Saturday Night Racer

Saturday Night Racer
http://www.latemodelracer.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl
Saturday Night Racer >> RACE TECH >> magnesium trans as strong as aluminum?
http://www.latemodelracer.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1295331009

Message started by imracin68j on 01/17/11 at 10:10pm

Title: magnesium trans as strong as aluminum?
Post by imracin68j on 01/17/11 at 10:10pm

Title: Re: magnesium trans as strong as aluminum?
Post by hogracer3d on 01/17/11 at 10:40pm

I think so, just be careful when welding around it, cause mag burns white hot, and easily ignites compared to other alloys.
It also corrodes worse than aluminum

We got a mag bell housing that weighs only 6 lbs, but only ran it a couple of times

Title: Re: magnesium trans as strong as aluminum?
Post by JC12 on 01/18/11 at 7:43am

Alum, is stronger then Mag,, Mag is strong but brittle.. I weld alot of mag on road race cars, and machine it,,, and if you do a stress test on mag and then alum mag will break much faster then alum,, ..Hope this helps you out,
Joe Carr

Title: Re: magnesium trans as strong as aluminum?
Post by OLD SCHOOL#6 on 01/18/11 at 8:30am

JC12 wrote on 01/18/11 at 7:43am:

YEP --- Mr. Carr is spot on. I don't even keep any Mag filler rod in the shop becuase it is freekin' of the hook price wise.

Bill -- You have one of the nicest, if not "THE", nicest car in the SS class. Concentrate a little more on driving, and a little less on saving a lb. or two............ :) ;)

Title: Re: magnesium trans as strong as aluminum?
Post by benstrans on 01/18/11 at 6:55pm

imracin68j wrote on 01/17/11 at 10:10pm:

A LOT of modern transfer cases for 4 wheel drives are being made out of magnesium so there must not be much of a strength problem.

I"m not aware of any transmission cases, though, so what's your point?

Title: Re: magnesium trans as strong as aluminum?
Post by imracin68j on 01/18/11 at 9:30pm

I don't know what this question has to do with driving a car. I'm in the market for a Brinn and you can grab a used mag brinn or bert for the same cost as an Alumunum version.

benstrans wrote on 01/18/11 at 6:55pm:

imracin68j wrote on 01/17/11 at 10:10pm:

I"m not aware of any transmission cases, though, so what's your point?

Now you're aware.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260723869403&ssPageName=ADME:X:eRTM:MOTORS:1123#ht_500wt_1182

http://www.racingjunk.com/category/1256/Transmissions/post/2088497/BERT-magnesium-transmission.html

Title: Re: magnesium trans as strong as aluminum?
Post by THROCKS11 on 01/19/11 at 12:10am

All i can say is that i have run both the aluminum & mag transmissions, Bert & Brinn & both Bert & Brinn mag & aluminum bell housings. I repair & rebuild both & have Broken a lot of ears off of the aluminum transmissions & the aluminum Bert bell housings crack all over but i rarely see cracks in the mag stuff. I run all mag stuff now whenever i can with no problems. A lot of the issues are maintenance related & alignment problems. :P

Title: Re: magnesium trans as strong as aluminum?
Post by hogracer3d on 01/21/11 at 7:06am

I take it that the mag catching fire, must be a wives tale?

Title: Re: magnesium trans as strong as aluminum?
Post by valleypro23 on 01/25/11 at 6:38pm

hogracer3d wrote on 01/21/11 at 7:06am:

I take it that the mag catching fire, must be a wives tale?

i've seen mag burn and it burns WHITE HOT! but i was always under the assumption you had to get it super hot for it to ignite. i've seen it burned in the sand dunes near brawley and i think i was told its thrown into a hot camp fire to ignite it. not totally sure on that. but i'm not sure simple welding would ignite it.

Title: Re: magnesium trans as strong as aluminum?
Post by imracin68j on 01/25/11 at 7:23pm

Does it ignite in it's solid form or powder? I believe aluminum ignites in it's powder form.

Title: Re: magnesium trans as strong as aluminum?
Post by propit21 on 01/25/11 at 7:59pm

it will burn in soild form, also in the buring stage with will react with water, true it must reach a high temp to ignite but is a real pain to but out once its in its combustion state. older VW block are mag, older wheel, and older parts. you don't really find to much on cars now days excpet for little pieces here and there.

Title: Re: magnesium trans as strong as aluminum?
Post by OLD SCHOOL#6 on 01/25/11 at 8:18pm

imracin68j wrote on 01/25/11 at 7:23pm:

I believe aluminum ignites in it's powder form.

Anything can ignite in powder form. It's a big threat in grain mills, or anywhere there is a large amount of airborn dust (powder).....

propit21 wrote on 01/25/11 at 7:59pm:

you don't really find to much on cars now days excpet for little pieces here and there.

More than you might realize. The 2006 BMW 325i and 330i , uses an aluminium alloy insert for the cylinder walls and cooling jackets surrounded by a magnesium alloy, and a magnesium alloy is used in the 2006 Corvette Z06 engine cradle just to name a couple.