Ever seen a Volkswagen magnesium engine block burning? Real neat, Real hot.
Sat behind a Volkswagen 410(I think) wagon while it burned up next to route
95 one day near the Philly Airport about 15 years back. All I could do was
direct traffic away from it while waiting for the fire department. (I was a
volunteer firefighter at the time- so I stayed back, and controlled traffic)
Started in back- whole car went to the ground...
Never been too fond of magnesium bits in cars after that.
Scott
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ben Zwissler" <bzwissler1@insightbb.com>
To: "'Nicholas Wolf'" <nwolf@u.washington.edu>
Cc: <triumphs@autox.team.net>
Sent: Sunday, October 19, 2003 9:14 PM
Subject: Re: "Nokofs" for magnesium wheels
> Sorry that I can't help you on finding the nokoffs, but thought I'd pass
on
> a warning I got several years ago about 60s and 70s vintage magnesium
> wheels. Apparently several manufacturers (Cragar most famously) had a lot
> of trouble with corrosion cracking of magnesium and went through lots of
> costly recalls due to wheels separating from hubs. I don't know anything
> about the particular wheels you have but you might want to look for some
> assurance they're safe before you use them at speed. I don't know if the
> NTSB recalls on the web go all the way back to the 60s but they might be a
> place to look.
>
> Except for true racers, magnesium has disappeared from street wheels in
> favor of aluminum, although its trying to make a comeback for some other
> parts in late model cars.
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