Hi all I have a small shop restoring classic cars. The only casting experience I have was in college-I went to McPherson College in KS to get a B.S in auto restoration technology. At my shop we're about to get finished with a 1951 Chevy 3100 pickup. I've done a good bit of early corvettes up to this point, and after the chevy pickup there is a 1950 MG TD, a 1968 Vette, and a 1974 Alfa Romeo GTV 2000. Quite the spread. I've specialized in full turn-key restorations up to this point, and have enjoyed the process but I have decided to pivot the business towards parts. Small scale manufacturing has really changed over the last few years allowing me to slowly get into that with CAD design and 3D printing (I have a RatRig 500mm^3 for larger parts). I will be setting up a CNC in the next few months. However, like some of the hard skillsets involved with restoring cars, casting is one of the old world skillsets that I think is a must to learn. In the spring time I plan to build a foundry and see what I can manage. Aluminum parts will be a big part, but I also want to get into the higher temp materials like Ni resist iron, stainless, and inconel. I'm sure I will have lots of questions, but I will do my best to look through the tutorials/past threads first. Looking forward to contributing.
Hi Buzz, welcome. We like pictures here, I know there may be privacy issues but if your clients wouldn't mind, we'd love to see some pictures of your work.
Interestingly enough.. I've been going from casting and cnc to auto restorations. Just not enough time to do everything.... I'm from Maryland also...
Welocome Buzz. Csting alumimnum will come relatively easy. Iron is a bit more of a stretch but certainly within the realm of a hobbyist and small business. Steels and Inconel are another level. You'll figure that out along the way. Best, Kelly
Small world, where at? I'm in Baltimore County near Prettyboy Reservoir. That's a lot of fresh looking sheet metal on that Opel, how much of it did you replace? I'm pivoting towards parts because finding good labor is such a pain. I'm sure I'll keep restoring, but not four full restos at a time, it's too much. Yeah, I figured that it would be a tall order-but I'm gonna give it a shot. The plan is to build a solid fuel furnace, and have a decent electric one for investment burnout and melting aluminum. Rocco, my personal hobby car is a 1981 VW Scirocco S, any correlation with your screen name? Lol. Happy to oblige. This is a 1958 Corvette restomod, which was the first full restoration under my own name. I delivered in 2019 down to Beaufort, SC. The car won the Crescent award that year at the Hilton Head Island concours. The owners took covid pretty seriously, so it hasn't gotten out much since then.
I'm up here in Fair Hill Maryland.. This one was wrecked back before 1981 and taken apart, then shoved in a barn. I had to replace the rr quarter, rear tail panel, and installing a new front belly pan. Rust was pretty minimal, couple small holes in floor pan (pea sized) and a couple spots at the bottom of the front fenders but nothing major... Came with all new nos sheet metal to repair it..
A direct correlation as a matter of fact, I've had several over the years, sadly right now, I'm Scirocco-less.
Solid fuel?......as in coke and cupola? Or do you mean liquid like waste oil? Cupolas are great for iron in larger melts but realisticly, the only way you will do steel is an induction furnace. In quantities sufficient to make parts of any appreciable size, quite the investment and learning curve. Better to start with lower melting point metals to get your feet under you. Best, Kelly
