Jump to content
HybridZ

3D printed intake manifold idea


bizzyboi904

Recommended Posts

I visited a 3d print shop a few weeks ago and was amazed at some of the things they were doing. I started to think what could I really use them for and today I thought why not a custom intake manifold? A plastic manifold may not be the prettiest thing in the engine bay, but it would be light, resistant to heat and highly customizable (runner lengths, plenum sizing throttle body opening ect .) I'm not a engineer and have no idea how to design an efficient intake  other than having the guys at the print shop make a direct copy of an oem intake for me.To me this seems like a cheaper way have a custom intake versus have a hand built metal one. I would be willing to have these guy do a prototype if anyone could come up with some specs for me such as runner size and length. Has anyone else looked into this, what are the pros & cons ?  (3d items can also be made using metal but then the price goes up drastically)

Edited by bizzyboi904
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think 3d printing is huge for people wanting to maintain classic cars, as you can fabricate a lot of miscellaneous parts that may no longer be available or easily obtainable on the open market.

 

I don't know about replicating engine components.  What is the thermal tolerance of the printed piece?  What is a safe thermal range for it to be in over time (IE - maybe it can withstand 1,000 degrees briefly, but can it withstand 500 degrees over a prolonged period of time without gradually breaking down?).

 

If there is a way to make a piece that is very durable and resistant to heat (not to mention oil, gas, coolant etc.) I think a 3d printed manifold would be a great idea.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You could 3D print the mold for which the manifold would be made from. I know there is a thread from someone doing a custom cylinder head and he is 3D printing sand molds to get prototypes done. So you could either 3D print the mold itself or the "blank" to make a mold from.

 

I work for a prototyping company and I haven't heard of anything that would be heat resistant enough or even durable enough to make a manifold from. Unless you get a laser sintering printer which can print metal, but as you said that process is still quite expensive.

Most printer materials are very brittle and melt relatively easily.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3d printing would be great for mocking up your designs, but it's probably a better approach to use the 3d printed part as a sacrifice for casting. Because of the process used for printing, the parts you make have a grain. This can easily lead into durability issues in parts with complex or tubular shapes like an intake without proper planning.

 

Other than that what Tony D said would probably be your best bet. This would require some specific materials though (stainless manifold and PC ABS manifold?).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This company offers products that will directly print casting tools:

http://www.zcorp.com/zcorp/casting-material.html

 

This place offers some cool materials which we have used for functional prototype turbo car intake manifolds as well as functional aero bits on racecars.  They've turned around parts for me in less than a day.

http://www.crp-usa.net/crp-usa-mooresville-north-carolina/

 

The racecar I'm working on now uses SLS stainless steel exhaust manifolds, pretty neat parts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My little brother just purchased a 3d printer and we are starting to make small parts. Right now my project it to make a replacement plastic part for the blinker assembley. Some may know the part in question, its the one that holds the blinker arm and allows the switching motion. Mine is worn out, so we take 3d pic and pull that image into the pc. Then we will remove the grooves worninto it from use, then print the new part.

Its not that easy, but you get the idea!!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hard to keep up with this field.  They're doing metal now.  Who knows about durability in an under-hood application.

 

https://www.solidconcepts.com/technologies/direct-metal-laser-sintering-dmls/

 

https://www.solidconcepts.com/technologies/selective-laser-sintering-sls/

 

https://www.solidconcepts.com/

 

 

Koenigsegg has been doing some incredible 3D printing with metal. They have a patented twin scroll 3d printed turbo charger, and an intake manifold. Its possible, but Im sure the equipment that does this is rare right now and only with high end manufacturers. Koenigsegg has quite a few videos of their 3d printed parts and manufacturing of them up on Youtube.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...