scott schmerge
Full Access Member
I reached out to my buddy about this. Waiting to hear back on the manufacturing front.
I don't have one of these handy, but looking at images and reading a bit.. it seems like the factory part is a two piece plastic cast that is bonded together. That obviously makes for a weak point. I am wondering if it would be possible to use a stock part and make an aluminum die casting of it. We would need to work with a company that specializes in this. I looked a few up, like this one in Iowa (near-ish me) that does stuff like this..
It seems like it could get a little expensive, but I am ok with that. It would require finish work to get the o-ring surfaces correct.
Edit: either way, if we get a good CAD model, we could have a few of us go off and individually fund a few prototypes to figure out what the best one is. I doub't any of us care to make this a profit thing. I'd be happy to do all of it at cost if we can keep more LR4 on the road.
https://www.leclairemfg.com/industries-served/engine-components/
I think cnc machined is going to provide us with the best copy. Any yes, looking at the part it is clearly an abs molded part that is fused together. Getting a cad model will no doubt provide us with the ability to try to source an affordable and durable pipe.