Derek

Hi No real updates. I'm kind of caught up in finishing the paint on my car and getting it back on the road. I got the first cam castings in and I wasn't happy with the part line cleanup. They were over ground in a few places. They are going to run a new set for me. I'll handle the cleanup this time. Probably going to get the head down to Mazworx next week. Post 66 has pricing.

Should be in the 53cc range. Future designs will have smaller "blank" combustion chambers that will be machined to a specific shape. Either stock like this one or a custom shape by the purchaser. I saw where a company welds up and re-machines the chambers to 47cc's. This was for a road race application where stock designed pistons had to be retained.

Who cares what you want I'm going to make the pattern as it is in post #361. But there is nothing stopping anyone from modifying it after the fact in a number of ways. Especially if your plan is to powdercoat. Raw aluminum is trickier because the modified area won't match the surface of the rest of the casting. Cam castings are in transit and I'll have them Tuesday.

Yea after clicking on links that say "free fonts" 30 or 40 times I've come to the conclusion that (paraphrase) "they keep using that word. I do not think it means what they think it means."

Yep that's a die cast all right! If I was doing a restoration I would do a 3D scan and replicate it warts and all. But I want a more refined look than 1970's production. When I'm designing I know when I've hit the point where I'm happy with the look AND the part can actually be produced. Because esthetic design is subjective it can alway's be better. But it may not be able to be produced.

Showoff:) Thanks for posting that picture as it highlights why foundrymen (foundry persons) hate type. Look at the defects around the NISSAN. This is from the sand breaking when they remove the pattern. Or at least that's what it would look like if it was sand cast. I don't know what kind of numbers of S20's were being produced. It's possible that they were permanent mold but it looks like a sand casting to me. Serif type is even worse. If I do "DATSUNWORKS" in a serif the size of the serif is only .035". Also the type style has to be a font that I have. And that means what ever is in windows 7. I'm not going to get into vector drawing those many individual letters. I've done it on restoration projects but not on something like this. Derek

Here it is with the same text but in bold. This is actually closer to the Datsun of that era.

You mean like this lego brick:)

Thanks! As a pattern maker I LOVE plain text Thanks for the offer but I'm trying to emulate the Nissan text from that era. And that was quite plain and blocky. I'm open to improvements on plain and blocky but it's going to be plain and blocky no matter what:) Derek

This will have to hold you for a bit:) Final design on the valve cover. I rendered it a gunmetal grey which is the color I'm going to get it powder coated. Here it is on the head. This is a rendering from the casting so there is a ton of machine allowance on the outside rim where it meets the head. It will be a better fit after machining. Camshaft castings are on the way to me and I should have them on Tuesday. Waiting on the foundry to pour the first manifold. Other than that things are in a bit of a holding pattern. Derek

There is like 40 pages of people who have made the mod on that link I posted. There are videos and dyno reports so it's more than a "few" users. Now if you meant to say "one of the few users that added boost" then that's a different animal. The overall feel I got from the thread was that most were happy with the mod. Not looking to pick a fight just looking to create a balanced picture.

Here is a link (I may have posted it before) about putting stock A2 cams in an A3 head and using the exhaust rockers on the intake. He killed the iVtec rockers but kept the variable cam timing. http://www.k20a.org/forum/showthread.php?t=66643 It's a pretty good thread with dyno results posted. Based on everything I calculated, my head in it's stock form will flow more along the lines of a ported A2. That remains to be seen obviously. I'm revisiting iVtec because I've had a few inquiries about it in PMs. But I'm only revisiting it to the point of making sure there is cast aluminum everywhere it needs to be in order for SOMEONE ELSE to implement. There is a whole ton of things that have to happen for iVtec to work. Cams and custom timing chain hub come to mind as well as a ton of extra machine work. Possibly custom cam towers or at the very least highly modified towers. Hopefully someone with really deep pockets will make this happen. If I had to guess I could easily see another $4000.00 or more for taking it to that level. But if someone was thinking about plunking down 40 grand for an OSG head, 15 or 20 grand for a 6 cylinder full iVtec head looks pretty appealing.

They call him "Stubby" Very happy with the fit. Made a mandrel to form the ovals. Should make for a nice looking header. Remember kids good fabrication is all about joinery. The better the fit the smaller the weld. The smaller the weld the less the warp. The flange and header will be mill finish. Going out today to Xnke for fabrication.

Finishing up a pattern today and I'll be able to work on the stubs tomorrow. Should be able to ship the flange, adapter and stubs tomorrow.

Not much to report. Waiting on the cam core castings. I got in a hurry when I was reaming the intake valve guide bores so the stock sized guides are too small. Fortunately SI Valves sells universal pre bored valve guides. They are manganese bronze. I have to machine the exterior to the correct size. After that the head is ready to go to Mazworks for the head work. I'm hoping to have it ready to go next week. When I have the head back I can determine if the cam bores are still aligned. At that point if they are good the cams will ground. The intake manifold printed cores are done and on their way to the foundry. I'm about a third of the way done with the manifold pattern. Should have it done next week as well. I was sick for a week so that kind of screwed up production.

NA.

As long as you didn't do it taking a dump you're probably still ok.

It's my understanding that it will be an equal length header. I don't know what denotes a "long tube" from a "short tube". I do know that the large radius bends right off of the head will not be needed as the OSG head (and motor) as well as the S20 is tilted the opposite direction as ours. I don't believe that changing the tilt will be necessary on mine. This means shorter radius bends can be used and still achieve a decent length. Derek

Well if December of 2007 is a few years ago then yes it "was" a few years ago:) You're getting old. That's the first sign. The big problem with it was I laid the base coat down too heavy and then cleared it too soon. It trapped solvents and the clear started coming off after about 4 years. I had to strip all the old clear and base off with a da. And of course there was new rust to be fixed.... I use products from Southern Polyeurathanes http://www.southernpolyurethanes.com. Their products are really great (as long as you follow the directions) and the price is amazing. The red is their house brand red base. I had a little problem laying down the clear and the owner spent 20 min on the phone with me getting it dialed in. Try that with PPG Hard lines are more work but you can't beat the look IMHO.

You and me both! There is still a butt ton of stuff to do though. Yes. One of the Hybridz family is helping me out with exhaust design and fabrication. I'm sure he'll chime in at some point. Got the intake manifold designed. I'm utilizing a balance tube like I did on my EFI manifold. It made my life a lot easier. By doing three separate manifolds it reduces my risk of failure. I'm 3D printing the cores and I ordered them today. The pattern will be conventional. I designed the flanges to be a lot larger than I need but I want to have options when I do the machining. I'm using the same injector boss mount as my manifold. This way I can hard line it if I want to. And I want to:) I got a call from the steel foundry and they are pouring the cams next week. Hopefully the first units will pass inspection. If they are good then I'll do some basic machining and then I'll ship them out to Isky for grinding. And I'm painting my car Base coat. Cleared it today. No time to do a proper job but it's been off the road for almost two years and I had enough. I wanted to drive it again. It'll look ok. Basically painting in my fab shop so you can only imagine how clean that is:)

Thanks. Originally I was going to cast it as part of the front cover. The general consensus was exiting the water over each exhaust port like the OSG head was a superior way to go. The production models will be that way. I'm going to machine a separate elbow for mine and incorporate it into the timing cover.

Been working on a bunch of stuff so I guess it's a good time for an update. Got the pattern done for the cam cores and it's sitting at the foundry waiting to be poured. Got the pattern done for the front timing cover and got the casting back from the foundry. Today I was able to finish up the machine work on the timing cover and head. The timing cover is a bit of a kludge as I had printed the mold before I fully finalized the timing cover. It works but it will be better in future versions. I had to get it cast and on the head so the machine shop could surface it all together. Here I've mounted the cover to the front of the head, machined the surface flush with the bottom and drilled the front holes for the lower cover. The front lip is a little thin. I'll add material to the pattern to thicken it up. I really should have left more material around the entire head. That way I could have made a cleanup pass around the whole thing. I have enough material on the valve cover to create a lip to hide it so it will look good when it's buttoned up. This head will have a water outlet on the side of the timing cover but future heads will use a coolant manifold like the OSG head. Very happy with the internal fit. I need to rig something for the front cover bolts. The holes are right on the step. I'll add bosses to the pattern so it won't be a problem later on. So I didn't try to make it fit this well but the "as cast" fit between the factory cover and my cover couldn't have been better. Of course it's in a spot where no one will see it Got the exhaust flange from the laser cutter. I machined an adapter block to go from a stock Nissan head to my flange. When bolted to the Nissan head it will position the flange exactlyish where it will be with the new head. This will allow the header to be fabricated on a car without being dependent on having the head. Next up is the intake manifolds and valve cover. I'm doing three separate identical manifolds. It's a little more expensive to cast but a whole lot safer as you're dealing with smaller items. Machining is easier as well. Will it ever end Derek

For sure. I remember adding that material to the intake side toward the end of the design proscess. My plan is to redesign it like the exhaust side. It looks a lot better.

Proof that most car problems can be solved in a moment of "reflection"

Please do!