What is happening with metrication?

Nah, It was just mentioned in the Wheels section of the local paper. It was in an article about how manual transmissions are going extinct by Herb Shuldiner of Motor Matters, a UK auto industry trade magazine at

I can't find any mention of the process on the site.

Randy

Well at least Dodge got away from the right hand and left hand lug nuts. Engineman

| > I read in the paper this morning that VW is heating their car body steel | to | > red heat before running it through the presses. What's the story on that? | >

| > Randy | | Hmm. I haven't read about a red-heat process for bodies. I'll have to look | that up. | | Pontiac, I hear, is using hydroforming for its new Solstice sports car body. | It's too many curves for conventional pressing. And somebody is making | aluminum bodies by superplastic forming. That involves heating, but not to | red heat. |

Boeing does this with titanium, and pressure and vacuum are used to stretch the stock over the mold.

(registration required) I've seen some cool pictures of the processes with mind boggling parts made, but there were internal to Boeing. Much cheaper than a lot of processes. I read years ago that Boeing and the Russians made a sweetheart deal over titanium supply, so Boeing gets it at a good price, which is great considering how much of it they go through!

Hmm. I wonder what Boeing gave them to get the great price? Ah, no, it's probably better not to ask...

Anyway, superplastic forming is very slick. It got started in the late '70s, I think. At least, that's when I first heard about it.

It's a great process and it can be done at low tooling costs. Unfortunately for car manufacturing, it's also pretty slow. But so is hydroforming. Both of them are best for low-volume work.

Superplastic grades of aluminum used to be fairly expensive but I suspect they've come down in price, at least relative to standard forming grades.

-- Ed Huntress

No doubt the process and materials have improved since I was writing about it, which was quite a long time ago.

BTW, it's a process that has real possibilities for the small-scale operator. You could do some small-scale superplastic forming at home, if you took the time to build some equipment. Neither the temperatures nor the pressures are out of reach.

-- Ed Huntress

And let us not forget the infamous transparent aluminum....

Enjoy, Nick

Thanks, Nick. I wonder if Morgan is going to put those guys with the wooden mallets and leather shot-bags out on the street now.

BTW, you probably know this, but Morgan has used aluminum quite a bit in the past, although it was not superplastic. One of my buddies had the one that's still considered a premium Morgan to US collectors: the 1966 +4 SS. The body was all aluminum, I think. I loved that car.

-- Ed Huntress

As long as there are legal records, chains will be needed to read the distances on old surveys. Not so rare as you would think. The English system will be needed as long as there are old records to read and convert regardless of the everyday system legally in use. There is also the gill, dram, hapint, bushel, peck, board foot, several pennyweights, Quintal, Quires, Reams, and, for those rail birds, the Furlong. Bugs

Another lost art. :-(

And wooden frames.

All Morgans were beautiful. Typical British sports cars. Like Triumpf Spitfire, TR6 etc.

Nick

You take one lousy week off to join Thorax at the Elvis concert, and this is what happens: Gunner Asch writes on Sat, 03 Dec

2005 10:44:43 GMT in rec.crafts.metalworking :

"Metric or standard shitload?"

So again, as in your answer to Marv's first question, you blame your lack of visualization skills on the system and not on yourself.

Interesting reason to discount the metric system and stick to imperial.

You take one lousy week off to join Thorax at the Elvis concert, and this is what happens: Gunner Asch writes on Sat, 03 Dec

2005 10:46:23 GMT in rec.crafts.metalworking :

Can't really tell. Dies by her own hand, then shaves. My eyes ain't what they used to be, so I'm not sure. Besides, the lighting is turned down...

pyotr

I'd rather have a T24 Magnette though.

each to his dreams :-)

regards Mark Rand RTFM

Yes, but be sure readers don't think you mean the *chassis* frame. The chassis is a conventional steel-channel affair. The wood is just a framework for the body...which was held on the (oak) frame with nails...which vibrated out after a number of years, and kept you chasing around the car with a tack hammer...

Yes.

Not oak, ash.

Dammned, I can't sleep. Have been looking at a Schaublin lathe today. It will come to an auction. Can't get here out of my mind ...

Nick

I think they changed somewhere along the line. They used to make a point that it was ENGLISH brown oak, air-dried in their shops for 20 years. I've also heard ash, but only more recently.

It's an illness. They're working on a pill for it.

-- Ed Huntress

Morgan have only used ash since day one.