Ford Flat Head V8 Engine Control Box

thingiverse

After starting to construct Eric Harrell's Ford Flathead V8 design, I made the decision to create a control box that would match the engine's quality and level of detail. Since Eric kindly shared his design with me, I aimed to develop something that mirrored the look of Exide batteries from my childhood. This new design needed to be both clean-looking and allow for easy control of the V8 engine. Recognizing that this design may not appeal to everyone, I chose to share it with those who, like me, are meticulous about details. Printing this control box requires multiple steps and some gluing to complete the assembly process. By doing so, I was able to print the parts in a way that allowed for better fitment through step-by-step assembly. Additionally, I could enhance the printing by having different pieces printed in contrasting colors. For instance, I decided to have the cell caps printed in yellow, eliminating the need for later painting and simply requiring gluing into place. The front and back side panels are printed with contrasting colors for the letters, which print better when lying flat on the bed. The Prusa Slicer allowed me to change colors at specific layers during the printing process. To achieve a clean-looking battery design, I incorporated the cable connector into a replica of a battery terminal and made one of the battery posts the actual rheostat control knob for engine speed control. For the final touch, I added a chamber in the box to hold lead shot, giving the unit some weight and adding realism. This also keeps the unit from moving around on the table when operating the engine. To ensure portability, I wanted to use a USB Power Pack to provide input power. A Booster circuit board allows for input power to come from either a USB Charger or a USB Power Pack, increasing the 5 volts from the USB connector to the required 12 volts of the engine. The chosen connector is a USB Type C connector, eliminating worries about which side of the connector is up or down. Please refer to the attached PDF file for additional build information and assembly instructions.