DAMMIT, Dan! You're gonna make me snarf Diet Pepsi out of my nose......stop it.

and the rest of you.....the beanies are supposed to be tin foil, not aluminum. "They" can get through aluminum foil.

Roger

You can cast a billet in a backyard foundry using scrap from old cylinder heads. Then using a Rong Fu ( compact Taiwan milling machine ), remove everything that does not look like a cylinder head.

I figure, working a few hours a month, you could turn out one or two heads every six months, eventually getting pretty good at it. Sell them on Ebay with a story of how your great uncle worked at a consulting company that did work for Chrysler R&D.

I never knew you were a comedian Tim. You funny guy.

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Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.

Well yeah, you can do it the hard way if you're trying to impress someone or you're a masochist. You could also fly from Philadelphia to Boston via Los Angeles. Why bother with all those extra steps, though? Just remove everything from the universe that doesn't look like an aluminum slant-6 cylinder head, and there you are.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

I lurk at some hobby foundry sites. There are a few professionals who also hang out there because the emphasis is on building most of the foundry equipment that gets used for castings. There are a few who make billet on contract for machinists, but no way are they interested in a three year project to produce a non profitable engine part, The turn around time needs to be quick to gain much interest from the very few who know what they're doing. There aren't many foundrymen who are also skilled machinists. A billet contract might call for 500 pound castings, which is not a prospect for the amateur who tinkers in his basement. I have not found anyone locally who operates a backyard foundry for fun, although making small jewelry pieces is relatively common.

If you were to spend 2 or 3 years learning how to cast quality 50 pound billet, then when you got 20 of these cast, you could send them to a CNC machinist who had developed the cylinder head design. Most hobby foundrymen quit before they get very good at it, although its a blue collar skill that in the past the workers got hired off the street with no prior knowledge. Now, its like you need a Phd in metallurgy. You learn by making mistakes.

"The emperor has no clothes". I don't need to refute anything, including misquotes, character assassination, , etc so far, since you have pretty much done that for me, and that is about as personal as I going to go.
I will share an observation I made over the years, people get the most irate when their own shortcomings are revealed, sometime by themselves.

oh dear....time to lock the Alloy Head Thread again.

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Yeah....Im the one who destroyed this rare, vintage automobile.....

No fair! We haven't even talked about 4-valves-per-cylinder yet!

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

This is getting a bit out of hand. It is desirable for people to have thick skin, experienced board members included, if they feel they have been insulted. One person (not someone who has even posted on this thread) has just PM'ed me that they will not be using this site anymore due to the comments/exchanges on this thread. I really hate to see this happen.

Thanks for listening,

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

As good as Dutra Duals are, they probably are slow to sell. A head that was priced closer to $500 than $1,500 might have a better chance. Unless the project has manufacturing connections in China, that isn't going to happen. At $1,800 cost per unit, I think the annual sales of an $1800 head might be counted on the fingers of both hands.

I have not read any reviews on the Jeep Edelbrock head, but a similar head by Hesco produces 30 more horsepower when used with an otherwise stock motor ( the compression was increased ) - so I've read. That's a lot to spend for that result.

I think a backyard foundry could make an equal runner length intake manifold, but best cast as multiple pieces. Bad castings would get scrapped frequently. It would take perseverance to produce high quality castings. I think Dutra Duals could be cast in a backyard foundry, but generally smaller parts are produced in a hobby foundry. Some persons on the HAMB make castings for personal use, but few sell the castings. The customer support and complaints could become tiresome to deal with, especially as much of the time spent on the low buck project would be off the clock.

Some really serious attempts have been made at making an aluminum head a reality, and the killer has always been lack of people willing to put up the money to get it off the ground. Reality is, it is hard for most people to come up with a couple grand for something that or may not be an improvement, or even get built at all.

The part that chaps my ass is every 6 months almost like clockwork we get some hammerswinger show up and declare we need alloy heads and they inow someone who will do it as long as somebody else is paying for it, and declare us losers because we don't welcome them with open arms.

I'm sorry, but the claim that there are "THOUSANDS" of Slanters waiting in line to buy alloy heads is so ludicrous it doesn't even rate being called a fantasy.

I think in 6 months when the next clown brings it up again we should just lock it down and call it a day.

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Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.

Well, since clown was mentioned - I think I will chime in! Went over to A & A Trans yesterday was talking to Rick - casually asked him how much it cost to reproduce his magnesium Hemi crossram intake. He then gave the figures for the aluminum crossram

I won't disclose what he told me but we are talking huge freaking money!

I guess Hemi owners are used to big prices! My point is that bringing a casting from idea (talk) to someone's hands costs more money than most people realize - including myself. Clown out.

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66 Lil' Red Piggie Valiant (Mater Crusher) - Thanks Zilla!!!!! 72 Demon (Number 1 Son's)

Oh, but haven't you heard? All opinions are equally valid and you're just being jaded and negative.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

This is hilarious, and I'm using it the next time I talk to a machinist at work.

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Somehow I ended up owning three 1964 slant six A-bodies. I race one of them.
Escape Velocity Racing

There have been several Ford "Banger" four cylinder projects. Those people managed to save about a half million of the 80 year old cars. Banger fans seem to find a budget to do what we can't, but there are numerous collectors of those cars.

You could do a block and head project using the traditional methods of making wood patterns. Its not rocket science, but its definitely not a first time effort. There are no technical gotchas as green sand metal casting its ancient technology. Workers who didn't have a 6th grade eduction learned this ancient art/science. The pattern makers for the original slant six castings probably fabricated the initial patterns in a few days. After several fixes for flaws they derived the parts that we know. They didn't use computers, but probably had some scars from years of the learning experience.

There used to be several Mopar flathead parts producers who used the traditional methods. One of the last I'm familiar with was named Peterson, I think he died about a decade ago. He didn't use computers and his production was low, but good quality. Recently Earl Edgerton began making flathead parts ( spendy but good ).

This is one of many Ford "banger" projects. You have to give them credit, as banger fans can use the credit card to make a 50 MPH vehicle capable of 70 MPH. http://www.modelaengine.com/ The foundry wanted $2,400 for each raw casting !

Here is an ongoing Ford banger block project that will be priced at somewhere between $2,000 and $2,500 fully machined. A good used "A" or "B" core can cost that much, but usually less than that.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/thre ... ks.616056/

The OHV banger conversion is $4,200. Many more are available for these oldies.

http://www.millerhi-speedheads.com/heads.htm