CAD/CAM system designs diverse auto parts

VX Corporation has reported how its CAD/CAM system is helping the Healey Werks to design parts for use in its automobile restoration activities.

VX CAD/CAM is used constantly at the Healey Werks to design such diverse parts as a trigger wheel sensor for a customer who wanted custom-designed traction control, intake manifolds for custom fuel injection, and 'out of nothing' suspension elements.

Sometimes VX is used to replicate specialised factory tools that are no longer available.

VX helps the Healey Werks deal with the sheer age of some of the cars they are restoring.

Nick Lahrs, shop foreman at the Healey Werks, said: 'If we are building a vintage 1960s V12 Ferrari and we need a bushing that is 31 thousandths bigger to compensate for wear, you can't order it from the factory.

'But you can design what you need in VX and use the CAM feature to make it on one of our CNC machines.

With VX, the Healey Werks can move and align parts, whether solid or wire frame, so that they can monitor internal structures and strength.

Craig Hillinger, president of the Healey Werks, said: 'With VX we can know better what we are building and be intimately familiar with all aspects of a part.

'We can have a better idea of how the part will react in a real-world setting.

Using a digital laser scanner, the Healey Werks can scan parts, import them into VX, manipulate the design in VX, and send the result to the customer for approval.

Hillinger added: 'Importing, visualisation, and video enhancement in VX is key to what we do.

'If you're going to morph the fenders of a vintage car so you can install disk brakes, it's infinitely better to be able to do it in VX first.

VX has expanded the Healey Werks' vision of what it can do.

Hillinger said: 'Our focus is much broader now that we have this tool in house.

'Maybe we would have suggested the same approach to meeting the customer's need before, but now - with VX - we can get there a lot more efficiently.

'We produce more accurate drawings and discover design or engineering issues before we cut metal.

Back to top