As some of you might tell, I'm on a bit of a weight reduction crusade right now.... My next idea is to have cast magnesium replacements for the intake manifold and engine mounts. I'm hoping to have a total reduction of 25 to 50 lbs in the engine bay, which is significant. I would also be willing to supply these to other interested buyers. I could also port and polish the magnesium intake manifold for interested buyers. I was considering the intake horns, but their initial weight is so low (2.5 lbs) that the cost of tooling for them would not be worth the investment.

Any ideas/ comments?

 

Would this replace the #*&#^$ leaky oil can mount damper? If so I'm in.

 

If you know of a place to get a better damper, sure, but I'm only talking about the massive pieces of steel which hold the engine in place....

 

Yes please.

Considering it would not replace the rubber (or if replace, urethane) portions of the mount, I am all for it. My only concern would be the structural integrity and durability of the piece. Would it be comparable to what it replaces?

- Matt

 

Magnesium is a very strong material, comparable to aluminum. The iron our mounts are made of, which is very heavy, is overbuilt for our cars. I'm sure other people can give their opinions, but I'm not concerned.

 

I have to ask, how would be going about getting a casting and everything made? I would think this would be totally cost prohibitive (even aside from the material used),

- Matt

 

Actually, this is very easy. Usually, you would have to have a tool made for a part being cast. This is the most expensive part, as tools can cost as much as $10k, for small ones. In this case, we already have the part we want to duplicate, the OEM one. That means there are no tooling fees and it is just paying for materials and foundry production cost.

 

Do you have any estimates? I know the parts are (relatively) small but the material is expensive, so I'm curious as to what it costs on balance.

- Matt

 

I'm not sure yet. I'm going to talk with the foundry once the weekends over. I still need to do the math and see if it can take the load, but i don;t see any reason it couldn't...

 

What's the total weight for the stock intake manifold and engine mounts? And is the intake manifold iron, or is it aluminum?

 

iron... The oem intake manifold is somewhere around 12 to 15 pounds. I don;t know about the differing engine mount components, but its probably more than the intake manifold....

 

Thanks - I was just curious, because to save 25-50 pounds by switching to magnesium, the combined stock parts are going to have to weigh 33-65 pounds.

 

Which they easily do. Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if they totaled 80 lbs....

 

Cool - let us know the stock weights if you end up sending the pieces to the foundry for duplication.

 

I will. This is still a ways off... My first project is titanium front control arms, which should get off the ground any day now.

 

Hey I may be interested...PM being sent...

 

I have a stock intake manifold right here that I just put on a scale, it's surprisingly light at about 4-5 lbs. Bolted to the head it appears to be heavy, I was very surprised when I took it out of the box for the first time. I don't know how much lighter you can make it, but good luck. If you happen to cast an aluminum 1.6 Tritec block, i'd be in for one of those.
BTW, the stock intake manifold is aluminum.

 

The OEM intake manifold (it is not anywhere near as heavy as 12lbs), upper engine bracket, transmission mount, and all engine holders are made of aluminum.

 

No kidding, well, i coulda swore they were made of iron.. O well, that throws that idea out the window.... Now It's time to focus all my atention on the titanium control arms.

 

I could tell they were aluminum by looking/feeling them. dunno if that's my special power or not. im good at determining what metal something is. you could have done the magnet test i guess(ferrous or non-ferrous)

If you want to make stuff out of magnesium, how about either the front or rear subframes? steel is a neccesity for those eh? i see.

 

Me Too!!!

 

I'll stick with my stock Tritec block. Iron is going to be what I need to handle the power and I would not trade any weight savings for reliability.

 

Some of the highest power, most durable engines in the world are aluminum. Just because it's lighter than cast iron, doesn't necessarily mean it's weaker or any less reliable.

 

^ Yes this is true, but how would it work out for WHP between 400-600 on a daily driver? I am slightly interested. If it can be proven reliable I could be extremely interested.

 

how to you spell Porsche? of Ferrari (these are a bit pricey for daily drivers in the repair department, but they don't even run iron sleeves, they run chrome plated alloy sleeves in a alloy block!, although, that may actually be the porsches that run that, i was talking about it with a friend the other day, and now cant remeber which of his cars he was talking about). By running iron sleeves, you dont have to worry about wear, and alloy isnt as fragile as iron, which means it MAY actually last better than iron in high hp engines, dont forget, there is alot of differnt aluminums out there, a356, 6061, 6063, 7025 (or something), then there are differnt heat treats, usually t6 for alluminum, but others are available.

An alloy block would be loads of fun!

Beecher