CAD - Modeling and Manufacturing Prints

[Gary Lewis]

Rembrant wrote

Something like this joint below inserted in each end of the Z-Bar?

https://secure.chassisshop.com/categories/5325/

Yes!  Now I understand.  Thanks, guys.  I'm a bit slow.

And you could put a zerk fitting in the Z-bar.  Or use one of the Teflon-lined inserts.

[FuzzFace2]

ArdWrknTrk wrote

Selective Laser Sintering is not plastic at all.
Shapeways does a few metals (besides the precious ones for their lost wax jewelery)

The one Tom of the OxTool channel used was stainless, and he is a total geek about materials.
I guess you have to be if you're fabricating instrumentation for space telescopes and particle accelerators!

Shapeways also does one that comes out like sponge, and then it is oven brazed (essentially) and soaks up metal to fill out and consolidate the armature that was made.

Unfortunately, our drafting skills mean nothing in a world of CAD, CAM, and CNC.
Whatever dimensions you might have scribbled on paper don't really help with the code needed to drive the machines.
If you drew it in AutoCAD, Mach 4, or even SketchUp, that would be a different story.

You went to Wright Tech, over behind Scalzi Park?

I have not stayed up on all this new tech and if you blink you are left way out in left field.

Yes Wright Tech class of 78
I went thru the auto shop, years before they built the body shop, I already knew how to do body work.
If I did not go the auto side I would have done the tool & die as I enjoyed that.
The upper classmen of the T&D were just getting in to the CNC programing side.

I had an uncle that did T&D work. I was told proto jobs & setups for long job runs.
I wished I could have learned some from him before he passed.
Dave ----

[FuzzFace2]

ArdWrknTrk wrote

Ray,
I absolutely understand that, and that's why I started with the qualifier that I've never owned a mechanical clutch truck.
Obviously Ford's engineers knew it was a problem, or they wouldn't have gone with a more complex hydraulic clutch in '83 (for the reintroduction of the 460/diesel) and '84 for the Windsor bell patterns.

My thought was that IF a retrofit part could address SOME of the apparent fragility, anyone could use this 'upgraded' part without changing everything.

I mean, plenty of people have adapted the later hydraulic system.
Obviously a hose has no problem with the driveline v chassis movement.

This is why I suggested a failure analysis as a starting point.
Other than wear from neglect, what is it that causes these things to break?

I know the loads must be huge, given the length of the bar and the leg force applied to overcome the pressure plate.
Then you add some sloppy transmission and engine mounts, engine torque or driveshaft torque when trailing throttle....

Is it that these moments exceed the X degrees of freedom afforded by the ball and socket, and it just binds up or twists off?

I don't have one and I will be the first to admit, that part is beyond my ability to visualize due to unfamiliarity.

Rembrant wrote

ArdWrknTrk wrote

I don't have one and I will be the first to admit, that part is beyond my ability to visualize due to unfamiliarity.

Here is what the "ball" looks like on the 300/6. This one was a very low mile original piece on a 1980...I think it just barely had 30,000 miles on it. Ray now has this piece. For reproduction purposes, it should be a pretty good example since the plastic bushing still remains...or at least some of it. Presume this means that the ball itself is still relatively intact.



Considering this part, and the whole linkage, is hanging under the truck exposed to all of the road grime, dirt, debris, and water it's no wonder they wear out the way they do.

I think the failure mode is that the plastic bushing wears away, then the metal on metal contact rapidly wears out the ball, and it breaks off. Somebody can correct me on this...I'm a hydraulic clutch guy after all...

You can still get the nylon bushing for both sides along with the felt washers to keep dirt out and the snap ring that holds the bushings to the part.

Little back ground, when I got my truck the bushings were gone and for a long time from what I had seen and the metal part the bushing fits on was warn away.
I had to weld up the metal and reshape it so the nylon bushing would fit again.

In moving the truck around that metal part the bushing fits on broke front the threaded part, this should be all 1 piece. I took a bolt of the right thread pitch, cut the head off and welded the threaded part to the bushing part making it 1 again.

That would have been it but the welder (me) did not do a good job and the threaded part broke off the bushing part. I did the same fix with the bolt but I drilled a hole thru the center and drove a roll pin in to help make it strong in the center and turned up the heat on the welder this time.

In short it is the metal part with the threads the nylon bushing fits on is what is needed as they can't be had any more.
Dave ----

[Ray Cecil]

Yes, Cory sent me his 300 6 pivot ball. Its on the work bench.

Ive not put much thought into this yet Jim, but I am sure we can improve the design.

I will take a look at the one in Little Blue 82 this week and formulate a better design.

Welding bolts should only be a temporary fix. Im no metalurgist, but I have a tiny bit of understanding of heat treating and material properties.

When I worked for Remington Arms R&D we had a SLS. we printed gun parts. If I remember correctly, a printed part was wire EDM'D off a base plate that it was lasered to, and the part after heat treating could gain strength, but was maybe 90% of the material strength as a part machined from billet....FWIW.

[Danny G]

Rembrant wrote

ArdWrknTrk wrote

I don't have one and I will be the first to admit, that part is beyond my ability to visualize due to unfamiliarity.

Here is what the "ball" looks like on the 300/6. This one was a very low mile original piece on a 1980...I think it just barely had 30,000 miles on it. Ray now has this piece. For reproduction purposes, it should be a pretty good example since the plastic bushing still remains...or at least some of it. Presume this means that the ball itself is still relatively intact.



Considering this part, and the whole linkage, is hanging under the truck exposed to all of the road grime, dirt, debris, and water it's no wonder they wear out the way they do.

I think the failure mode is that the plastic bushing wears away, then the metal on metal contact rapidly wears out the ball, and it breaks off. Somebody can correct me on this...I'm a hydraulic clutch guy after all...

Too bad you couldn't get one of those balls made of solid steel coated in NP3, and booted. It would last until the second coming.

[ArdWrknTrk]

This stud seems incredibly simple to churn out on a NC lathe.
Material and post process treatment (heat treat, shot peen, polish, surface coating?) should be enough.
The suggestion of booting it seems helpful too.

I guess I was thinking of Gary's dad's  trucks pivot, where it seems to mount at the edge of the bell housing.

A shape like that could be iterated.

Look at those Buggatti calipers.
They cannot be 5-axis machined from billet.

[Danny G]

if you churn one out you can send it in for NP3. Its a composite layer of nickel, phosphate, and PTFE(Teflon). Its extremely hard and permanently self lubricating "if" the surface wears it just exposes more Teflon and continues on. It would be awesome to see an engine done with NP3 coated internals. Externally anything coated in NP3 will not corrode even in salt water. I actually have some high use firearm internals coated with this stuff. You may not even need the bushing lol, just cut it to the same dimensions and let it ride. Or use another solid metal bushing NP3 coated.

[ArdWrknTrk]

I have a few pistols with various coatings as well.

Look at Calico Coatings in Maine for engine internals.
Piston crowns, combustion Chambers and valve heads in heat rejecting ceramics. Cams, lifters, rockers in ultra hard and self lubricating coatings.
When you have multi-million race budgets, anything to reduce losses is possible