From the PRI Show (actually the acronym is short for Performance Racing Industry)
3D printing of sand cores is a method to have the foundry components made for a casting without hard tooling.
Hoosier Pattern is one such source for that technology. One would still need complete and accurate electronic math data that
fully describes the casting, inside and out. One would still need to apply foundry casting knowledge to the electronic data to
add in shrink and machine stock. But this gets that special some one much closer as the expense of hard tooling is advoided.
Subsequent design changes and improvements can be incorporated by revising the electronic math data.
The photo below shows a cylinder head core package that was 3D printed. A cover core would also be printed that makes the shape
of the top side of the casting.
The casting would still need to be machined and finished. It will require a machining fixture and CNC time.
Comparing an aluminum head casting to an aluminum head made from a billet.
The cast head could have full internal water jackets that allows for engine coolant flow for street use or race use.
The Billet head could be made with a top plate that allows some internal machining to provide
coolant flow, but even with an extreme amount of effort it would not approach the coolant flow
of a sand cored water jacketed head. The billet head also requires all the math data, but not the foundry shrink and finish stock additions.
The billet head requires a similar machining fixture as the cast head, with more CNC time but no foundry expense.
The billet head would be a drag race / alcohol fuel head only due to limited coolant flow
The cast head would be a street or a race head.
For either billet or cast another consideration would be design.
It would make no sense to replicate the existing iron slant head in aluminum.
There are less expensive ways to save vehicle weight. Consider that if a cross flow design was developed and the port size
and port locations were changed, the existing slant headers and intake manifolds may not fit up. Certainly if a four valve
layout was done, a new valve train would be needed. I am not saying that would be a complete show stopper. Perhaps
the 4 valve per cylinder valve train from a BMW could be used along with a BMW performance intake matched up to some
existing inline six header. It is all possible, just takes time and money.
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