mark kibort

What is the material that the S4 intake is made from. Is it aluminum, or something else. why do they have the coating that seems to go after 10 years?
If aluminum, cant you just polish the metal and remove the coating to make it shiney like the early cars

same thing on the cam covers. are they the same materials? coating?

The reason i ask, is that my S4 intake is all aluminum, and i plan on carving it up when it comes off the car and maybe some polishing!

mk

the flyin' scotsman

I believe the S4 intake is magnesium.

There's probably several 'cast' reasons why they chose this material perhaps one being longevity?

All I know is when the t.body and other parts are bolted up it weighs a considerable amount.

Your engine being a one off is perhaps why they chose aluminium; save a gram or 2.

hacker-pschorr

Hey Mark, why not carve up a regular one before tearing up the one off?
I have one I will send you for the cost of shipping.

Todd has one he already started carving up, he was cutting out the internal horns.

mark kibort

That would be great!

Ill send you a p-mail.

Since this is a one off, and it is made from alumium, maybe i should just send it out to be extrude honed?

I think anderson sent his out to be extrude honed and didnt see much difference, but maybe with the mag. material, they couldnt get the material removed.

the outside would look interesting to see it all polished up. I dont think you can do that with mag. so, what is the coating on the mag for? are the valve covers the same material? im pretty sure, my covers are aluminum too. Now that would be cool if the covers could be polished to a mirror shine!

MK

6.0-928S

They're both made from magnesium which is lighter than aluminum BTW. It can be polished & looks pretty cool. Has a deep look to it.

Hammer

anonymousagain

fwiw - the paint is a mass production tool as well. While painting will create a better presentation, it is also there to cover up the surface imperfections (pits, scars, etc). Saves having to finish each cast piece before final presentation, which is quite costly. You may notice that the factory paint was "top shot" for looks, with less than stellar coverage to the lower sides and bottom. Cost savings and looks sharp for a while. Nevertheless, you should be able to smooth out the trouble <cast> spots for a nice finish.

hacker-pschorr

How do you tell the difference between magnesium and aluminum?

90 S-4

Buy an aluminum magnet and a magnesium magnet at home depot,
the alum will only stick to the alum & the mag will only stick to the mag

the flyin' scotsman

HP..........magnesium has only 2/3 rds the density of aluminium; now that I researched that (thx Hammer) its hard to understand why Porsche made the Alum. intake for the Holbert engine unless it truly was the proto.

Also, magnesium apparently reacts to water and hydrochloric acid and burns very hot; another reason to change those fuel lines.

hacker-pschorr

I know it's only 12:00, but I say Joe gets the smartass award for today.

Better question for Mark - how do you know it's aluminum? Porsche used magnesium for the 85/86 manifold.

mark kibort

Thats a good question. maybe it is magnesium.
it sure looks like aluminum, but i dont know for sure.

any quick scratch tests, besides the aluminum magnet i can try?

MK

blitz928

The intakes and cam covers are made from recycled magnesium from 2.7 911 engine cases.

90 S-4

Mark,
Weigh your's and weigh another one thats for sure mag & compare the results,
I'm sure yours is mag not alum,

John Veninger

Mark,

You had one of the first S4 intakes that were made out of aluminum.
All the rest are mag.

Lizard928

The easiest test is to take a razor and shave a few tiny particles off it. then attempt to light those on fire if it is magnesium it will ignite, aluminum will not.

I HIGHLY doubt that your intake is aluminum though. But you should take a picture of it without paint on it and post it on the board. Preferably after the metal has been exposed to the eliments for so long.