Flat Head V8 Desktop Stand

thingiverse

This is a model of a 1937 Ford Flathead V8 engine by EricthePoolBoy (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2537602) that I just completed. I used the parts kit offered by MarkerRx (https://www.makerrx.com/collections/projectkits/products/mrx5), which makes the assembly process pretty straightforward. The price for the parts kit is $95, which initially seemed high to me but after receiving it and making the engine I decided was worth every penny. It includes over 400 pieces of 37 different parts, including a geared motor, speed controller, power supply, etc. One key thing that the kit includes are the valve springs. After attempting to wind my own springs for other projects, I'm happy to have nicely wound springs of the correct diameter and length. Also, I did some estimates and the cost of ordering all the parts myself with shipping would have been well over $100 and I would have had a lot of leftover parts to store. Eric's engine stand for the Flat Head V8 (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2225638) was too large for my purposes. I wanted a compact desktop stand that included a place to mount the motor speed controller board that came with the MakerRx parts kit. As a result, I made this simple stand that effectively displays the engine and provides a clean solution for the circuitry. The engine simply lifts off the stand. The only downside with my design is that the rear mounting bracket for the stand must be unscrewed to remove the oil pan. Because I changed the design to have DC power plug on a short cable extend from the starter, rather than using a DC power jack to provide power to the geared motor, I also redesigned the starter motor parts. My starter design does not include a solenoid (which was used to hold the DC power jack for the motor), and more closely resembles the original 1937 starter. I used an M2x6mm screw and nut to clamp the strap on the started that is used to cover the brushes in the original starter. And two M2.5x6mm screws to attach the Starter Back to the Starter Body. Four M2x6mm flat head screws attach the Rear Mounting Plate to the bottom of the Display Base. The Front Mount Posts glue into the Display Base, and I used some leftover 4x2mm magnets from the parts kit to provide a magnetic connection between the Front Mount Posts and some pads on the front corners of the block. I used the #19 drill with the depth stop (as described in the Ford Flat Head Assembly Structures for the threaded inserts) to drill holes for the magnets in the block. The Display Base was too large to print as a single part on my printer, so I split it into 'a' and 'b' parts. The two halves of the Display Base can be connected using two M3x12 screws, washers, and nuts.