All Small Six Interesting Valve Cover

[phipplet]

Found this interesting. Any idea who made this aluminum valve cover? It appears to fit a Ford inline 6, but doesn't have any holes? I saw this on The H.A.M.B. It was an older post. Here's the link:

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...aight-6-144-170-200-ci.1037635/#post-11749421

 

[Invectivus]

Great rare VC, I don't know who made it though. Someone was selling one for 3k on ebay, it's gone now but they screenshotted a Hot Rod magazine from May 1960 with it on the cover. I just bought a copy off Ebay, so I might know by next week.

 

[Invectivus]

Unfortunately, no smoking gun in the Hot Rod Magazine that had three engines sporting the valve cover, but- there are inklings it was a Bill Stroppe manufactured unit.

This makes sense as Bill Stroppe and associates are the ones souping the three 144 falcon engines for the article. A tri-power, a Paxton supercharged, and a Hilborn injected unit. For the injected unit, Stu Hilborn took a patterns for one of his foreign engines, cast and machined a new casting to fit the shaved and brazed head.

 

[phipplet]

That’s great information and history. Any idea what happened to the cars?

 

[Invectivus]

They promised a future article, but i don't know which issue. I'm thinking of looking to see if there's an archive online of what was in which issues, but i doubt it.

 

[Carlthegardener]

I have one of these as well. Now I don't know anything for certain, but the bloke I bought it off reckons it's a Holman-Moody cover. He also said the reason it's got 145 instead of 144 is because that was the horsepower they got out of the engine when they modified it.

 

[phipplet]

It would be interesting to take it to a machine shop and see if they can replicate it! With the new CAD technology it shouldn’t be an issue. You would sell a lot of them! Just don’t price them like the Aussie ones!

 

[CNC-Dude]

I've got a cylinder head, so it wouldn't be difficult to create a 3D model and copy it along with the font...

 

[phipplet]

You would sell a lot of them. I’d love to see the process!

 

[Carlthegardener]

It would be interesting to take it to a machine shop and see if they can replicate it! With the new CAD technology it shouldn’t be an issue. You would sell a lot of them! Just don’t price them like the Aussie ones!

I looked into it a few years ago. the sand casting is quite expensive for the original cast. They have to factor in the shrinkage of the aluminium when it cools. Then you would have to have a fairly large run to get the cost down a bit for resale. Then I thought probably better to keep it a rare find.

 

[phipplet]

Can’t they mill it out of a billet block? Let the computer do the work. Heat would not be an issue. Chat GPT would easily design the program in about 2 seconds! Watch the attached video

TikTok - Make Your Day

 

[vssman]

That’s a lot of material that would have to be milled away to make it out of a solid block not to mention a costly block of aluminum.

 

[phipplet]

The left over material is reused, re-melted. They all have a “catch can.”

 

[vssman]

That’s true but shops sell the milled shavings back to the scrap metal company. They pay a fraction of cost of new material.

 

[phipplet]

Exactly! That’s my point. Lowers the price!

 

[vssman]

The cost is going to be high even with selling of the waste. Over 40 years in machining manufacturing experience. Hats off to you if you have a better way to cut costs.

 

[phipplet]

it wouldn’t cost that much. The cost used to be in the CAD design program. AI has changed everything!

Heck, make it out of a block of phenolic material! Super durable and cheap!

 

[phipplet]

Just talked to my machinist. $200 bucks for T6 aluminum block that size. The cost is in the labor to program it. Not using AI. All manual. Labor is $170 an hour. He said he could do it in 2 hours.

AI is $20 bucks a month for the full and best version. It would be nothing for AI to design a CAD program. It’s the future!

 

[CNC-Dude]

Just talked to my machinist. $200 bucks for T6 aluminum block that size. The cost is in the labor to program it. Not using AI. All manual. Labor is $170 an hour. He said he could do it in 2 hours.

AI is $20 bucks a month for the full and best version. It would be nothing for AI to design a CAD program. It’s the future!

It is, but you pay for the technology up front. To do a single billet valve cover by CNC would be over $1000 bucks. AI might can design it quick and cheap, but nobody is going to make it for you cheap. Making patterns and casting them is still going to be the cheapest route. I've designed, made patterns and cast intake manifolds for 3 different inline engines about 8 or 9 years ago, and even though I've been a CNC Machinist/Programmer for over 20 years, I'd never consider machining one of those valve covers because nobody could afford the true cost to machine one....