Abstract: A mold, or die is easily and conveniently maintainable, includes releasably retained parts and permits access and removal of mold parts or elements that may need maintenance, repair or replacement without removal of the mold or die from a die casting machine.

Abstract: A die for die-casting a V-block for an internal combustion engine may be operated by a wide range of die-casting machines, including those with inadequate capacity to operate the normally heavy dies for large cast parts. Such a die includes, in addition to a stationary die element for the stationary platen of a die-casting machine, only a single movable die element carried by the tie bars and slides of a die-casting machine and carrying the cylinder-forming die core pieces, means for locking the die core pieces in their extended cylinder-forming positions, and the plurality of cavity-forming slides.

Abstract: Air voids within a die casting may be minimized by controlling, during the shot process, the venting of gas from the shot tube through a shot tube opening with the proper size at a proper location, and the movement of metal within the shot tube to avoid entrapped gas and prematurely solidified aluminum particles in the molten metal being injected into the die cavity during the shot process.