[tylerwatts]

Matt I think you are doing great things, and yes as much having fun and learning and doing it your way. Take others' comments with a pinch of salt. If they can't be supportive or at least courteous they should mind their own business.

I'm impressed with your approach and pragmatism to your build and hope you make it to the finish line. I'm sure you will and it'll be a better build for it too!

PS the casting is looking promising. Better too much material and you can dress it back than not enough. I'd be tempted to use a blueing technique using permanent marker against the motor spline to get the fit just right, once you have successfully poured your coupler.

Cheers
Tyler

 

[MattsAwesomeStuff]

I may be way off base, and I confess my only knowledge on the subject comes from what I read on wikipedia.

Hmm. "Pot metal" is just a derogatory term for "throw in anything that's left over and melt it". So it varies.

Zamak - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Zamak on the other hand is a controlled mixture, is nearly as strong as cast iron and is self-lubricating.

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If I add a little bit of copper (1%) and a little more aluminum (a couple %) it's becomes even stronger and harder.

Is the idea to machine down an end of your casting to mount the flywheel?

Nope. Join motor shaft to transmission output shaft.

That's just the little tail housing on the transmission, it's about the size of Coke bottle.

I'd be tempted to use a blueing technique using permanent marker against the motor spline to get the fit just right, once you have successfully poured your coupler.

I might do that if I have to machine it manually. Not worth a lot of extra effort in the mold making stage to get it perfect.

It's not that much effort to just adjust the shape afterwards. There are 25 splines, there are 4 faces on each spline (peak, valley, left and right sides), I might have to remove 0.003" from each face. A little bit of filing with a key file or a piece of sandpaper wrapped around a hacksaw blade. Just go around in a circle until it's done. Same thing they do with dentistry.

Considering the motor shaft is hardened steel and the coupler might be aluminum or zinc... if I could support the ass end of it and not be hammering on bearings, I'd just squirt some cutting fluid on it, use the shaft itself as a perfect broach and hammer the coupler on and off until it was clear. We're talking chips thinner than a sheet of aluminum foil.