Ontopic The new car-seching thread

Make the walls of the mold thin - like 2mm thin or less. It'll save plastic, and it'll make it much easier to get the PLA off the urethane. You can heat the mold up to soften the plastic and just peel it off, leaving next to no marks on the urethane.

Use lots of mold release.
 
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Make the walls of the mold thin - like 2mm thin or less. It'll save plastic, and it'll make it much easier to get the PLA off the urethane. You can heat the mold up to soften the plastic and just peel it off, leaving next to no marks on the urethane.

Use lots of mold release.
With patience and lubrication, the elephant slowly violated the fly.
 
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Goddamned PO on the Audi went all sex-nuts and retard-strong on the clamp on the suction line for the hydraulic pump (power steering and brakes). Now it's leaking from a very peculiarly shaped line that is NLA.

Fortunately, it looks like the union that gets it into the pump is just a straight metric + O-ring to hose nipple, so if I get a 90° fitting that has the same thread on the bottom, I should be good to go with that, and a straight shot of transmission cooler line.

Fuck though, it's gonna be messy. I hate taking apart hydraulic circuits. The front circuit on the pump is 120 bar (feeds the brake booster), rear is like 4 bar (feeds the power steering).
 
Looking to really wrap up my ultrasonic cleaner install. After a couple of runs I realized how much crap builds up in the bottom of the tub when you drain it. I'd like to do some sort of filter system to pick up all the sediment and nastiness that shows up.

I'd like to put it on the copper line, mounted to that leg of the workbench, with the open end dropping into storage containers.

McMaster has these but I think they may clog quickly https://www.mcmaster.com/filters/strainers/low-pressure-bronze-y-strainers-8/

Anyone have anything they've used that they like?



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IDK what random-ass fitting they put on the vacuum chamber, but it doesn't match up with the 1/4" flare, the 3/8" flare, or the 1/2" ACME on the vacuum pump. It threads onto the 1/4" flare just fine, but I think it's just an NPT adapter.

Gotta go find a different one at Lowe's or something.
 
Figured it out. Just gonna ditch the semi-flexible hose that came with the thing, and put a 1/4" NPT to flare fitting on the vacuum pot, then I can use the nice hose off my AC manifold gauge.
 
Was wrong. Had to put the ACME thread adapters on the vacuum pot and the vacuum pump to use my manifold gauge hose.

Still had to get a new ball valve for the vacuum side of the manifold on the pot, b/c the stupid one that came with it wasn't threaded on the output. Fortunately, the mani was threaded for 1/4" NPT, so all I had to do was go to the autofarts store and get a 1/4" air line valve.
 
Round 1 was a failure. I didn't let the air out sufficiently, so it ended up bubbling all over the top, and not really conforming to the lip.

Round 2, I've split the mold into 3 pieces - two halves, and the core with the positive for the hole up the middle. It should bolt together with 6 1/4-20 bolts, and I'll load it up with more silicone spray to make demolding easier, and extend the time in the vacuum to two minutes.
 
Getting that center core out of the bushing is gonna be fun - you'll have to crack the bottom off it and pound the thing out with a socket while holding the rest of the bushing in a jig. Might be easier to use a smooth metal rod (maybe you can get a bolt with a long enough shoulder?) in there instead for the core material, that you can twist and pull out.

Moulding it longer than it needs to be, and trimming it to length by cutting off the top (where most of your air bubbles will end up) will also help with the air bubbling issue.
 
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How about this?

Hopefully the urethane is viscous enough that you can get the two halves together + pinching around the top of the bolt without any leaks. Once you get the molds off (might be worth adding some tabs or slots in the mold for prying, if needed) then you'll have a bushing on a bolt.

To trim the excess off the bushing, put the bolt in a drill and spin it, and use a hacksaw or something to cut through the 'trim here' mark. Or use a lathe if you've got one of those fancy things. Then make an appropriate fixture (drill a hole through a chunk of wood) and pound the bolt out of the bushing.
 
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How about this?

Hopefully the urethane is viscous enough that you can get the two halves together + pinching around the top of the bolt without any leaks. Once you get the molds off (might be worth adding some tabs or slots in the mold for prying, if needed) then you'll have a bushing on a bolt.

To trim the excess off the bushing, put the bolt in a drill and spin it, and use a hacksaw or something to cut through the 'trim here' mark. Or use a lathe if you've got one of those fancy things. Then make an appropriate fixture (drill a hole through a chunk of wood) and pound the bolt out of the bushing.
If the 2nd iteration is unsuccessful, this'll be my plan for the 3rd go-round.
 
Gah, the Audi is still fucking leaking hydraulic fluid after replacing the entire low-pressure side of the system (b/c of some PO fuckery) yesterday.

Fortunately, I'd well and thoroughly cleaned the engine bay out yesterday, so I could follow the f'n snail trail back up the line to the culprit.

Found a banjo fitting on the steering rack that was all covered in fresh schmutz. It's a 19mm, and from what I could see, it's got the correct number of crush washers on it, so I tightened it back up, but I wonder now why it was loose in the first place.