"Ted Frater" wrote in message
...
Ed Huntress wrote:
wrote in message
...
Here's a nice little video showing casting, machining, and assembly of
Ferrari auto engines. That casting section of the plant looks to be
the cleanest foundry operation I have ever seen. Anybody else ever
seen such a clean foundry?

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=0e1_1298514486

Dave

This is not a put-up job for the video. Ferrari's casting and machining
operations have been industry standards at least since the 1960s.

Back in the late '80s, one of my clients was Mandelli, the machine tool
company that pioneered advanced machining centers (they used DEC
minicomputers for CNCs). Ferrari was their showcase customer, not just
because of the name recognition but also because Ferrari ran some of the
most advanced flexible machining cells in the world. I watched hours of
video of their operations then, including the foundry, and it was really
impressive. At that point I'd spent over 12 years reporting on
metalworking manufacturing and had visited at least 30 foundries around
the US, Germany, and Japan, including Ford, GM, and Toyota. I never saw
anything quite like the Ferrari operation. The pride of those workers was
obvious. Old Enzo couldn't stand finishing second at anything.


So good to see you posting again.Ed!!

Weve a foundry near here, in an old victorian building, they do ali,
bonze, and iron. Mostly for the restoration and steam repair folk.
They keep their ali melts fluid all the time as its cheaper than letting
them cool off and re heat.
They are surviving ,just, because they speciallise in one offs etc.

Re the ferrai video, it shows the crankshafts in the forged? state, Or
were they cast steel?

Hi, Ted. I don't think I ever knew what the cranks were made of, but I'd be
surprised if a Ferrari crankshaft was not forged steel, at least back in the
'80s.

Liquid nitrogen cooled valve inserts, and one man assembles each engine.

however, any running in? on the dynamometer test bed? to 7500 rpm?
Note very short stroke to bore ratio.

I've never touched a Ferrari engine but my mechanic in town was a
factory-trained Ferrari mechanic, and I was allowed to watch him work on the
occassional Ferrari that showed up at his shop. Those engines are like
jewels. One of my best memories of racing was watching (and hearing) Mike
Gamino's Ferrari GTO at Watkins Glen, in...hmmm...it was '63 or '64. I think
the latter.

Only down side cam belt not chain, but the cam belt will have a lot less
innertia.
Plastic cam belts are the curse of modern engines.
Ted

Yeah. Well, there's always a tradeoff. Adjusting the bottom chain of
two-stage cam chain drive on an early Jaguar XK was not a bad job, but it
was a frequent one. That was before they were self-adjusting -- which
helped, but it was not a cure.

--
Ed Huntress