in extremely fast wearing for these components. Keep in mind, the piston speed is extremely high in small engines. The new aluminum selected does not have any copper but unfortunately cost about 4 times more. To give you an idea of the addition cost, a 6 foot length of 1" diameter aluminum is about $72.00. On a more positive note, every other component in the engines was performing perfectly. The camshaft which runs directly in the aluminum block (the same method that the full size Viper engine does) showed zero wear. The rocker arms, valves, valve seats, valve guides, valve seals, gaskets, lifters, and pushrods are all working perfectly. Once again, people want to know why it takes so long to get the engine ready for shipping, this is just another example. It would have been easy to finish the engines with the other material and most of you would never have known, but if my name goes on the product, IT WILL BE THE BEST THAT I CAN DO! "Perfection is almost good enough".

     Picture #1 shows the initial set-up. Firstly, the side of each connecting rod is machined to the proper thickness. The holes are then drill for the wrist pin and pilot hole for the rod journal (picture #2).
The initial internal shape is machined (picture #3). The outside contours are then machined (picture #4). The three items in picture #5 shows the initial bar stock (left) and finished profile (right). The holes are drilled for the rod bolts and then each rod is put into another jig where a milling cutter separates the upper part of the rod from the rod cap. This makes for a perfect match. The rod body is then tapped, the caps replaced and then each rod is honed to the exact dimension. Picture #6 shows the complete set of 8 rods.

(12 April,  2008)

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     Unfortunately, I have not given an update in several weeks. Just in case you were not aware, the largest remote controlled model show in the US is in Toledo, Ohio the first weekend in April. Preparation for the show always takes more time than anticipated. Picture #1 shows what happens when you get in a hurry. While getting ready for the show, I accidentally dropped part of the engine display on my the small finger of my left hand and severed the nerves, which immediately left my finger without any sensation of feeling.  This happened on Thursday afternoon the 27th of March. After a quick trip to the emergency room and a suggestion that I see a specialist on Friday, the doctor said that he could do "Micro surgery" to reattach the severed nerves on Monday the 31st at 12:00. Keep in mind that I had the get everything ready for the show and leave on Thursday. After recovery and a lot of help from my son, brother, and wonderful employed, we got everything packed up and ready for the show. I forgot to tell  you that the surgeon said the I should keep the arm elevated for at least 72 hours. This was not without its problems and difficulties. The show was for three days and after returning on Sunday evening, unpacking on Monday, responding to all the accumulated email, getting everything back to "normal" in the shop, another trip to the surgeon for a check up, things are slowly starting to return to my day to day routine of "controlled chaos". I hope you understand why I have not had time to do an update and besides, it is very difficult to type when you cannot feel your small finger. With any luck the surgeon is hopeful that the feeling should return within 3 months. Let's hope that it is sooner.  By the way, the show was a great success and several orders for the new Stinger engines were taken.

     Picture #2 shows a partial box of starter gear blanks. These items will be sent out to have the gear teeth cut on each blank. On Wednesday, the day before I went to the trade show I received the prototype camshaft from the foundry as seen in picture #3. This was a very important item and needed to be check to make sure all the tolerances were correct. Although I have not had a chance to do a finish grind, it appears that everything is very close to size. I will be sending some additional waxes of the camshaft to the foundry for some more samples this week. As the saying goes, "keep your fingers crossed". A lot of time and effort has been spend on this modification to the engine. 

(23 March 2008)

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     After evaluating the number of man-hours that was needed to finish a camshaft, I decided it was worth the effort to make a mold and have the camshafts cast. This not only allows me the flexibility to select different materials but also gives me the exact shape and placement of each lobe. Once the finished castings are in stock, I will only need to drill a couple of holes, tap one end, and do a finish grind. If everything goes as expected, this extra effort should drastically reduce the time need to complete a finish part.

     The process started with making a master blank (Pic #1). This process is not without its own set of problems. Because the wax shrinks as does the cast metal, I needed to allow for the different sizes. The combination of materials shrinks about .024 per inch. With the finished camshaft needing to be about 5.5" long the blank needed to be 5.632 long. If that were not complicated enough, the center line of each lobe and bearings had to calculated. Add this to the different spacing between each lobe and the width of each bearing surface and lobe, it is easy to see the difficulties and the how easy it would be to make a calculation mistake.  These dimensions are all critical. 

      When the blank was finished, then all the lobe shapes need to be ground, once again allowing for shrinkage. Once I had the totally finished camshaft master ready, as seen in Pic #2, then the real time consuming and tedious work began. The "parting line" needed to be made. This is a line down the length of the camshaft that needed to be exactly in the center of each main bearing. The mold is in two pieces with half the cam profile in each side. Add to this difficulty, the parting line for each of the 16 lobes was on a different centerline. If this line is not calculated exactly then the wax will not come out of the mold. I chose to make the mold from Silicone that would flex and allow for a small miscalculation. When the mold base was finished then clay was used to make each parting line center. Not only did there need to be a parting line for each lobe and each bearing surface, but the spacing between each of these items must also be made. No body said that it was going to be easy. With the parting line on one side complete the the liquid Silicone was mixed, evacuated of any air bubbles and then poured into the cavity. After about 6 hours the mold was open and all the clay was removed from the opposite side, then the Silicone was poured into the other half. Pic #3 shows one half of the finished mold along with a finished wax impression. The waxes are at the foundry and with any luck, I made all the correct calculations. This took a lot of work and time, but I truly think it was worth the extra effort.

(09 March 2008)

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     I am still in the process of grinding crankshafts and realize that this sounds like a "broken record". You will be glad to know that everything is progress as expected. A lot of time this week was spent on modifying the water pump. When I went to run the engine I noticed a small amount of water on the test stand. Upon further examination, I discovered the bushing (which was a suggestion from another engine designer) that was used to support the water impeller was starting to show signs of wear. This allowed the shaft to "wobble" and consequently allowing water to migrate past the "O" ring that was used for a seal.   Because the "serpentine" belt applies a significant amount of lateral pressure to the bushing and shaft, I needed to totally redesign the bearing support. It now has two stainless steel bearings, cupped seal, and a "E" clip holding everything securely in place. This will virtually eliminate any problems in the future. From discovery of the water to finished pump, took about 3 days.  

     The spark plug in picture #1 has a 10-40 thread and is manufactured by Paul Knapp, in Tempe,  Arizona. There were several request as to what they looked like, now you know. Picture #2 shows the old cast connecting and the all new billet rod in the third picture. It is manufactured from 2024-T6 aircraft grade aluminum. This decision was made to withstand the added power and stresses encountered, with the supercharger installed. Another addition which is difficult to show are the mains bearing caps. Instead of "2 bolt mains" which is normally used, each engine will now have "6 bolts mains" for support. There are 2 bolts on either side of the bearing surface and 2 cross bolts from the side of the block. This major modification will insure added strength, for supercharger operation.

    The final picture is of the new breather cap that will come installed on each valve cover, with a small line going back to the bottom of the air cleaner.  

(03 March 2008)

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    The past two weeks have been very hectic. When I ground my first prototype crank, it was done without cooling. Unfortunately, on a production run, I immediately realized that grinding the cranks "dry" was not a practical solution. Even though the machining process to remove all the excess material on previous operations had allowed only about a .030 cleanup, it was still too much to grind without cooling. Picture #1 shows my OD grinder setup. Although this machine is relatively old, it is a dedicated tool in "mint condition" that has been updated with a digital readout and will grind to .0002. To put this into perspective, a human hair is about .003. At first glance the aluminum box and spray nozzle that is seen clearly in Pic #2 may look relatively simple, but in actuality is the culmination of about 4 days worth of work. It was designed to allow for a "flood" system of grinding. There is a rolling tank that sits next to the grinder that re-circulates and filters the cutting fluid. Each crankshaft take about 25 minutes to grind the four throws. The square steel block on each end of the crank is used to not only hold the crank but to index each throw to the exact position. This repeatability is absolutely critical to make sure that each crankshaft is identical. When finished the throws measured about .0007 deviation from end to end. That, my friends, is close. Picture #3 shows the throws after finish grinding. This week will be spent completing the throws. The grinding process for the mains should be relatively easy, when compared with the throws. 

     Picture # 4 show all of the laser cut gaskets. After several hours of testing the engine, I discovered the material used for three of the gaskets needed to be change. The valve cover, head, and pan gaskets were modified and remade. This little mistake cost me about $500.00 to rectify. Sometimes you win, sometimes you loose. The end result is a far superior product. Although I could have used the original gaskets, it was an area that I felt strongly needed to be changed. Once again, it goes back to my original statement, "it is easier to explain a delay, rather than apologize for the quality".  

(17 Feb 2008)

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     SUCCESS!!! All of the oil holes have been drilled. Yahoo. I only used about 20 special drills and there were just 4 that were broken and need to be removed.  Once again it is Sunday morning and I have just finish a very busy week. If you read last weeks installment, I noted that it took over 20 minutes to drill the 8 oil holes for the crank throws. After talking with the great people at Sherline Products, in particular Craig, I was able to purchase a model 8700 manual indexing fixture. This is a great item and comes complete with bed, tailstock, indexing head, and misc. other small parts. They also make a computer indexer but because of my need to tilt the entire setup, from left to right, I felt that the manual system would be the best for my application.  Once received, about 4 hours was spent modifying my existing fixture.  Picture #1 shows the completed jig. This modification took over 8 minutes off of the drilling time for each crankshaft. My only regrets is that I did not have it when I first started to drill the oil holes for the throws. 

      When I said there were some broken drills, well the only way they can be successfully removed is with an EDM (Electro Discharge Machining). No, they cannot be drilled out.  Picture #2 shows the entire machine, whereas picture #3 roughly shows the small diameter copper electrode in process of removing the broken drill. Basically what happens, after being submersed in a special dielectric solution, the end of the copper electrode is brought very close to the top of the broken drill, the machine creates a high current arc and a small portion of the broken drill is almost vaporized. The dielectric solution is continually pumped through the center of the electrode, along with an external nozzle and removes any minute particles. Keep in mind, the electrode is .063 OD and there are two channels inside the electrode. As the ram goes up and down, at a preset interval, the electrode continues to arc and slowly removes the broken drill.

     After all this time my current customers will be happy to know that I am FINALLY starting the finish grinding process. This will be a rather slow and methodical process. Everything must be perfect. One mistake and all the previous work could be lost.  

(10 Feb 2008)

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     It is now Sunday morning about 11:00. The majority of this week was spent making and improving the special crankshaft holding jig. I then needed to write a quite complicated program for the CNC mill to drill all the oil holes for the throws, on a production basis. Hole drilling for one crankshaft is not too difficult, but doing 50+ is somewhat more challenging. The are several obstacles that needed to be taken into consideration, like the angle of the hole, the long depth, and the small diameter drill that was needed. As you can see from all of the pictures, the jig is setting at an angle. It is either 28 degrees to the left or 28 degrees to the right. At first glance it may look quite simple, but remember, the angles are critical. Too little or too much will cause the drill to break through either side of the counterbalance. The oil hole diameter is .0625 and needs to be drilled to a depth of .950. This is very difficult, once again, because of the 4130 material that was selected for casting the crank. Keep in mind that the throws are 90 degrees apart, which means that after the first center drilled hole is finished, the crankshaft must be rotated 90 degrees for the next hole. This process must be repeated for all 8 holes.  Once four holes have been finished for one side (Pic #1) the the entire jig must be tilted 28 degrees to the right, then the entire process is repeated for the other four holes. When finished center drilling the entire drilling sequence is repeated for the .0625 oil hole. The CNC mill is setup for what is called, a "peck drilling cycle". This means that the drill comes down to the top of the previous center drilled holes, then the computer tells the spindle to go down only .050, then retracts to clear out the chips. This continues until the .950 depth is achieved, then the table moves to the next throw and waits until I index the crankshaft 90 degrees. The entire process takes almost 20 minutes to drill 8 holes. If I could devote every minute of the work day, it should take about 2 days. Unfortunately, there are a lot of other items that need my attention. Running a small business is sometimes, very difficult, at best. One more thing, the drills do sometimes break and there is no easy way to remove it. I then need to setup my EDM to burn out the broken drill. I will really be glad when this initial run of crankshafts is finished.     

(04 Feb 2008)

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    Last week proved to be a very difficult time. Things went from bad to worse. To make a long story short, the CNC Indexer that I been using successfully for years, decided to stop working. After untold hours on the phone and $909.00 later, it still refused to work. It took me 3 full days of experimenting and with some special help from Yuasa I finally was able to get it operational, Friday afternoon. Shortly thereafter, all power was lost for about two hours. When I went to reset my CNC Milling machine I discovered that the battery backup in the computer had failed. After about spending most of Saturday morning replacing the battery, I discovered that the program I was using had been deleted. Most of the remainder of the day and into Sunday morning was spend writing a new program and resetting the CNC Indexer. See, I said that it got worse. This is just one example of a simple problem taking almost 5 complete days to solve. This is time that would have been spent trying to finish the oil passages in the crank. I can say, that as of 6:25 pm, all of the oil passages in the main bearing areas have been drilled. There are 16 separate holes plus 23 center drilled holes. Multiply this by almost 50 crankshafts, it is not to hard to understand the problem. Because 4130 steel was selected for the crank it takes a long time to drill a .062 diameter hole .450 deep. Only 4 drills were broken and I was successful in removing all of them. All crankshafts are present and accounted for - sir! Picture #1 shows the drilling of the oil holes. The other small "dimples" are center drill holes. The second picture shows just a small amount of inventory that is starting to accumulate. There are hardened and finish ground intake and exhaust valves, valve guides, valve seats with installation tools, valve spring retainers, and "E" clips. The third photo show the valve springs. Tomorrow, the oil passages that connect the throws with the mains will start to be drilled. This will be a very difficult process because the metal and because they must be drilled at exactly 28 degrees. If any of you have had to drill a lot of holes at an angle, you can understand my concerns.  Once these holes have been drilled, then all surfaces will be finished ground and finally each crankshaft will be balanced.  

(29 Jan 2008)

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    A lot has been happening with the crankshafts but unfortunately few pictures. The last two weeks has been spent in removing all the excess material for the crank throw's. I know this sounds like a broken record, but this time around, a considerable amount of material had to be removed. It just takes a lot of time. For the next series of crankshafts, I will make a new mold so this procedure will not be necessary. It takes a considerable amount of time to make a completely new mold, but the time will be worth the extra effort. A little more "midnight oil". The first pictures shows the small end being finish ground to the exact dimension. I now have two finished ends which can now be place in fixtures, removed, and reinstalled with no loss of accuracy. I cannot over emphasize the importance of this operation. With the crankshafts rough machine to allow for a finish grind, I can not start the long procedure of drilling the oil holes. The second pictures shows the cranks being center drilled for the .062 oil holes that need to be drilled. For those of you who are not aware, "center drilling" is when a very ridged drill is used to place a small "starter" hole that the next drill can follow without moving from side to side. Once again, it must be in the exact location. With any luck the oil holes should be finish by next week. Then the finish grinding process can begin.       

(15 Jan 2008)

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     The first picture is showing the 4th axis set-up to remove all excess metal. Keep in mind, during the wax injection and casting process the finished item can very easily be warped or somewhat distorted. Extra metal must be added to compensate for this problem. Picture #2 show the progression from the original casting to the rough machined crankshaft in the background. Once again, this is a really long process. Just to remove the excess metal for the "throws" takes about 50 minutes each. Unfortunately, no shortcuts available! With any luck all of the cranks should be ready for finish grinding by the first of next week. 

     The final picture shows the addition of a SUN diagnostic ignition analyzer. Although it was originally used on full size automobiles, it should be extremely helpful in evaluating a number of ignition areas. These machines were extremely accurate and will give me the opportunity to make a great engine even better. Once it arrived I checked it out on my full size hot rod and everything worked perfectly.  

 (06 Jan 2008)

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    It is now Sunday evening about 8:32 and what Pic #1 shows is the culmination of a full weeks worth or work. Although at first glance it may not look like anything significant was accomplished, I can assure you that you would be very mistaken. Finally all of the critical dimensions on the length were finished. Like I said before, nothing can proceed until these operations have been successfully completed. So far only 3 crankshafts have been rejected. 

    Once the exact length was known, then the two holes in either end were threaded. Pic #2 Remember, 4130 (high strength) steel was used for casting. As a result normal taps get dull very fast, so I had to resort to using a TIN coated M42 Cobalt tap. Luckily no breaks.  

    Pic #3 shows the flywheel end being drilled for the four dowel pins that will be used to center the clutch drive system. This was also a significant design change from the original which used 8,  6-32 taped holes. The net result is higher accuracy,  stronger, and easier assemble. 

   Pic #4 shows the crankshaft with the dowel pins installed, the OD of the flywheel end finish ground, the major OD finished turned, and the smaller OD on the front finished and cut to length. One crankshaft is difficult, but 50+ is insanity. Keep in mind that there has been 9 operations so far. This results is that over 450 times the crankshafts have been picked up, placed in jigs, and machined. Very, very, time consuming. Unfortunately, there is no easy way or short cut that can be taken. The next operations will include: machining away the majority of the excess metal for the main and rod bearings, rough grinding all diameters, finish grinding all diameters, drilling oil passages (not looking forward to this operation), milling keyway for timing gear, and cleanup any flashing or burrs.     

(31 Dec 2007): New Years Eve

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    Yes it is New Years Eve! With so many customers waiting for engines, almost every day is spent in the shop. Sorry for the delay in posting the new updates. 

     The first picture shows the castings for the intake manifold. Picture #2 & 3 shows the crankshaft being ground to the exact length. When I say exact, I mean between +/- .001. From now on, every machining and grinding operation will be taken from these ground end surfaces. This includes all of the main bearing and rod journals. Since the engine is running pressurized oiling, the center distance, width, and diameter, is critical to maintain the correct oil pressure. Picture #4 shows the flywheel end of the crankshaft ground to length and waiting for the next operation which will be finish grinding the outside diameter of the flywheel end. Once again, I cannot overemphasize how accurate this must be. If the diameter is not exact, then the dowel pins that locate the flywheel will be off center and with the engine spinning over 9,500, this could be a real problem.  

     Have a great New Year!

(17 Dec 2007):

     The first picture shows the finished cast iron liners, ready to be honed. 

     The other three pictures are of the crankshaft in various stages of machining. The crankshaft is the most complicated and time consuming part of the engine. It must be absolutely accurate in all dimensions and is very labor intensive. Every operation must be done manually. Although all of my machines have a digital readout, one wrong move during the finish grinding and the crank is "trash". And then there is the problem with all of the oil passages the must be drilled. The material selected for casting the crank is 4140 steel and is used because of its strength and wear characteristics. The down side, is that it is extremely difficult to drill small holes. If a drill breaks, it is very hard, if not impossible to remove. Not only are the oil holes hard to drill but, remember, they are also at an angle. This angle is critical because there is always the ever present chance of breaking through the side of either the rod journal or main journal.  Before anything can be done, the cranks were sent to heat treating and were "solution annealed". This process removes any hard spots that may have happened during casting. Then each end of the crank needs to be center drill. This is often difficult because the casting and heat treating process warps the metal. Once each end has successfully been center drilled, these holes are then used in almost every machining and grinding operation. This insures that every crankshaft is uniform and everything is "on center". To give you an idea of what I am talking about, the diameter of the main journals cannot vary more than .002. Remember the crank is over 5 inches long. This is thinner than a single human hair. Although, the entire engine demands the highest accuracies, the crankshaft, is by far, the most time consuming. 

(10 Dec 2007):      As you can from the top two photos, the castings for valve covers and exhaust manifolds are in stock. There are several trays of the same parts. Once all of the casting have arrived, they will be sent out to be heat treated. The molds for the exhaust manifolds were very difficult to make because of the parting line that is needed. For those of you who are not familiar with a "parting line", it is a line around each part which allows the wax pattern to be able to be removed without breaking. The exhaust manifold is a complicated part, with no straight lines. The core has the same problems. Oh, one more thing, wax and metal shrink and different rates and the size each master parts must be made to allow for this shrinkage. If everything is not calculated correctly, then parts do not align.  So much for the castings, the third picture from the top shows the new oil pump bracket. The one on the left is the prototype, the one on the right, being the finished item. What looks like a simple item, is in fact, quite complicated. The valve body (far right), not only allows oil into the filter, but includes an adjustable pressure relief. This is extremely important, because of the high pressure the new pump is capable of producing. The fourth picture is the finished shows a close-up of the entire unit. Once again, many hours when into the development and testing. Because of the accuracies that are needed for this part, the CNC programs had to be triple checked. The bottom two pictures show the new oil filter bracket installed on the engine. You will also notice a "new look" for the front of the engine. At first glance you may not see the difference, but if you look at my home page, you will see the changes. The modifications were made after several of my customers had made a comment about the aluminum piece that supported the lower idler, looked out of place. After about three weeks of work, I feel that the change was justified. There is an old saying that goes " you cannot see the forest because all the trees are in the way". Until it was brought to my attention, I really did not see the obstacle. What may look like a simple change, took a tremendous amount of time and CNC programming. If you look closely the two idle pulleys were changed and incorporate a flanged on either side to make sure the belt stays in the center. Not only these changes, but any changes must be made before a lot of parts are cast, machined, and in placed in stock. This could be a very expensive proposition. This is why I try to explain that sometimes things take longer than anticipated and no matter how much you plan, it is sometimes difficult to schedule the amount of time that is needed for a particular project. This is especially true on a new engine.  (02 Dec 2007):        This is the first installment of hopefully a weekly event. What you are seeing is just a sample of the castings and waxes. For those of you who are not familiar with the lost wax casting process, here is a brief explanation. A master part is produced and can be made from a variety of materials. From the original and mold is then fabricated. Wax is injected into the mold, then the mold is opened and the wax removed. This can be done thousands of times from a single mold. The wax is then sent to a foundry where it is dipped in an investment solution then into aerated sand. This process is repeated several times making a thick coating on the wax. There may be several pieces placed on a common "tree". Once dried it is put into a furnace and heated, where the wax is melted away. This is where the name "lost wax" casting originates. When all the wax has been removed the "tree" is brought slowly up to about 1100 degrees, at the same time the aluminum is being melted in another furnace. After both critical temperatures have been met the "tree" is removed from the furnace and the melted aluminum in poured in the void left from the "lost wax". This is allowed to cool and the mixture of investment and sand in broken from around the casting, you now have a cast part. This method of casting is very labor intensive, but the quality of the casting can be extremely intricate. Getting the intake and exhaust passages cast in the head is a little more difficult. The "runners" as we call them must be designed to allow for the proper wall thickness. Once this is done a mold is made. One for the intake runner and another for the exhaust runner. A special wax is used which is water soluble and is injected into the two molds.  When cooled, these runners are placed inside the head mold and the normal wax is injected around the water soluble wax. When the entire head wax is removed  from the mold it is placed in a low acid water, where the water soluble wax is dissolved. When the head is dipped into the investment solution for casting, it then fills up the void created by the dissolved wax. Because this process is so labor intensive, the cost of each component can get rather expensive. Unfortunately, small parts do not necessarily mean cheaper parts. Currently, this engine has over 52 individual cast components. So much for your lesson on casting.      The center picture shows heat treated head castings ready for the machining process to begin. A partially machined head is also visible. The injection of waxes and casting of parts is an ongoing process. Currently, I have almost all the castings in stock to produce about 45 engines. The waxes you are seeing are for the next run of about 50 engines and will be taken to the foundry in the very near future. Stay tuned. Also, if there is a particular process, item, or part that you would like to see, please let me know and I will try to include it in a future update.