Fixing a Modified 2004 Cobra 4V intake

[monte55]

Possibly for the surface grinder but I think wheel material would get imbedded in the aluminum which would be a bad thing. As for plasma cutting aluminum, it leaves a wierd cut on the kerf area. I still would have to grind it with a carbide cutter. CNCing a plate with a cutter would be the best.
T.J.

What did you decide to do?
Nick

[TJS]

What did you decide to do?
Nick

Nick can you CNC router a plate. I need a price to make some more plates.
T.J.

[monte55]

Nick can you CNC router a plate. I need a price to make some more plates.
T.J.

I assume the plate you're talking about is the one in the post that you cut off
the manifold. Cutting the plates are not the big issue. Getting that shape into my cnc computer is the problem. I'm trying to find out how to do that without spending hours trying to clean the image and make it accurate. Is it worth doing all this plus shipping both ways for 5 plates. I'm working on it though as this will no doubt come up again.
Nick

[TJS]

I assume the plate you're talking about is the one in the post that you cut off
the manifold. Cutting the plates are not the big issue. Getting that shape into my cnc computer is the problem. I'm trying to find out how to do that without spending hours trying to clean the image and make it accurate. Is it worth doing all this plus shipping both ways for 5 plates. I'm working on it though as this will no doubt come up again.
Nick

It is actually the one I cut off and the thicker one I welded on. I have a cardboard/thick paper pattern of this. I will take a pic of the pattern tonite with length and width measurements. I do not know if you have a scanner for your CNC but it looks like it might fit in a larger flat bed scanner(not sure though). I know there are at least 5 out there that are cracked and there might be more. The person who I just did this for is going to post the fix up at some other site(s) he is on. I can drop ship you the material that I used for the plate I just did. Again, this would all depend on price of each to even see if it is a viable solution or not.
Thanks again.
T.J.

[monte55]

TJS,
Here is the problem; when the image is scanned and I bring it into my CNC computer, it is a bitmap. Now, I have to trace that image and convert it to vectors. I need accurate, single line vectors. When the picture is scanned from a bitmap it has not a single; but double lines which are not accurate or smooth. It then takes a lot of cleaning up before I could even get to the cutting process.
You might try calling Kinkos or some place like that and ask if they can scan an image and convert it to vectors for you. All I have are small regular sized scanners and I couldn't do it in one piece anyway. I would have to scan it twice and merge it together accurately and then do a cleanup. That just leaves too much chance for error. Once I have an accurate file for the CNC we are ready for cutting. That only needs to be done once and we save that file. Then we can cut as many or as few as you want. I don't know what the cost will be until I run the file and see how long it takes to cut. I wouldn't think it would take more than 10 minutes to cut, though. Just a guess.
If Kinkos can scan it on a large scanner, change it to single line vectors and then print it out to verify the size and compare to your original pattern, then you are good. Then I can take those vectors and size it according to dimensions. My clipart comes as AI (Adobe Illustrated) and EPS (Encapsulated Postscript from Adobe Illustrated and Corel Draw) and I use the AI files
Nick

[Andy]

Where does the aftercooler go after this is plated over? I was thinking it fit in the gap between the intake and the V of the block. Is this a turbo conversion with bumper mounted intercooler? Does a 2001ish intake fit? Might be a bolt-on conversion to the turbo and front mount intercooler. Might have to buy a different throttle body and who knows what else

[TJS]

Where does the aftercooler go after this is plated over? I was thinking it fit in the gap between the intake and the V of the block. Is this a turbo conversion with bumper mounted intercooler? Does a 2001ish intake fit? Might be a bolt-on conversion to the turbo and front mount intercooler. Might have to buy a different throttle body and who knows what else

The intercooler is the lower part of the intake. This is the upper I worked on.
T.J.

[monte55]

TJS
I called Kinkos and they said they can scan a pattern and vectorize it in the AI files I need to cut it out. This is in KCMO area but I'll assume any Kinkos
could do it. It's a $30 min and depending on how complex it may be more depending on time. If you have enough of these it would be worth them doing because they have large scanners and the proper software to do this correctly. Nick,

[TJS]

TJS
I called Kinkos and they said they can scan a pattern and vectorize it in the AI files I need to cut it out. This is in KCMO area but I'll assume any Kinkos
could do it. It's a $30 min and depending on how complex it may be more depending on time. If you have enough of these it would be worth them doing because they have large scanners and the proper software to do this correctly. Nick,

I will check with Kinkos. They are clowns here but we will see. What does an AI file mean. What extension do I need to tell Kinkos I want.
Thanks.
T.J.

[monte55]

See post #15