What are people using to drill the hole for the LT1 conversion? I am getting ready to get the conversion going. Thanks, BranZ

 

A vertical milling machine. If you're looking to buy one, be aware that most are 3 phase, so you'd need a phase converter to run it on single phase power.


But you could get away with a milling/drilling machine. More likely to be 110v single phase.


Lon

 

That’s a bit overkill. A hole cutter in a drill press works fine, or even a spade or forestner bit in a drill press or hand drill is OK.

 

I haven't done the conversion. However I can tell you that at least two of the bits you mention (forstner bit and spade bit) are designed for wood use. A hole cutter can mean a lot of things. If you're referring to a hole saw, it too is designed for wood use. Here's an example of a hole cutter that could be used for this application. Yes I suppose you could use a drill press, but positioning the intake and clamping it could be a bit of a PITA.

Lon

 

I've used the wood type hole saws on aluminum before. It works ok, you just need to go at a very low RPM and use alot of oil on it as you cut.

 

Most, non hardened (and even some hardened) aluminum is significantly softer then a lot of hard wood, and even better, doesn’t have the grain structure. Reliable aluminum cutting tools do not have to be as sharp or as hard/strong as comparable tools for hard wood. The only problem with cutting aluminum is that it has a tendency to gum up cutters, especially if you’re cutting fast enough that you make any heat. A lubricant is usually all that’s needed to get around that, WD40, oil, most machinist’s lubes, even orange oil type cleaners work very well as lubricants in aluminum and will result in a cut that almost looks polished. If you don’t feel like making a mess with liquid lube you can usually get away with using some paraffin wax rubbed on the cutters/blades.

Wood hole saws will work, but the problem with them is that the teeth really are too fine to work well in aluminum, even with a lot of lube… you’ll get a hole but it will have rough edges from the bits of aluminum that gets welded and ripped off of the cutting edge as you make the cut.

Even a metal hole saw isn’t great for the same reason, they just do not remove enough material to prevent heat buildup unless you run it at a very low rpm.

 

I have cut through 1" thick aluminum with a hole saw. Yes, it did take a little while but yes I did get all the way through it.

 

I've even cut through mild steel sheet with hole saws before and never had a problem. In fact, that's how I made the 1/8" thick mild steel guide for lining up the dizzy hole for my conversion. I bolted the guide in place using two 3/8" fasteners, then used a cordless drill to make the cut through the aluminum manifold. Cordless can go slow enough that I didn't even need to use lube on the bit. Easy.

 

I used a hole saw to go after some 1/2" thick turbo flanges and it worked fine... just made some 1/4" flanges for a supercharger the same way

 

yeah, I've cut holes in 1/4" thick steel with hole saws, also.

 

I've gone up to 1.5" 6061 aluminum using the method I described above. The surface finish is a little rough like crossfire described, but some minor finishing with a bastard file was all it took to get a nice smooth finish.

 

I did one a while back with a hole saw.
lol funny u say this. i used a hole saw and a electric drill get though a 12 inch round 1/4 thick steel steam line once. killed my drill battery but hey it was snapon so it was replaced. My brother actualy put me up to it on a bet i lost. so it can be done

 

How are you guys lining up the dissy hole, aren't they on like a 2 or 3 degree angle? And isn't the dissy mounting depth very important?

On a side note, bi-metal hole saws cut fine, but don't leave a machined surface. My tubing notcher uses one and it notches 4130 fine, in fact I have probably over 100 notches on it with no problems.

 

yup just buy a shim from john @lt1intake.com or have a machinist make you one .

 

With that spacer, how do you know that you put it on right? I'm guessing the distributor sits at certain way and you just rotate the spacer until there are no gaps?

Now can you simply JB weld the spacer to the intake? And that spring/latch thing on the back of the newer converted LT1 intakes, what does that do?

 

You know you put the spacer on right by measuring several times to know what height your dizzy requires, then rotate the spacer until the top sits level with the block's top surface.

What's the spring you're talking about? I see a stack of washers and a bolt holding down the distributor bracket... is that what you think is a spring and a latch???

 

that's what i did i strapped it down to the bed of a bridgeport

 

The easiest thing to do is to have john do it. hes good and backs up his work. If you mess it up its most likely ruined

 

ruined?it's just metal.if you screw it up you can all ways replace the metal that you took away.

 

yea but ya gotta admit its easier to put it in the mail. his prices arent that high realy. I converted mine on my own and john was the best help with it. he sent me several pics of were to drill and what to be done in detail. i think i still have them if anyone wants them?