Magnesium (car) rim composition?

I've been told that early VW beetle crankcases are magnesium or an alloy containing a high percentage.

"Mag" rims are mostly aluminum. Early VW blocks were made of "Elektron Alloy", a MgAl alloy with about 60% aluminum, IIRC.

LLoyd

The alloy varied from year to year.. Some were more prone to cracking than others. The 1966 1300cc cases burned best.

LUST (Leaking Underground Storage Tanks) are removed from the ground all the time; They have a sacraficial anode attached...if you can get a hold of them they are 100% magnesium....good luck finding some. I have some but only maybe 20 or so pounds worth. Make great fire starters when you are camping!

Mike

Thanks for the replies guys.

I figured they would mostly be aluminum. Guess the search continues.

Mike if you want to get rid of any or all, some is better than none. I'm mainly looking for that much just to get the cost down some. Let me know if you would be interested.

Thanks!

Ryan

mike wrote:

I had heard that chain saw cases are Mn, so I picked up a junk one at the dump - I wanted to show grandkids that metal could burn. It was very hard to get it started. Using a MAPP torch, the Mn kind of melted first and then sometimes caught fire. It did burn incredibly white, implying Mn, but the hard-to-start implies alloy. Anybody know?

Bob

Oh - I was using chunks of the case, maybe 1/16" think. I cut a sliver, but it wasn't any different.

I have an ingot of what I assume to be pure magnesium. Interested? Contact me on the side and I'll give you a description and we can work out the details.

Harold

I can say with some certainty that it will depend a lot on the application. In some design cases magnesium is superior to aluminum, but due to cost, thermal expansion, safety, etc the composition can range all over the map.

Dave

I dunno, sacrificial anodes tend to be zinc.

Depends on the anode. The water heater in our travel trailer has one made of magnesium. I'm very familiar with the metal, having machined it numerous times through the years.

Harold

Ryan, are you planning to cast this stuff, or machine it, or what? Because if you're planning to cast it or machine it, and if you aren't up on the finer points of working with magnesium, it would be wise to stick around here and ask more questions. From experience, I can pass on a couple of tips about putting out a magnesium fire that you've started on a milling machine, for example. d8-)

From the other responses you have gathered by now that most "mag" wheels aren't magnesium at all, except for gen-you-wine racing wheels. The Brits, who made a lot of them, used to cast them out of one or the other of the Elektron family of alloys, which were (are?) mostly magnesium, with small amounts of alloying metals, usually for the purpose of reducing creep or increasing ductility. Someone else gave you the info on American wheels. Be aware that most commercial magnesium castings have some amount of aluminum in them; often, quite a lot.

-- Ed Huntress

Yes, and can it burn!!! Had a 1962 VW squareback that caught fire on the freeway. (Looked in my mirror and saw flames licking up the back window). Pulled over, got out and watched. Three truckers stopped by and kindly wasted their extinguishers. Finally the fire department pulled up and watched. I asked them if they were going to put out the fire. Answer: Can't! It's magnesium. They did play their hoses on the front end of the car where the gas tank is located and let the back end totally burn out.

Ivan Vegvary

I can say with certainty that he's not at all interested in the mechanical properties, except the alloy's friability.

He wants to alloy his own 50/50 MgAl for the purpose of crushing it into a powder, and using it for a pyrotechnic fuel.

LLoyd

Lloyd figured me out

I am looking for it for pyrotechnic use. So as long as the majority of it is magnesium a little aluminum alloyed in won't hurt anything. The magnesium will be mixed with aluminum and go into my forge.

I experimented with it awhile back and it worked fairly well. I just haven't been able to find much magnesium to work with it more. As far as the risk of fire, from what I know, a rich atmosphere in my forge, sulfur, and sand are my friends. I did not have a problem before but I always try to be safe.

I'm sure many will say the risk isnt worth the effort as I can just buy what I'm looking to make (although fairly expensive). However, I am the type of person who would rather be self sufficient and make it then buy it.

Thanks for all the replies. I at least have a better idea of where to look for scrap. And if anyone has any other ideas or comments on a source or on safety they would be appreciated!

Ryan

Lloyd E. Sp> >> I was wondering if anyone had any idea what alloy is used in magnesium

A "blind" melt in a covered crucible is your best home-shop choice. The real McCoy is done in an inert gas atmosphere.

LLoyd

There are some mag anodes on ebay:

Most today have very little, if any, magnesium.

Type 1 tranny case , 1970 , Sears aircooled TIG , alum filler did not work , got mag-alum rod worked well . Non-structural area on top of bell housing .

Hitler car had too many errors . Case warp , short reach spark-plugs in alum heads !

IDIOTS delayed timing ONLY on number 3 cylinder to allow for oil cooler obstructing air flow to that cylinder !!! Type III had wheel gearboxes to reverse the direction . VW has not engineers !!

VW was German govt , not German people / engineers !!!

Only Hardley Ableson motorcycles and VW were stupid enuf to do that .

Use a torque wrench to remove plugs , if they dont come out , leave em in . This was law at our VW shop ....

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David Bill>