LA head casting ID help.
Thanks all
Do you know what the "B" in the casting number for?
Arron
The "B" in the casting number most likely is the change level of that casting...
The change level is used to track what print revision that those castings were made to...
As parts evolve and are updated due to making improvements or making changes for future models, they make a revision to the part print which is the blueprint drawing for that part... Every change to the blue print is tracked in a chart on that print so you have traceability for each change and what was changed/modified... That change is then referred to as the revision level... When they change the tools/molds to make the new revision, they are required to make the change in the casting so they can track it to what revision of the part print that it was made to....
All castings are required to have the casting number and mold number identified on the part for traceability if any quality issues come up, they can then track it to a particular mold if only one mold has the defect... If they couldn't track what mold has the problem, then they have to go through every mold to look for the issue that may be on only one... There would be alot of time wasted looking for the needle in the hay stack...
There are two prints for the heads, the cast print and the machined print...
The head casting print is what the foundry has to meet with the molds for the raw castings... Any changes to the raw casting are defined by a new revision on the head casting print... When the new changes for that print are put into each mold, the molded casting number has to have the new revision letter with it so they can track it to that change level of the print if any issues come up... The foundry needs to be able to tell which castings are the new ones vs which ones are the old ones as they make the change so they can make sure that they get rid of all of the old revision level before they start shipping the new revision level so an old one doesn't show up 6 months from now... If they find an old head casting sitting around, they have to scrap it after the full change has hit production...
Then there is the head machining print which defines all of the machining required to make the head functional... All machine operations are defined with tolerances so they can machine the critical features that can't be controlled in the raw castings...
Any changes to the machined features are defined and tracked on the head machining print... Like if they change a bolt size, they will define a new drill size and thread tap for the thread on the head machining print... Same with valve seats, milled surfaces, etc....
A change to the machining does not affect the head casting print.. So they have to track each change to what print controls that feature on the part...
