*!Build of the year candidate!* Strange PNW Build: E30+Volvo

[adam.nonis]

How will you determine per-cyl mixture though? Individual EGT bungs?

You could. That's what you'd do if you wanted max HP. I won't be going through that much effort. You just tune to knock. Typically. I'm not 100% familiar with BMW tuning, but I know the N52 has knock sensors. If you can get knock and AFR to align, you're usually pretty good.


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[Panici]

How will you determine per-cyl mixture though? Individual EGT bungs?

[adam.nonis]

Visually that looks fantastic!

Let me preface this by saying: I don't know anything about intake manifold design.
With that shape at the rear of the plenum, will #6 have the same airflow as say #3?

That remains to be seen, but with most intake designs there is a balance between packaging and airflow. Most cars don't have 100% equal airflow on all cylinders and design typically attempts to get the percentage of separation as low as possible across all cylinders. We sent through this in the early 90s with turbo Buicks. The rear two cylinders actually were lean in comparison to the front two. My thought process was to balance brake booster clearance and change the cross sectional area in a way that would help velocity the further away from the throttle body it got. In reality, if there was a cylinder I'd be concerned with, it'd be #1. We'll see. Luckily, the injectors are in the head. If this royally sucks, I can just put on one of the standard options.


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[Panici]

Visually that looks fantastic!

Let me preface this by saying: I don't know anything about intake manifold design.
With that shape at the rear of the plenum, will #6 have the same airflow as say #3?

[adam.nonis]

Beauty shots. Still some pinholes to fill on the plenum. Later though.












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[adam.nonis]

Step one. Trimmed fresh out of the mold. Showing throttle body placement. Other half is done. Going to try and find time to combine the halves tonight. There'll be plenty of finish work to be done, but that's always the case for me.








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[adam.nonis]

Plenum mold is done. Not the best ever made, but these always try my patience. Hopefully pull a part next week-ish






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[Donkeyshins]

One of the things I'm trying to deal with (it's a personal problem) is not having this engine look “too new” in the vintage body. The reason I painted the block that color and wrinkle black painted the valve cover. My attempt to change the look leads me down some really silly paths. Like making an N52 oil cap vintage-erator. 😛








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I stopped by the shop and met up with Adam and saw the progress. This is going to be a gem when everything is finished! Lots of really neat ideas at play.

[Habla]

Holy crap, Adam. I have only heard rumors from the N52 gods that you had found the light. This is looking amazing!

[Panici]

One of the things I'm trying to deal with (it's a personal problem) is not having this engine look “too new” in the vintage body. The reason I painted the block that color and wrinkle black painted the valve cover. My attempt to change the look leads me down some really silly paths. Like making an N52 oil cap vintage-erator. 😛

That's a tough task, lots of plastic and complicated systems on a new engine.

Looks like you're making some good efforts towards it though.

[adam.nonis]

Started making a coil cover.




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[adam.nonis]

One of the things I'm trying to deal with (it's a personal problem) is not having this engine look “too new” in the vintage body. The reason I painted the block that color and wrinkle black painted the valve cover. My attempt to change the look leads me down some really silly paths. Like making an N52 oil cap vintage-erator. 😛








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[adam.nonis]

When I'm making a two part mold, not only do I have bolts to hold the halves together, but I add locating features. These are easiest made out of wax. Basically just squish some wax to the flange and then use a razor blade to cut facets. Size doesn't really matter




Gel coat is next



I let this tack up until it prints when pushed, but doesn't lift on the glove.

The first layer is surface veil. It's the thinnest fiberglass cloth and is just meant to be an intermediate layer before chopped mat. Getting this on as smooth as possible will make for a good mold.







Some composite tips I wish someone had told me earlier on:

-Use good materials, and the right materials. Lay-up or structural resin is meant to stay tacky between layers. Finishing resin has surface curing agents in it so the surface gets hard

-Take your time. The better the mold, the better the final part. Heat is the enemy of a good mold. Too much catalyst, or too many layers at once will create too much heat and deform the mold

-I'm a cheap ass and will wipe out buckets to reuse them, but what I don't skimp on is gloves. I always put on more than one pair at a time. Sometimes more than two pair. Inevitably something will happen mid lay up and you'll need to take resin-ey gloves off. It's much easier to put a pair on over another set, than trying to get them on over damp hands

-Fiberglass mat uses binders that soften with resin. If you're having trouble getting mat to stay down, get some resin on it and wait. If it still won't stay down, rub the area with your fingers and it'll loosen the fibers.


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[adam.nonis]

Alright, mold making time. First off, with the plug halves, I painted (random paint I had left over from my XC90 build) and clear coated them. Then I applied plenty (hopefully) of mold release wax.

When it comes to the mold itself I try to use polyethylene whenever possible cause of the natural mold release properties.




For secondary mold prep I like to use mold wax. It's a pain to get cause for some reason stateside everyone uses clay. The thing I don't like about clay is getting it out of the mold when that process is done. Another thing that's nice about wax is that it sticks to itself, so cleaning up the unused stuff is just a matter of taking a blob of wax and wiping up the residue. It also self releases and is pretty easy to get out of the mold.



First I'll roll the wax into a snake and press it into the crack.



Then I use these “ball on a stick” tools. I think they're just for sculpting, but they work great to just add radiuses where I want them. Radiuses (even small ones) help with the mold work cause sharp corners can break out when releasing plugs. I did a slightly bigger radius on the actual part and a smaller radius on the part-to-flange joint.





For adding wax to fill a gap or some place I need to keep the corner tight, I use an interior removal tool that I've added some custom edges to (one sharp and one tight radius).



That gets me to here. I need to add some flange locating features for the mold halves, then it's gel coat time.




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[adam.nonis]

Back to intake stuff. Primer.




Hopefully I can start mold fabrication next week.


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