# Reverse-engineering custom engine parts made easy
**URL:** https://forums.speedlife.net/t/reverse-engineering-custom-engine-parts-made-easy/177821
**Category:** PittSpeed Off Topic
**Created:** [October 24, 2005, 11:14am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/reverse-engineering-custom-engine-parts-made-easy/177821 "2005-10-24T11:14:48Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@grindpunk16](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/grindpunk16)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2005, 11:14am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/reverse-engineering-custom-engine-parts-made-easy/177821/1 "2005-10-24T11:14:48Z")
[Reverse-engineering custom engine parts made easy](http://www.autoblog.com/entry/1234000543064683/)
Posted Oct 24, 2005, 1:00 PM ET by Eric Bryant
At every level of racing, parts are modified by hand in an attempt to gain a bit (or a lot) of performance through well-educated guesswork. What, then, once a week’s worth of effort with a die grinder yields something that works? Geomagic has a neat little case study that involves an intake manifold for Kevin Harvick’s Nextel Cup car. The geometry of this custom part was worth 5 HP (a huge improvement at that level of racing), but reproducing such a part by hand can be dang near impossible.
The company provided software that allowed Richard Childress Racing to scan the part with a CMM, pull it into ProE, and then reproduce as many parts as they wanted on a CNC machine in one-seventh the time it took to duplicate the part by hand, and likely with far better tolerances. For us mortals, companies like CNC Cylinder Head can perform similar services, and with the decreasing cost of such equipment, it wouldn’t be surprising to find such a setup at your local machine shop in the not-to-distant future.
> **[Software | 3D Systems](https://www.3dsystems.com/software)**
>
> Engineering software from 3D Systems enable the creation of 3D data from scans, design and manufacturing and 3D inspection of production parts
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### Author:  [@JackdUp](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/JackdUp)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2005, 1:02pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/reverse-engineering-custom-engine-parts-made-easy/177821/2 "2005-10-24T13:02:07Z")
Nice find, 3D point mapping devices are cool as hell. Wish I had one of these setups!
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### Author:  [@bgblockelcamino](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/bgblockelcamino)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2005, 3:30pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/reverse-engineering-custom-engine-parts-made-easy/177821/3 "2005-10-24T15:30:04Z")
We had a similar machine at Pitt Engineering labs. def very cool
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### Author:  [@Jeff95TA](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Jeff95TA)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2005, 5:16pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/reverse-engineering-custom-engine-parts-made-easy/177821/4 "2005-10-24T17:16:01Z")
> [@bgblockelcamino](#):
>
> We had a similar machine at Pitt Engineering labs. def very cool
I think we were talking to Pitt about using it for some reverse engineering work.
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### Author:  [@bgblockelcamino](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/bgblockelcamino)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2005, 8:16pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/reverse-engineering-custom-engine-parts-made-easy/177821/5 "2005-10-24T20:16:08Z")
> [@Jeff95TA](#):
>
> I think we were talking to Pitt about using it for some reverse engineering work.
Swanson lab in the basement of Benedum is pretty kickass
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### Author:  [@Atreyu](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Atreyu)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2005, 5:02am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/reverse-engineering-custom-engine-parts-made-easy/177821/6 "2005-10-25T05:02:18Z")
> [@bgblockelcamino](#):
>
> We had a similar machine at Pitt Engineering labs. def very cool
Pitt engineering alum?