SOT: Need machinist input on project idea Options

[Dr Evil]

I am looking at my options on machining my corvair/VW power plant for the bus. I have come up with a few questions and realize that I have largely been going at this alone and could use input from those who know more than me.
1) I am considering taking the money I would spend to have the p/c machined and buying a mini mill so I can do it myself. Is this foolish? Is it possible? To see what I am going to need to do, look below.

Trim the type 1 cylinder skirt, and drill new holes in the fins for the corvair head stud pattern:



Trim piston skirts to make room for opposing rod end and bolt:


Trim center cylinder side fins down:


2) I will also need to get the block and heads bored out, the valve guides replaced and reamed to the right size, and the rods punched out and oil holes added. If anyone here is up to doing that stuff, let me know as I am looking for a less expensive alternative. But, for the cylinders and pistons, I am considering trying it myself.

[smdubovsky]

It'd be hard as hell to drill holes w/ a press. Since the holes are connected to the old ones, a drill is going to try like hell to move over to that hole. Surely you've tried something like that before. Endmills don't have that problem. Maybe you could drill a smaller hole that doesn't break though, and then use a piloted cutter to open it up?

Yes, you actually could use a belt sander even if it is a caveman approach;) Its going to take a while too. How big is your mini-lathe? 7x10? Grab it w/ the inside jaws (pad w/ brass strips) and part off the end. Its just more classy than a belt sander;)

The little mill attachments for a lathe are for REALLY small parts. Though, if you bought a simple iron webbed angle plate (<$20 enco) you might be able to use it as a horiz drill press. Clamp the plate to the cross slide, cylinder to the plate, and put an endmill in the lathe chuck. Though, might be usefull to find the appropriate sized collet to hold the endmill for extra rigidity.

You might even be able to do the pistons that way. You'll have more difficulty setting up the Z dimension w/o fine adjustment, but you could just clamp them to the angle plate at the right height (clamp a fixture block to make repetition easy?). Use the cross for the cutting. Only the cut near the center is critical location wise, all the others are just removing material closer to the edge as you move and clamp the piston further and further up the plate. Make sense?

Heck, you could even do the pistons w/ a die grinder + carbide bur. You're going to need to do something anyway to get them back into balance even if you use a mill.

If you get creative anythings possibile w/ few tools. The right tools just make the job easier.