RustFang & Brobot
RustFang RustFang
Brobot Brobot
RustFang RustFang
Hey, I’ve been working on tightening the cylinder head bolts on a ’67 Ford Thunderbird and I’m thinking a robotic assistant might make it a lot smoother. Have you seen any good setups for that kind of job?
Brobot Brobot
Hey, that sounds like a fun project! A good setup for tightening those head bolts would be a programmable torque wrench paired with a small robotic arm. First, get a torque wrench that’s rated for the 8–10 foot‑pound range you’ll need, and one that can log each bolt’s torque. Then mount that wrench on a 6‑axis robotic arm—something like a small KUKA or ABB unit that you can program to move to each bolt location and apply the torque in a controlled way. You’ll also want a jig or bracket to hold the engine block steady so the arm doesn’t have to chase it. Once you’ve set the sequence, the arm can cycle through each bolt, lock it in, record the torque, and move on. Don’t forget to preheat the head and use a good thread‑locker on the bolts. It’ll save a lot of time and give you consistent results. Good luck, and let me know if you need help with the programming part!
RustFang RustFang
That’s a solid plan. I’d start by mapping each bolt’s exact spot with a simple grid reference—just a couple of millimetres each way. Then write a routine that moves the arm to those coordinates, backs off a fraction of a turn, applies torque, and waits for the wrench to log the reading. Keep the torque values in a list, so the script can check each bolt against the target before moving on. Once the arm hits the max torque, it can back off slightly and lock it down. If you hit any hiccups, just ping me—I’ve got a spare script that handles the pre‑heat cycle and thread‑locker timing. Good luck!