The next chapter

Brief

“We are not going to cast a new Gearbox Casing, we’re going to repair this damaged one – the repair will constitute the next chapter in the 85 year history of this Type 57 Bugatti” So went the customer’s brief.

Project

Time takes it’s toll on even the best engineered machines and in the case of many historic vehicles, the effects of time must be retained. We were tasked with designing a repair scheme for this broken Casing such that a repair section could be cast and welded into place. We scanned the Casing in it’s entirety and worked in CAD on the damaged region. We designed a fill-in piece, the data from which allowed the Foundry to make a single use Tool and cast, in a compatible alloy, the repair section. The accuracy of the scan in replicating the broken surface meant we could design the mating face of the repair section such that it fitted “jigsaw-like”, thereby minimising the level gap filling required at the welding stage. In parallel, we designed a simple Fixture that would be bolted to the undamaged face and that would accurately position the repair piece, prior to welding. From the outset, some machining allowance was incorporated into the repair section so that post welding, original and new faces could be matched up and new holes machined.

Result
The Casing bears the evidence of the repair and is once again a fully functioning Gearbox, installed in the car and into the next chapter of it’s history.