BTTF Time Machine Build Questions - Ask Me Anything

[Timebender]

Well, luck has it that I was able to get a DS Mr. Fusion for cheap on eBay a while ago, because as the seller put it “it’s broken”. It wasn’t , and I made off like a bandit on it. So measure it I will, and redo the lid to fit a real Krups (I have two). The plan then is to print the base and lid, and then offer those as vacuformed parts for a reasonable price to the community of builders for a lot less than other replica vendors.

[mluder]

Well, luck has it that I was able to get a DS Mr. Fusion for cheap on eBay a while ago, because as the seller put it “it’s broken”. It wasn’t , and I made off like a bandit on it. So measure it I will, and redo the lid to fit a real Krups (I have two). The plan then is to print the base and lid, and then offer those as vacuformed parts for a reasonable price to the community of builders for a lot less than other replica vendors.

Would you be willing to share the digital files so I might print my own?
Cheers
Steve

[Timebender]

Would you be willing to share the digital files so I might print my own?
Cheers
Steve

Of course! They’ll be up on Thingiverse when I’m done.

[mluder]

Of course! They’ll be up on Thingiverse when I’m done.

Cool!

[Justin]

The gold heatsinks are made of aluminum and finished with gold chem film. It's a type of chromate conversion coating used to protect the aluminum from oxidation / corrosion. It's a similar process to how zinc plated steel parts are finished to look yellow after zinc plating. It's tough to find places these days that will still provide gold chem film coatings because it typically requires hexavalent chromium. Most places now only provide trivalent chrome conversion coatings because of industry standards and toxicity of the hex chromium. Some places that offer trivalent conversion coatings will add a yellow dye to simulate hex chrome, but it doesn't look exactly the same.

Just wanted to give a bit of an update to everybody, I went and found a place that will do the coating (Santa Clara Plating Co) and they looked pretty nice when they came back. My phone wasn't able to capture the actual color very well, but I think that they look really good myself.


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[smcguiga]

Circling back to the hoses...does anyone have any info for some easily sourced substitute hoses (with lengths/diameters) for those that are really hard to find or crazy expensive? After spending the past few years purchasing, 3d printing, and building/modeling parts I'm down to needing hoses and I'd like to starting with "something close" and hopefully swap out over time.



Thanks!

I could probably write a book just on all the hoses used... there is a lot to know about each one individually but I'll start with some basic info. A few are still available but most are either NLA or prohibitively expensive for the casual time machine builder. I've spent more time than I care to admit running NSN searches to find hoses that are close that can be cut apart and made to look correct. Most were originally purchased from Luky's in Burbank, CA. This place can still cut and crimp hose ends so if you find hoses with the right fittings but are too long, or only have one correct fitting you can frankenstein multiple hoses into one good one.

A while back I was talking with another member on the board and he created this image of the rear deck and assigned letters to each hose:



"A" - Hydraflow Bulkhead Hose(s) - These can be purchased to original spec direct from hydraflow. Super expensive though...like 300 bucks per hose. Need one on the side of the car and the same hose is mounted next to the flux capacitor in the inside of the car. The end fittings and crimping ferrules have slightly changed over the years but are pretty much the same as vintage hoses.

"B.1 and B.2" - Vent to Bulkhead - Large hoses from the side of the vents to the bulkhead are different PN's for each side. These can still be made to spec from the original supplier, I don't have the info handy at the moment for the supplier, but if you're interested I can dig it up. I think each hose was a couple hundred bucks.

"C" - Hydraflow Janitrol hose - This simply inserts into the Janitrol and the other end connects to a custom welded pipe fitting/bulkhead connector that is screwed into the bulkhead. The hose itself is similar to hose A but is a larger size. Same green nomex casing over the hose.

"D" - Flexible Aluminum Duct - Can be purchased from NAPA and other auto parts stores, pretty standard emissions hose.

"E" - Oil Separator to Trapezoid Hoses - These have to be hand made from scratch and are a huge pain in the ass to make correctly. Metal flexible inner hose covered by a special SS woven double outer braid. We've had to machine end fittings from scratch since they are not available anywhere.

"F" - Weatherhead crossover tube - Used to be plentiful at Luky's but have not been available for a long time. People have made castings of these that look just as real as the originals. The end fittings can be painted with "Metalcast" anodizing paint.

"G" - Vent to Vent - Small black inboard hoses w/ 45 deg fittings that bridge across the black strip on the vents. These also came from Luky's and no longer exist. The set I have was custom made by butchering together various different hoses that had the correct end fittings.

"H" - Reactor Duct - Black corrugated ducting connected to plastic/PVC elbows painted silver. Each requires a different type of clamp. Lots more to know on the hose and clamps. If you want accuracy.

"I" - "Vent to Deck" - Small stainless hoses with 90 fittings originally came from Luky's. These don't exist anymore either with the correct type of end fittings. The set I have was butchered together using longer hoses with the fittings cut off and then crimped back on a shorter hose.

"J" - CAT Ducting - http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/appages/cat.php - I'll have to look up the correct size. This same ducting is used on the interior of the car along the center console.

"K" - Orange and black exhaust duct - Connects to 90 deg elbow on flux capacitor through the bulkhead.


OTHERS NOT LABELED:

Hydraflow reactor hoses - These are the four reactor hoses that connect around the ring of the reactor and fit between the heatsinks. The far ends connect to the oil separators. These can be purchased from hydraflow or XRP to specs that are close to the originals. $100-$200 per hose though. Vintage ones are almost impossible to find in the the correct size, AN-5 so AN-6 reproduction are one option. The correct hoses have a single black spiral tracer that runs the length of the hose, the repros are either solid green or have a double yellow tracer.

Orange tube - Connects Janitrol to Zero can on rear bulkhead - Flexible Air intake duct. Not sure if the supplier for these have dried up or not.

[loyalty4life]

One of the best resources out there for accurate Mr. Fusion dimensions would be the Diamond Select replica. It was created from info provided by Temporal FX and the time machine restoration team. Screen used parts were referenced in the creation of a CAD models but that info is not my intellectual property to share.

Hi Mark,

I sent you a private message on Facebook. It'll only take a minute to respond when you're able to -- many thanks sir.

[Mark D]

Hi Mark,

I sent you a private message on Facebook. It'll only take a minute to respond when you're able to -- many thanks sir.

Yup, got it. My PM inbox was full here so I just cleaned it out.

[Justin]

Hey Mark. I head that during filming the SID was made to be an actual Spectrum Analyzer with audio fed into it and the level adjusted by adjusting the volume. First off could you possibly confirm this? And if that is how it was done do you have any idea what audio was used? Also there are some lights at the top of the SID that don't seem to light up, do you know if they were just dead/disconnected or if they just were not lit?

Thanks again
Justin

[Mark D]

Hey Mark. I head that during filming the SID was made to be an actual Spectrum Analyzer with audio fed into it and the level adjusted by adjusting the volume. First off could you possibly confirm this? And if that is how it was done do you have any idea what audio was used? Also there are some lights at the top of the SID that don't seem to light up, do you know if they were just dead/disconnected or if they just were not lit?

Thanks again
Justin

Hi Justin,
The SID was originally designed to be controlled off camera using a series of switches that would progressively light up the grid in predetermined sections. If I'm remembering correctly, there are 8 individual banks of lights, each powered through a relay that can be switched on separately.

The relays are mounted to the back side of the SID panel just below the lighted section and are hard wired to each bank of lights. There is no way to individually turn on a single bulb in the array. The several lights at the very top of the grid that remain unlit during "full on" mode at 88MPH remain off intentionally. The lights in these locations are not wired to anything.

The A car was restored so that effects ECU that controls the entire car can control the SID in several different ways.

1. In static 'display' mode, the car runs through a series of pre-programmed scripted events that mimic the car is accelerating up to 88MPH and traveling through time. The speedo, flux capacitor, plutonium meters, SID, and sound FX all are choreographed together.

2. The electronics can also function in 'road mode' on a running, driving car. The SID display will light up progressively as the vehicle's speed and engine RPM increases. The specific interval at which each bank lights up was researched and scrutinized by reviewing all scenes from the BTTF trilogy.

A spectrum analyzer version of the SID was also created by Temporal FX back in the late 2000's and was installed on several replica cars we built prior to the A car restoration. This unit controls each light on the SID individually and responds to sound input via a microphone. It also has the capability to receive audio though a line-in jack so it can "play" predetermined sequences using a sound file. Each vertical bar of the analyzer responds to a frequency range of audio input. If you want to see the TFX spectrum analyzer version of the SID in action take a look at this video from the 2010 Scream Awards:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zocoJKoaYc

SID action starts at around 1:00 into the video. Apologies in advance for David Spade's dumb jokes.