The "Billet-Cage" !!!
 

... well guys, we have been very busy in the shop, but my man Cody has been burnin' the midnight oil on this project, and we call it the Billet-Cage, this unit is for an Old's application, but this gives a great perspective of what the Pontiac version will look like, and we also have an aluminum IA block in the shop for a customer, and we will be developing the Pontiac Billet-Cage for his IA block ...

... this unit still has more work to be performed, but i will make updates as we get more progress on it, this thing should look really nice once completed ...

... once the process is finished, then we'll be able to know how much we can sell one for ...

Looks awesome, Cody does some nice work.Should be a great addition to any block.

What does it do?

Its a main girdle...ties everything in together for strength.

It will be interesting to see how the Girdle will be registered to the block with a one piece girdle. It is difficult to get a properly registered main cap off of a block (even using a slide hammer) and now you have an entire plate to equally raise (or you will distort the plate).

Tom Vaught

OK, assuming dry sump only?

Maybe he can add provisions for " jack " bolts at the 4 corners and possibly in the center....?

Something like that might be a possible solution.

Tom Vaught

The OE's use these "Bridges", "Girdles", "Mid-Plates" quite a bit. The three methods I have seen provided for removal are: 1. Jack Screw holes, like NorthStar Cadillac and GM Eco-Tech. 2. Threaded holes in the bridge near the main housing bores for a slide hammer,
3. Notches in the girdle at the outside of the pan rail area as a pry point between the girdle and the block, lots of imports are that way. The jack screw idea stands the best chance of removal without killing the housing bores. Some of the OE ones are sealed with anerobic sealer so the sealer doesn't screw up the oil clearance when the parts are assembled. But they are very difficult to remove. Since the guys at Mondello have the fancy 5-axis machine, I would like to see a captured o-ring or spaghetti seal in a groove in the "bridge" Then no sealer would be needed. Jack screws in the right locations should then push it off the block fairly easily.

Mike, I am a really big fan of the "captured o-ring or spaghetti seal" in a groove technology. 99% of our stuff today is designed that way. A .125" diameter spaghetti seal in a wide groove would seal very well and the parts could be metal to metal.

Tom Vaught

... that will most likely be the process used ...

... no, it can do both, the oil pump pad has been machined so a factory style pump can be used or Titan Billet pump ...

... we've even figured out a way to make the Billet-Cage have a provision to add oil to the mains seperately, a dry sump would be the easiest way to do it, this way a seperate feed to the mains is possible ...

... we'll post pics of that when we get to that stage, also the Pontiac-Cage will bolt directly to the factory timing cover, or it can be machined for the BOP style flat plate ...

How will this setup effect the oil pan/timing cover fit? Will a special oil pan be offered or a do it yourself kit to modify the pan? Trying to figure out how everything will fit together.

That will help things out. What Alloy and temper of aluminum?

... the factory timing cover will bolt directly to the Billet-Cage on the front end of the cage, then the oil pan will be a custom unit built by another company, that's specifically for the cage which will be mostly flat in design, minus a small sump area in the rear of the pan ...

... it's also worth noting that the cage will be easily modifed to use a dry sump set up as you'll be able to machine the scavenge fittings/lines into the side of the cage for the return portion of a dry sump system, we will be working on the "External Main Oiling" modification to the cage and i'll post up some pics so guys can see what i'm trying to describe, but basically you'll have oil coming from the top of the mains & the bottom of the mains ...

... this is a very special grade of 6061 extruded billet aluminum to a CR30 spec, and it is manufactured by a global level aluminum foundry, it is the most dense 6061 available, and it should prove to be a very tough material ...

Looking very good.
The photos make me envious; making chips SO MUCH faster than my manual mill can!
What's a ballpark cost of that billet? Off-shore sourced?
If the alloy were significantly more dense, then it would get a separate SAE schedule from 6061.
If I had to find something to quibble with, it would be the lack of a kick-out cavity.

... it is not cheap i can tell you that, but yes the chips are intense after just a couple hours of machining, OMG !!! ...

... as for the material, i just happen to know a guy at this aluminum foundry, and that is their own internal specification for this material, the people in the front office did not even know what i was talking about when we were trying to order the stuff, my guy at the foundry had to call the front sales desk and inform them that they in fact manufacture this material and that is what it's called "internally", and this is also high quality Made in the USA !!!! ...

... a kick-out might be something down the road Cody could add, but i dont think he'll be doing that anytime soon, he is just trying to finalize the CNC program right now and get costs inline first ...

... below are some links to the machining of the Billet-Cage ...

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0V0t...ga98UqeSIIAi7g)
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myFwL...ga98UqeSIIAi7g)
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7zG6...ga98UqeSIIAi7g)
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EvFY...ga98UqeSIIAi7g)
(http://youtu.be/qxrud7TpTig)

Wow Bill, Cody has put a wupping on that block of aluminum since I last saw it. It only had holes drilled in it. I'll have to sneak over and check it out. This should allow the Olds guys to step it up a little.:)

The ability to run separate oiling to the mains is big,not to mention top and bottom if desired, would be ideal for road racing applications or any other form of racing for that matter , great, great work guys. For now this will be great for the old's guys who don't have a block yet.Cant get much more priority main oiling than its own oil system :)