See an advanced, four-valve cylinder head machined from a raw block of aluminum in this fascinating time-lapse video. This isn’t magic. This is better.
To say that CNC (Computer Numerical Control) technology has changed the automotive performance world is a silly understatement. These automated machine tools allow even one-man shops to produce unique, advanced components, going straight “from art to part,” as it’s become known. Builders can skip right over the old, expensive, and time-consuming parts of the manufacturing process, including prototypes, patterns, and molds.
As a result, all the old obstacles to engine development are rapidly disappearing. Engine builders can select their own bore centers, valve configurations, and other hard points, mainly limited only by their imaginations. We don’t know the ultimate application for the four-cylinder, four-valve head created in this short video, but the potential on display is obvious. With the current generation of digital machine tools, virtually any component is possible. For engine designers, this is better than magic. Video below.
The programming for that is hugely intense. And I was surprised that it was machined dry.
Just think what might have been if Harry Miller and Offenhauser had had access to this technology!
I was at Batten Heads from 1981 to 1984 we machined the first Quad Four cylinder heads from Billet for Oldsmobile then we we also making VW billet heads for the public.