1929 AC 5t Dump Restoration

[paulbrook]

After quite a while since I first started with this project where other priorities got in the way, I have now picked up the pace on my AC restoration and thought that others might be interested if I posted a picture or two along the way.

I have loads of pictures of progress so far hosted on a site called "photobucket": a link to the first album of pictures of my AC is here http://s484.photobucket.com/user/RustyTrucks/library/Mack as advertised but you should be able to navigate around my particular bit of Photobucket for lots and lots more.

Just nearing completion is the restoration of the radiator which had suffered greatly from electrolytic corrosion of the aluminium top tank. after a little investigation my son Dan decided to get radical and designed, 3d printed the patterns and cast 2 new sections that he then welded into place to restore the strength and integrity of the tank.

All the pictures can be seen here http://s484.photobucket.com/user/RustyTrucks/library/Mack AC Restoration 2019  but I have added a "before" "during" and "after" to this post just to give a flavour.

Next job is to machine down the flywheel a bit, fit a starter ring and convert  the engine to electric start - more to follow!

 

Edited July 2, 2019 by paulbrook

[Swishy]

Well dun

Gr8 Stuff

gunna take me a while to view all them pix

keep up the good work n pix

thanx in advance

cya

[Dirtymilkman]

Wow.........gonna be lots of hours. Very awesome. 

[41chevy]

I wondered how you were doing. Last post had the chassis primed and on wheels outside you shop.

How long and cost on the #D printing?    Paul

Edited July 3, 2019 by 41chevy

[JoeH]

Your son has some talent!

[paulbrook]

10 hours ago, 41chevy said:

I wondered how you were doing. Last post had the chassis primed and on wheels outside you shop.

How long and cost on the #D printing?    Paul

Dan has not sent me the bill yet!

But the way he went about making the patterns was fascinating. First, he chopped out the rotten buts then set them up on a rotating table before scanning them with a laser scanner to form a 3d digital image. He then "cleaned up" the image to create a digital 3d image of what the repair part should look like. He then scaled it to account for the shrinkage when the part was cast before 3d printing the pattern using a foam that burns away as the molten metal is poured in. A simple sand mould casting was then pretty easy. He tells me that one of the advantages of the "lost" foam is that it tends to smooth out the casting surface - much more like die casting.

I will ask him how long it took.

[41chevy]

3 hours ago, paulbrook said:

Dan has not sent me the bill yet!

But the way he went about making the patterns was fascinating. First, he chopped out the rotten buts then set them up on a rotating table before scanning them with a laser scanner to form a 3d digital image. He then "cleaned up" the image to create a digital 3d image of what the repair part should look like. He then scaled it to account for the shrinkage when the part was cast before 3d printing the pattern using a foam that burns away as the molten metal is poured in. A simple sand mould casting was then pretty easy. He tells me that one of the advantages of the "lost" foam is that it tends to smooth out the casting surface - much more like die casting.

I will ask him how long it took.

I'd appreciate that. I did see the Cummins water pump housing for the 1940's Indy car that was 3D metal printed and held a few Mercedes metal printed  parts for a 300.  Sounds like a good possibilty for a few of my Packard parts.

[JoeH]

If The Big Six from Macungie goes missing I didn't steal it and Dan doesn't have it for 3D replication!

[ekennedy21]

Guess why they never produced that big 6?

[1965]

1 hour ago, ekennedy21 said:

Guess why they never produced that big 6?

That story has been on here; can’t really remember it all. Bad timing of it & at buyout maybe?

[ekennedy21]

There was no place for it in their lineup. They put their eggs in the V8 basket for big power. Unfortunately, economies of scale come into play in production and more offerings equate to higher prices all the way through.

[1965]

5 minutes ago, ekennedy21 said:

There was no place for it in their lineup. They put their eggs in the V8 basket for big power. Unfortunately, economies of scale come into play in production and more offerings equate to higher prices all the way through.

Myself I’d rather had the V8. 

[yarnall]

Good work.  I’d like to know what a tank like that would cost. I paid $1000 for a good use one and was glad to find it but would have liked to pay less.  Yours looks nicer.    Mike. 

[fxfymn]

Gary Mahan has had reproduction tanks made. Might be worth checking with him.

[paulbrook]

On ‎7‎/‎3‎/‎2019 at 8:00 PM, 41chevy said:

I'd appreciate that. I did see the Cummins water pump housing for the 1940's Indy car that was 3D metal printed and held a few Mercedes metal printed  parts for a 300.  Sounds like a good possibilty for a few of my Packard parts.

I did not know you had a Packard. I have been dallying around buying a WW1 5t Packard from a guy I know in France for a few years now - but never plucked up the courage (besides I have too many projects as it is!). The 3d stuff that Dan is specialising in is a kind of half-way house: rather than try and print the final part he is printing the pattern from which a part can be cast, which makes it really cost effective. Many foundries can now print patterns, so if we want something casting out of some exotiv material we can simply email the file for the pattern to the foundry and they can then do a one off at little more than the cost of actually casting the thing.

[paulbrook]

11 hours ago, fxfymn said:

Gary Mahan has had reproduction tanks made. Might be worth checking with him.

We were going to try that, but actually what we have now is the original but (virtually invisibly) repaired. On these old trucks much is so simple to make, like the cab, but over the years I have tended to want to try and use an original replacement or repair the original part if I can, even if that is harder than just, say, cutting a new cab side out of a sheet of metal.

That said, sometimes only new will do!

 

[paulbrook]

On ‎7‎/‎4‎/‎2019 at 4:01 AM, yarnall said:

Good work.  I’d like to know what a tank like that would cost. I paid $1000 for a good use one and was glad to find it but would have liked to pay less.  Yours looks nicer.    Mike. 

All up I would guess about $3-400 for all this (like I say, I have not seen the bill yet!) but that involved all the set-up work. Now he has the files digitally I guess that subsequent repair sections would be much cheaper. We have done some work on another project (a WW2 Armored car) that is very rare. There is a similar one being restored by a group over on your side of the pond and we have been able to share all sorts of digital files which they can take to their local laser cutters, machine shop or foundry. I say take - they can email the files with the click of a mouse and the finished parts simply arrive in the post.

That's what happens when you get some of these clever young folks involved

 

[41chevy]

9 hours ago, paulbrook said:

I did not know you had a Packard. I have been dallying around buying a WW1 5t Packard from a guy I know in France for a few years now - but never plucked up the courage (besides I have too many projects as it is!). The 3d stuff that Dan is specialising in is a kind of half-way house: rather than try and print the final part he is printing the pattern from which a part can be cast, which makes it really cost effective. Many foundries can now print patterns, so if we want something casting out of some exotiv material we can simply email the file for the pattern to the foundry and they can then do a one off at little more than the cost of actually casting the thing.

https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/55276-new-tow-rtruck/?tab=comments#comment-413074

 

[paulbrook]

34 minutes ago, 41chevy said:

https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/55276-new-tow-rtruck/?tab=comments#comment-413074

 

Now that is a thing of beauty..

[Vladislav]

Great job!

Honestly if I were doing such fixing i would worry about the welded areas on possible leaks, cracking in the future etc. So purchasing a completely new cast part makes sence. On the other hand such repair is much more interesting entertainment. And if all go smooth you will be prouder and keep the fun.

[paulbrook]

1 hour ago, Vladislav said:

Great job!

Honestly if I were doing such fixing i would worry about the welded areas on possible leaks, cracking in the future etc. So purchasing a completely new cast part makes sence. On the other hand such repair is much more interesting entertainment. And if all go smooth you will be prouder and keep the fun.

One thing's for sure - Dan's welds don't leak! He is a structural design engineer in the nuclear industry and really knows his stuff but also has a small company that do "impossible" engineering. So I think that the tank will be good for a hundred years or so.  He did talk me through casting a new tank, and there is plenty that can go wrong with that too!

Here is another of his masterpieces

 

[JoeH]

(concrete delivery driver, ranting about DIY engineers) I've found that with engineers they usually think they know everything, but when push comes to shove they tend to be controlling of those of us who know how to do our jobs, which slows me down from getting their delivery done so I can keep my schedule. Concrete in particular you just have to jump in and get it done. It's labor intensive, and there's no way around that sometimes.

 

But that radiator looks great! Dan has talent! If he welded it himself I'm doubly impressed, engineering theory is one thing, but the skill to make it happen requires a different talent.  Haven't met many engineers with both.

[paulbrook]

On ‎7‎/‎6‎/‎2019 at 1:19 AM, JoeH said:

(concrete delivery driver, ranting about DIY engineers) I've found that with engineers they usually think they know everything, but when push comes to shove they tend to be controlling of those of us who know how to do our jobs, which slows me down from getting their delivery done so I can keep my schedule. Concrete in particular you just have to jump in and get it done. It's labor intensive, and there's no way around that sometimes.

 

But that radiator looks great! Dan has talent! If he welded it himself I'm doubly impressed, engineering theory is one thing, but the skill to make it happen requires a different talent.  Haven't met many engineers with both.

His latest bit of work for me, machining the AC flywheel to take a starter ring gear, can be seen here. Before doing it he had to adapt both the chuck and the gap block.

 

[mowerman]

Man alotta work excellent ... bob


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