If you’re planning a big race or street car build, it’s worth thinking about how you can harness the power of 3D scanning, CAD, and additive manufacturing on the big jobs.

In this episode, BBi Autosport’s Dimitri Orlov explains how you can incorporate these tools into your build process, how he utilised them when building the infamous “Hoonipigasus” Porsche 911, and a whole lot more.

Use “BBI50” to get $50 OFF your 3D Modelling & CAD for Motorsport course: https://hpcdmy.co/CADb

BBi Autosport is one of the best known aftermarket Porsche specialists out there, pumping out a range of high-quality parts and builds over the last decade. Based at the company’s California facility, Dimitri is the product development engineer behind it all, despite not having the educational background in mechanical engineering that you might expect of someone in his line of work.

Dimitri is self taught, and that gives him a unique perspective on design and manufacturing. He talks us through his design process, and discusses how far technology has come in the last few years — both in terms of what it can achieve and how accessible it’s become to the home enthusiast. Dimitri explains how the average person can harness all this tech to drastically trim down the amount of time and money being spent on a serious race or street car build.

This then gets us on to the topic of 3D printing final parts in metal, and Dimitri dives into just how useful this technology has become. As he points out — sure, you might not have the capability to print metal at home, but it’s now becoming viable to send your design to a third party which can then create the part using its own multi-million dollar printers.

The conversation then moves on to Dimitri’s most well-known project, the “Hoonipigasus” Porsche 911 hillclimb monster. This is a car that most people will be aware of and think they know a lot about, however Dimitri is able to give us some really interesting insights into the build, its immense challenges, and how he and his team overcame those challenges.

Follow Dimitri and BBi Autosport here:
IG: @orlovdesign, @bbiautosport
YT: BBi Autosport
WWW: orlovdesign.com, bbiautosport.com

Don’t forget, you can use “BBI50” to get $50 OFF your 3D Modelling & CAD for Motorsport course: https://hpcdmy.co/CADb

Timestamps:
4:06 How did you become passionate about the automotive industry?
8:15 How did you learn your skillset?
9:57 Does having shop floor experience make you a better designer?
11:42 Are there any drawbacks to not having an engineering degree?
15:51 When did you start diving into 3D modelling and CAD?
20:32 What are the steps from CAD model to actually machining a physical part
23:10 What did you do before working for BBI and what is BBI?
32:28 Design process.
43:06 Choosing the right manufacturing process for the part.
51:07 Designing a manifold not just for 1000hp, but to fit and work on a factory vehicle.
58:05 How has 3D scanning changed things for BBI?
1:06:40 Are there affordable scanners that are worth buying?
1:12:10 What CAD software do you use and why?
1:20:46 Do you use FEA?
1:27:18 What is the Hoonipigisus?
1:31:15 Engine and gearbox configuration.
1:34:28 Biggest challenge?
1:38:49 Challenge of running a drive shaft from a rear trans to front differential?1:41:30 How much of a disadvantage would it have been rear wheel drive?
1:48:50 Are there any key aspects you’d do differently?