Derek

As opposed to? The only other method other than cable that I'm familiar with would be drop link. That would be my preferred method but budgetary constraints right now dictate that I give what I got a roll.

The 1/4" lines are feed. Look back at the most recent pics and you'll see a brass fitting in the back of the head. This is the main oil return. I have a 3/4" tube swageloc fitting on the way. I'm going to hard line it down to a bung I welded in the pan. I have a smaller hole at the front that will spill oil into the timing chain area. I tapped both of the 1/4" feed fittings and have installed screw in orifices. This way I can dial in the amount of oil being distributed. Right now the total of both orifices is the same square inches as the stock L6 2mm hole. The front one is slightly larger than the rear to account for the two tensioners. The plan is to get the oil pan and front end buttoned up and the head as you see it installed and torqued down. I'm going to make a priming rod and spin the pump up to idle speed. Hopefully the oil pressure will be good indicating that the mains and rods are in good shape and not bypassing too much. If it's better than good at idle I'll open up the orifices a bit. There is more after that but that's the first step. By letting the orifices free flow with no restriction I'll have a worst case idea of how much oil is going to the bottom end.

Yes but how would I whoombahh. I have my cruise control hooked up to the bell crank. That's one of the reasons I'd like to keep it or a version of it if I can but that would be a good spot for sure.

Why come on down to your local Datsunworks dealer where December savings are in full swing. Bring a bag of cash and you can lug home a big ol chunk of cast aluminum:) I will be selling them but we are aways away from that point. PM me if you are interested. Got the throttle linkage and cable sorted out. I'm hoping the stuff I got with my econo kit from EFI Hardware works out well. Single cable pulley for 6 venturis may be asking a lot. The cable pulley is progressive so it may be fine. I had to make a throttle stop bracket to make all the bits work.It's sandwiched between the cable pulley and the throttle body. Throttle cable bracket. Going to lead the cable over to the firewall and incorporate it into the stock bell crank. The single return spring was just a little light to return the throttles. The kit came with a lever and extra spring so I stuck them on the end. I was going to cut it down but then it occurred to me it would make an excellent whoombahh lever. Here you can see it in the whoom position: And now in the Bahh: I believe this may be the single most important addition I've made so far. It's starting to interfere with production though. I sit out there for hours.......Whoom.....Bahh...... Whomba whoomba whoomba... MMMMM ITB's

Thanks for the kind words everyone. You are on the "pioneer" list:) I have a funny feeling I'm going to upsetting a lot of budgetary plans with this head! Got the oil lines run. Love the rear one hate the front one but at this point I need to keep focus on the budget and to do the front the way I want it is money that can go elsewhere. Plus when it's in the car it will be hard to see anyway. This oil entry will be on the back side of the head and will be a part of the casting. I had to use a bulkhead fitting on this build and this was the best place for it. This will still be the front entry point in the new design but there will be more meat in the casting so I won't have to use an adapter. And yes I still haven't fixed the collision mark on that boss:) Now I'm showing off. Actually I'm starting to work on the throttle cable bracket so the ITB's needed to go on anyway. Plus a little motivation always helps.

Exactly. My inspiration for my original intake system was 70's Can-Am style. My overall style is a factory works look. Functional but not too much bling.

Fuel lines done. Came in on Saturday and fabbed up the fuel lines. I knew from the last time I did it that it is a tedious process. I have three marks to hit on each line. Fuel block, loom, and injector cap. From a performance standpoint a traditional fuel rail would probably be better but this is the look I wanted and by god it's the look I'll have:) Very happy with the end results. This is why I redid the fuel block. Isn't that better? The brass fitting is for the oil return. That fitting is just a placeholder for now so don't judge:) The stainless bulkhead fitting is the rear oil supply line. All the fuel and oil fittings are Swagelok style double ferrule fittings. And in case you are keeping track it took most of the day Saturday to fab the 6 lines.

Thanks Well as I've said before that's the beauty of how we laid this out. If you have access to a manual milling machine and have the skills to do higher end machining then you can take the raw castings all the way to finish. Most of the initial machine work is just drilling and tapping. Now if you want a turn key head I can help you with that as well but that is going to cost.

A Tale of two fuel distribution blocks. There are a lot of reasons why I post the good, the bad and the ugly, but mostly because I think it really helps people realize just what goes into creating something that is truly custom. And why custom fabrication is so pricy. Some time ago on HybridZ there was a thread about a hybrid Z car that was being sold for over a hundred grand or thereabouts. It was green just to jog some memories. It kind of settled int those that couldn’t see the value and those that do fabrication that could. I’m being broad with my brush but you get the picture. I took one look at the pictures and immediately saw that kind on money in it. So for this tale I’m the customer and the fabricator. I’m at the point where I want to get going on the fuel system. I made all the injector caps already but I needed a distribution block so I could do the hard lines. I discussed the options with my customer and we settled on a straight block with the fuel lines one on top of the other. Much like the one I had on my car. I did a 3D model of it which included measuring the space available, measuring the distance required between the fitting in order to get a wrench on them, inlet, outlet and mounting holes. The customer approved the 3D model and I commenced to machine the block. Since there was only one I had to baby sit every operation. No screw ups. I chewed up the better part of a day by the time I was done with everything including finishing. Now if you want my undivided attention for a day it’s going to cost you $400.00 or more. So the piece looked exactly like the 3D model and functioned exactly like it was designed to do. Except the customer (me) just didn’t like the look of it in application. The customer wanted it right so we started over with a new design. Now this one took about half the time since it used all the same general measurements and tool operations so the machine work went much faster. So here we are with five or six hundred dollars in a simple fuel distribution block. And that my children is why this crap costs so much:) First design: Second design: And yea I probably could have found something online that would have worked but this one is EXACTLY like I want it:) Derek

I'm running Meggasquirt MS2extra right now. I use TunerStudio live tune and it works really well. I'm not going to do any Dyno tuning with this motor as it would just be a waste. The test motor is only going to make 8:1 compression because of the flat top pistons. If it feels like it has any power I'll do a dyno pull for fun but this is more of a longevity test for the valve train than a power test. That will come with V2.

Hopefully the weather will cooperate. Headers, cams and valve cover are the last big things that are out of my control. I'll be really glad when those are complete. I'm just anxious to see them hanging off of the motor on the stand:) Again thanks for your effort on these. I know your free time has dried up a bit. Smells like......Victory

They say imitation is the highest form of flattery:) Honda is surely flattered.

Well Tony and I started talking about it in September of 2012 and actively working on it soon after so it's been a little longer for me:) The whole process has reinforced what I already knew, "if you don't have money you better have time" Since I plan on selling these you can't just roll one bolder up the hill at a time. Version 2 new exhaust port and complete water jacket redesign: wakey wakey hands off snakey

Did a little tinkering today. One last pressure test before I start assembly. Holds 40 psi no problem. Finally rounded the corner and I feel like I'm officially in assembly mode. Got the valves installed. Looking a little scruffy but you'll have that with a prototype like this. A couple of weeks ago a put the head back in the mill and removed the last of the Honda A3 design. The A3 uses an asymmetrical combustion chamber. I was going to do this mod when I do the stroker but it was bothering me. The head is now closer to the A2 chamber. One more dry fit of the rockers. They line up really well on the valves. I'm glad I took the time I did to get it right. Plus I now have good data for the next head. Slowly but surely:)

Here is the link to the Crane custom grind catalog. http://www.cranecams.com/uploads/catalog/cranecamscamlobeprofilecatalog.pdf Page 62 has the K20 profiles. They also have a few that aren't listed. They can work with you to develop anything you want but that's $$. The timing gear is a mix of L6 and KA stuff. L6 tensioner and guides below and KA above.

Got the lower timing chain all set. I had to bore the KA lower gear out to 35mm. I also had to make a couple of spacers so that it was as thick as the L6 lower gear. When I bored it out I lost most of the key way. It also made the hub area a little thin. I decided to make the outer spacer ring dished to slip fit over the hub to add a little strength. Here are the 2 parts assembled. And installed on the crank. I had to leave the gap between the gear and the spacers for chain link clearance. Had to remove a couple links and add a half link. I also had to cut down both guides. The lead angles on the chain look pretty good. Time will tell though. Test fitting before I broached the keyway. Stalagmite of chips:) Starting to get all the odds and ends wrapped up. It's tough not getting too far ahead of myself. I want to stay productive but without cams I'm kind of at the end of the line. Derek

You'll get your chance to participate soon enough. Of course your head will sit in a container un-machined in the desert for years until you get time to build it:)

Being as I was the one signing the check for materials I was happy to use 304:) As XNKE pointed out welds in stainless will corrode unless mechanically or chemically polished up. I used to do a lot of marine work when I was still fabricating. Miss the slightest bit of weld cleanup and you have problems. My favorite line to my customers was "it's stainLESS not stain proof" That stopped most of their carping. Derek

That's great. Can't wait to see them in position. Derek

No Problem! You just had the bad luck to drunk post when not a lot was going on:) And then it just sat there reminding you of all your poor choices you've made in life. I figured someone would respond but I think at the time they were pretty decently powered for what they were up against. Tony and others would know better than I but I'm sure the L6 was chosen for budgetary reasons as much as anything else. Not much happening on the head. I'm dealing with all of the small issues that crop up during a prototype build like this. I'm pretty sure I have reached the point where fabrication on the head is done and I can start assembling. Without cams though I'm going to grind (pun intended) to a halt. I still have one major design issue to work out and that's the adjustable hubs for the cam gears. The KA24 cam gears are tiny so any kind of slotting arrangement is out. On the KA they drill holes in the gear to get their offset but I think that may be restrictive on this build. I did start the design work on KN20 Rev_2 though. I've got the new exhaust port designed and I'm reworking the water jacket. I'm going to stick with the current intake port design. This is the point in a project where my McMaster Carr bill goes through the roof:) Derek

Looking great! I guess at some point soon I'll actually be able to finish this thing up. Thanks again for helping me out with these headers. Derek

That's why there are pictures:)

The technology just isn't there yet. Do a minor amount of google searching and you will see that even the print envelopes are too small. Plus they all need post machining. And it's still crazy expensive.

There are a few things to remember. molten metals shrinks when it cools. Overall shrinkage is controlled with pattern scaling. Solidification shrinkage is controlled with feed risers. The face between the transmission and bell housing is the thickest portion. There are usually multiple feed risers on that face to supply molten metal to that area as it cools. Those risers and surface have to be machined. There are a myriad of reasons what refractory cement wouldn't be practical in this application. Until there is resin 3D printing with the strength of aluminum I'm afraid you're stuck with guy's like me for a while:)

3D sand is still foundry sand so the finish is rough. Even printed metal needs some post print machining. Printed sand is still very expensive, so unless you're only going to use one it doesn't make sense in this application.