Purchasing aluminium stock

C-Bag said:
What was this problem?
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I remember something about fires but the blocks had aluminum as well.
I know magnesium burns very hot.
Not sure of the historical specifics. This should be interesting....

Found this on physics forum
"
In summary, magnesium is not commonly used in engine castings because it is less strong than other metals, is flammable, and is not easily machined.f

Reference: https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/why-magnesium-isnt-used-much-for-engine-castings.275958/
 
Sticking to the topic of Magnesium blocks... I had a 2011 BMW 328 for a few years. It had a Magnesium/Aluminum block. I believe the block was magnesium with aluminum sleeves in the piston bore. They must have nitrated the bores or applied some similar hard surface. BMW used aluminum bolts in any location that screwed directly into the block. Thus was to minimize galvanic corrosion. The bolts were one-time use, requiring a fresh bolt if removed for any reason.

As far as I know it was, and remains, a successful motor. I sold it 4 years ago. Really fun car, but no trunk space and a joke of a back seat.
 
I drove air cooled VW’s for many 100‘s of thousands of miles and rebuilt many. I started off in VW wrecking yards that I rebuilt the engines so saw many scrapped VW’s. Saw many that had fires and never saw one the case had caught fire. Some were pitted but it would have looked like that no matter the metal.

The cause of the fires I saw was from inlet fuel line or a short in the battery cable to the gen regulator. Both had to go through the back sheetmetal shroud and originally there was a heavy rubber grommet they went through to protect them. But as they aged they would harden and break leaving both the fuel line and the battery cable to rub on edge on the sheetmetal. I always put a piece of HD fuel line over each where they went through the firewall sheetmetal and never had a problem. Not one of those fires did I ever see the case catch fire. But that’s just my observation.

The case needed to be split and lots of heat to ignite. Of course the shavings were something you needed to be careful with.

I’m not stupid enough to say the old air cools were as safe as cars today but as an ex motorcycle rider it was a notch above that IMHO. They were transportation pure and simple and had their flaws for sure. But the thing that killed them deader quicker was someone who thought they were the same as an American car. So they didn’t change the oil and didn’t respect the limitation. The most egregious was giving some high school kid a bug as their first car. Quite a percentage of those in the two wrecking yards I worked in were put there by high school kids.
 
Inferno said:
Vega didn't have aluminum piston walls for long. They sleeved them after 74, I think.
My mother replaced her 74 aluminum bore with a 75 sleeve bore. The ridge on the aluminum bore was almost .040 with only 50K on the clock.
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I had a1970 Vega and never had issues; the only problem the stock engines had was blown head gaskets since the heads were C.I. Chevrolet addressed this by adding a coolant overflow reservoir (now common, then only aftermarket): this stopped the system from running low and allowing overheating.

I had a chance to visit with the Vega block team at the Reynolds plant in Richmond: they had examined a block that had been run several hundred miles at highway speeds without coolant: there was no wear on the cylinders even though the aluminum alloy pistons had turned blue.

The Vega blocks were made from a high Silicon alloy that required carbide tooling to machine and special hones to finish.
 
VW engines were often used in firepits, just for fun. Once you got the magnesium started, it couldn't be put out.
 
ChazzC said:
I had a1970 Vega and never had issues; the only problem the stock engines had was blown head gaskets since the heads were C.I. Chevrolet addressed this by adding a coolant overflow reservoir (now common, then only aftermarket): this stopped the system from running low and allowing overheating.

I had a chance to visit with the Vega block team at the Reynolds plant in Richmond: they had examined a block that had been run several hundred miles at highway speeds without coolant: there was no wear on the cylinders even though the aluminum alloy pistons had turned blue.

The Vega blocks were made from a high Silicon alloy that required carbide tooling to machine and special hones to finish.
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i owned a 71 (i think) my understanding was that the problems were caused by the carbs running rich and washing the oil off the cylinder walls.
I replaced my block with a sleeved short block that dropped a cylinder after about 4k miles and they refused to warranty it. last Vega i will ever own.
 
River City Steel, off the southern most part of 410, road begins with a B :)
 
Another source for me is the local steel supply Mine has a scrap yard that has some good stuff from time to time.
Today I picked up 24" of 1 3/4" round stock -Stainless steel -303. For $2.50 a pound
And an 18" piece of 1 1/2" square stock 303.
I paid a little over $80.
When I got home I checked Online metals for the same material-new of course.
$154 for the round stock and $168 for the square stock.
That's $322 plus shipping.
I feel good about my purchase :)
Win win, this stuff machines beautifully!!
 

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jarhead said:
good evening everyone,

A seller on FB marketplace has round and flat stock for sale. Not being a cheapskate what should i expect to pay? By the piece or the pound?

Thank you
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If you are buying off FB Market place I would calculate the weight, look up the scrap price and make an offer based upon that.
 
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