I would be using aluminum (6061??) as the material. The intake I'm taking about is here:
Picture 1 Picture 2
So would investment (lost wax) casting be the best method to acheive the bore? Would it work something like this:
1) Use some flexible product to make a mold out of this part. Once dried, peel the mold away.
2) Use this mold to produce lost wax molds of the actual part.
3) Place the wax mold inside the sand and make sure the sand completely fills the bore. Then proceed to cast as normal.
I know there would be some machining to be done at the end, but I feel this casting way is a lot cheaper and waists much less material than just CNC machining these parts out of blocks of aluminum...
Any corrections or advice on the above would be appreciated.
BTW, how do you think Ford made this part? Lost wax?? How did they manage to create that large bore? Did they have a plug in the middle and then pulled it out, but I don't see how that's possible with the curve in there and the various protrusions inside.