Aluminum The Poor Man’s Silver

Steve explores some goodies from the aluminum scrap heap plus a special look at why magnesium is even more exotic. And Steve tells why you should never try to extinguish a magnesium fire with water on July 4th…

[@jameshall4385]

Steve was a rebel as a youth. Putting rocks in hubcaps and starting magnesium fires in the streets.

[@dubiousf00d]

I was pickin that up as well! 🤣

[@61rampy65]

He said it was "hypothetically", with nearly exact date & town. Of course, Steve...

[@rcnelson]

And probably playing cards in his bicycle wheels.

[@logancarter2134]

I never thought scrap aluminum would be an interesting topic but Steve made it so!

[@TomTom-qm4mq]

Steve can sell ice to a Eskimo.

[@fullarmorpreparedness5606]

Steve is that friend you wish you had as a car guy. Talking cars and burning transmission in the street where were you in 92. lol

[@bennetfox]

The AMC Pacer was designed to use a rotary engine until GM canceled it.

[@daviderickson9445]

From 1974 to 1976 Suzuki made a 497cc liquid cooled Wankel rotary powered motorcycle called the RE5.

[@TomTom-qm4mq]

I worked in the junkyard when I was 15-16. That was my job. Separating the aluminum and tin in the old pickup beds on the ground. It was never ending. Each morning a end loader would drop a pile for me to go thru all day.

[@gregggoss2210]

Steve, do you remember the TV commercials for Mazda? " The piston engine go's " boing de da boing de da boing. The Mazda engine go's hmmmm. "

[@willhorting5317]

He might not remember. But I do.

[@bjr2379]

Enjoy! kzbin.info/www/bejne/pXndlnp7fbyAoNE

[@BubbaSmurft]

It was just... boing, boing boing; no de da. There's bound to be a video here on the 'tube.

[@Megabob777]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pXndlnp7fbyAoNE

[@gregggoss2210]

As a former volunteer firefighter, I had my share of encounters with magnesium car parts. Makes for a cool fireworks display.

[@rupe53]

as another volunteer (and state certified instructor) we learned that you could put that fire out with water, but not in a conventional way. We used multiple 3 inch lines without a nozzle. That's right... run about 20 - 30 PSI pressure and flow a LOT of gallons. Recalling the few we put out took 2-3,000 gallons. Cooling the metal that wasn't burning (yet) was the key. Class D extinguishers were useless unless you could lay the powder on thick. Yes, there were a few cases where 10 guys rolled the car over to do the job.

[@mindeloman]

There were a lot of fire departments that learned the hard way on air cooled VW engine fires. Water wad just problematic. One of the leading culprits: the brass fitting for the inlet on the VW Solex carburetors was press fit. That fitting would work its way out and place gasoline on a hot engine. Those air-cooled crank cases were H-O-T in the summer. I've never owened a VW but my dad was 100% a dyed VW air cooled guy. I gleaned a lot about all of this. Not often people still have the car they learned to drive in. But my dad still has his father's 63 beetle.

[@rupe53]

@@mindeloman ... Fuel was always the issue on those VW fires, but I have to say that I never saw that brass part "just fall out" because it was usually a leaky hose than cause the problem. How do I know? I worked for a dealer and a specialty shop in that era and probably rebuilt near 400 of those engines. What I have seen is a gasoline fire that was hot enough to melt the carb. At that point various brass parts would fall off because the aluminum melts first.

[@mindeloman]

@@rupe53 yeah, I worded that wrong. The fuel hose where it goes into the fitting on the carb was press fit. No clamp. With time the hose could just slip off.

[@paulwells4203]

Steve does math in his head to make sure the statute of limitations has passed since the 1990 police incident before he tells the flaming magnesium on his street story.... Steve, I am glad you are a fairly young guy because I could watch these junkyard crawls for the next 20 years. I often find that the topics I think have no interest in turn out to be the most interesting videos. The one about truck wheels being the widowmakers for example. I am old and I had never heard about the danger of the wheels blowing apart. Keep this great content coming Steve!

[@idontknow2293]

The widow makers brought about the steel cages used to hold tires and wheels for disassembly. Those wheels are called split rims which are also used on aircraft. The first step in removing a tire is to remove the valve stem. 😎🤗

[@renchjeep]

IIRC, the Mazda rotary engines needed a "thermal reactor" in the exhaust to clean up the emissions. Those "thermal reactors" would get VERY hot, and sometimes melt the carpets in the cars, and also were known to start fires under the car when hot and parked over flammable materials. I specifically remember working on an 81 RX7....actually our shop replaced the blown-up original engine with a rebuilt unit. I was very surprised to see that it had a small 4-barrel carburetor! What a mess of vacuum-line spaghetti that thing was!

[@joejones4296]

Steve, I am a pathalogical gearhead. Your videos are amazing. A pickup load of aluminum scrap kept me glued to the screen!

[@vettekid3326]

Back when I was a sophomore in high school in 1971 my hometown of Peoria Illinois got a Mazda dealership and they had a huge promotional campaign hyping the Wankel engine that powered it even before the first cars hit the showroom. On the day they opened myself and a few friends piled into my buddies dad's station wagon and and hit the grand opening. That was back when they still used WW2 searchlights to draw attention and gave away hotdogs and Cokes at the door. After all that hype the dealership was gone within two years because of all the problems with the rotor side seals on the engine causing excessive oil consumption and sparkplug fouling. Cars with a couple of thousand miles on them were going thru a quart of oil every time they filled the tank with gas. It was a great idea but the execution caused it's demise.

[@johndenton5555]

the rotary used oil to lubricate the seals, they use a metering pump to pump oil into the carburetor when running like a 2-stroke gas engine, the manual instructions tell you this and the need to check/add oil when buying gas, if it ran low on oil, it shut the engine off. plugs fouled, either metering pump set too high, or they bypassed low oil switch to drive it home or to gas station, maybe left it jumpered, and ran eriodically low on oil eating the seals up, never saw seals in Mazda fail prematurely except in amatuer 'rebuilds' with the exception of one, that had a metering pump fail.

[@toiletpaper5770]

I had a '74 truck that my grandpa drove until about 1999, then I drove it for 3 years, including a 100mph plus trip to Phoenix where the tach didn't drop below 5000 rpm for 2.5 hours. I sold it for 500 dollars, still running. That's my experience with a rotary engine.

[@jamiecampbell3068]

You NEVER FAIL TO AMAZE ME. Your parts knowledge is unfathomable, Steve. Fuggin' WOWSERS man !!!

[@rupe53]

As some might recall, the Wankel engine also suffered from poor MPG, which during the early 70s fuel shortage put a major damper on things. An RX7 sports car got maybe 15 MPG on the highway..... and if you liked to keep your foot on the gas, maybe 10 MPG around town.

[@davidpayne2703]

I remember the gas price jump of the 70's. Many people knew they needed to buy a small car for better MPG. When driving the Mazda, they were excited they didn't need to give up performance to drive a small;; car. Their big surprise came within the first month when they realized their big American trade in had as good of mileage as the cramped Mazda. The MPG killed the Wankle. The Mazda RX-7 continued due to the great power of the Wankle compared to the weight and size.

[@BreakStuffClub]

Yes, very poor. I worked with a guy who had an otherwise stock first gen RX7 but it had a 600 Holley on that little engine!

[@anibalbabilonia1867]

Very interesting! I used to own a 1985 Mazda rx7 gsl se, what a little monster it was for its time. That was actually my first sports car. I loved the little bugger! But it was a gas guzzler! I ended up trading it for a Honda Civic! Boy now those are becoming very collectible! Now I wish I had it again! Mine was black with red leather interior. Great video and history Steve!

[@googleusergp]

NSU Auto Union would eventually become what we know today as Audi. Yes, the Wankel debacle of the 1970s for the H body GM cars was typical of GM's myopic vision back in the day. Honda showed up the US car industry when they took a Chevrolet small block V8 and applied their CVCC (Compound Vortex Controlled Combustion) and it worked, proving that the technology could be applied to other engines other than Honda products. Things like that were the beginning of the end for GM's dominance in the auto industry when they got so large that they forgot where they came from. It continues to this day. One of the best things I think GM did was join forces with Toyota under NUMMI to joint venture build small cars. I wish that they were still doing it today. I think we need to recycle more readily and waste less and reuse more. That's more of being practical which means you're "green" at the same time. If you can reuse something, great. If you can reduce the use of it, great. If you have to recycle it, great. Putting in the ground isn't going to help much. Most folks can do the reuse and recycle part well and that's a good start.

[@MikeTheSlacker]

Jeez, Steve! Once again you've blown my mind with the depth of your vehicle knowledge

[@pwrbyford68]

In the Navy if anything magnesium catches fire first thing to do is throw it overboard.

[@geebopbaluba1591]

Don’t forget the Suzuki RE5 and what happened to it. The story I heard was that Suzuki actually took all the unsold bike out to sea and dumped them with all the extra parts and the machines that manufactured the rotors and cases. They spent millions and lost their butt.

[@GreyRockOne]

Thanks Steve! It's no secret you know more about the contents of this junk/scrap/recycling yard than the owners do! Nice work!

[@davebarron5939]

As the Teacher speaks, I realize I know very little. Great stuff Steve as always.

[@DragPakMerc]

I know a guy with a Curtis-Wright Wankel in a '65 Mustang. Performance isn't all that great, about on par with a stock six-cylinder, but it sounds unique and really draws attention when he pops the hood. Great story, btw, which reminded me of some of my own (hypothetical) youthful exploits. I didn't have access to VW parts, but it wasn't difficult to scrounge up old Lawn-Boy push mowers. Their magnesium decks burn (hypothetically) exactly as you described.

[@61rampy65]

Corvair cooling fans were magnesium too. More than a few were (hypothetically) burned in numerous campfires. Or, so I am told.

[@savedin87ify]

Aluminum is a good way to get extra money. Some old camper shells are aluminum. Steve is always full of good information.

[@cookdough77]

If Mags was my teacher, I’d never be able to keep up.

[@keithscorroschool]

My father was one of two people in New Zealand who were authorized to work on NSU's back in the day. Yes, dislodged apex seals were an issue and did damage to the rotor housing.

[@TomTom-qm4mq]

That sounds interesting. I bet you have some good stories.

[@daveridgeway2639]

Rotary Wankel engines where not very reliable.

[@v1-vr-rotatev2-vy_vx31]

One of my buddies and his two brothers in high school in Los Angeles had a small scrap metal yard in Gardena California. They were all about recycling brass steel aluminum you name it. This family had a lovely two story house with a grand piano inside every one of these three boys had a hot rod or two or three with all the top aftermarket go fast goodies. The bit envious of these guys but they were good people and we did a lot of cruising in the late sixties it's all the best cruising spots down at the beach in Hermosa and went to the a&w's, create memories.

[@1984xlx]

The AMC Pacer was originally slated to be a Wankel engine vehicle. In the mid-70's Suzuki built Wankel engine motorcycles, pretty rare these days.

[@2005portensie]

For those who don't know, NSU is now Audi.

[@garyspaun5237]

Modern cars are terrific but classic cars are KOOL.

[@challengingtimes266]

Oh, I think you may be more prescient than you admit Steve. I'd bet 20 years from now, electrical vehicles, if they exist at all, will be in very small numbers. I say this as I sit in California in a heat wave where we have been directed not to charge our electric cars and I experienced a rolling blackout last week. Even if they get all these cars on the road, we are nowhere near able to sustain charging them with our current grid. Don't even talk about lack of power production...

[@thedirtheadshed]

I love your show Steve!!

[@tony66au]

I used to keep a broken MagAlloy wheel for camping or weekend dirt rally events as a handy source of light :-) Burnt in an old washer tub they were relatively safe. My first and only dabble with the Wankel was in a Mazda R100, cute thing with a 10A fed by a huge Mikuni 4bbl it was a lot of fun to drive especially on weekends when id feed it Avgas back before the LL stuff. My other daily was a 440/727 Valiant Ute, strictly a dry weather car (Coz no traction) and hopping between the 2 was a serious reality check between bags or torque and bugger all Torque.

[@bobbyz1964]

Read somewhere the AMC Pacer was originally designed around a Wankel engine, that fell through and they stuffed piston engines in. Ours had the six cylinder and thankfully all I ever had to do on it was change oil!

[@DanEBoyd]

I think I remember hearing/reading that too.

[@Elandycamino]

April 26 1992 there was a riot on the street tell me where were you? Steve was out in the street burning magnesium 🤣

[@regdor8187]

Small historical note, the Wankel engine Was a Rotary engine with the center shaft held and the outer case rotated, however the design was inverted by Dr Walter G Froede of NSU to be practical.....

[@The_R-n-I_Guy]

We're all pulling for you Steve. Hope to see you soon

[@savedin87ify]

Although I went to school for auto mechanics. I never did anything with roterie engines. Thank for the education Steve.

[@o.c.smithiii2626]

Your description of the ElMonte magnesium fire is reminiscent of the Dan Akroyd description of what to “never “ do with the artillery piece they put in Ned Beatty’s yard in “ 1941” . LOL

[@bobbyz1964]

Kid next door had a Wankel engine Arctic Cat snowmobile. The sound was something like an old two cylinder John Deer tractor with serious engine problems. That was about 1980 I'd seen a few Wankel powered snowmobiles but that was the only one I ever actually saw running. Every other one I've ever seen was in a scrap pile or had a conventional snowmobile engine stuck in it. Put a 440 out of a Polaris in the Cheetah I had. Gearing seemed way off, I'm guessing the Wankels ran at higher rpm or where geared low due to lack of low end torque?

[@daynadiggle8169]

Ah , the aluminum scrap parts game , a little like the HUBCAP game and just as interesting ! All we're missing is that screwy deer head !

[@TheGforcead]

Talking about Magnesium, WW-2 Japanese Zeros had magnesium engines, when they were shot down, if the engine was on fire, when they crashed onto the ocean the magnesium engine would continue to burn underwater.

[@doesnothinspecial6680]

Its sounds like Steve had a wild night, in El Monte Ca in 1992. But, didn't we all, have at least one wild night in 1992 ?

[@theophilhist6455]

Wheels used to light up "bright white" big time when Indy had a concrete walls and the Indy cars had real mag wheels

[@daviddamico4288]

Great info Steve thanks for sharing that…

[@christolbert4628]

I remember the V8 Monza's.

[@donlove6405]

I believe the AMC Pacer was also designed for a rotary engine. The mediocre fuel mileage and lack of torque also factors in its failure to become mainstream.

[@CamaroAmx]

Correct. They contracted through GM to supply AMC with Wankel engines. Once GM decided not to go with the wankel, amc had no supplier combined with the wankels issues, amc ended up just putting it’s tried and true 4.2l in-line 6 into the pacer. Unfortunately the fuel economy wasn’t there in that combo.

[@madmike2624]

one of your best yet Steve! Your dedication and study to make these videos is amazing and I greatly appreciate it!!!

[@tillivanilli6481]

Hey Steve, my nice friend from over the pond! :) We talked abnout the Rabbit/Golf & i told you a little about my passion about American classic & modern cars, like especially the 2006 Dodge Charger R/T Daytona (Top Banana!) what i´ve found at NC and imported it to me to Bavaria (Allgäu) & modified it especially about reliability/durability, esp. because i think that the "90° V8 OHC Push Rod" with its centered & only one camshaft is a most genius kind of engin design, esp. in making it highly durable/reliable & even because i´ve to do every/any kin of work on a car by myself, i know why i really love that design not only in the case of the production costs, also esp. because it´s the design itself what opns up so much more options in hlp yourself to keep that kind of engines like the HEMI GEN III running & running better, longer & better in maintananc like out of the stock. I´m also a Automotive Designer & Stylist & i can tell you that this kind of engine has so much more potential like 99% of the most engine types out there, esp. than ANY electric motor driven car. & i say "driven", not "Powered", what is ab big, yes a HUGE difference when we talk about options of drive &/or power any car. I write you bcause you´re saying that in opposite to the Magazines topic in that video that; "the Wankel will power 80% (or so) of the Automobiles" to the "Electric Automobile" was that the difference is that the "Electric Automobile is comming..." what could be tell the people a HUGE SCAM; "That the Electric Motor will power the Automobile of tomorrow for sure" & i say that this is a high strategic (so bad!) AGENDA to dissasamble the knowledge &/of building great so called "Internal Combustion Engines" & the WHOLE AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY especially in the western world. I can see that since 20 years at germany, that it is going Agenda correct into this direction & drove the present electric Automobiles like an Fiat 500 with electric Motor in the evolution step of today & i was SHOCKED. I was so shocked and so against that kind of Automobile in the same moment. i felt that there was something is completely wrong INStANTLY. And yes, that is in short, that the electric motro NEVER was a good option of driving an Automobile. It´s a scam in itself. And thats also because the electric Motor is an Motor & even NOT an ENGINE. The OTTO- & DIESEL ENGINE are TRUE ENGINES & even not MOTORS ONLY. The "Internal Combustion" kind of engines are true (Mobile) POWR PLANTS & could PRODUCE THE ENGERGY BY THEMSELF. The Electric Motor i only USING ENERGY, especially electric energy what is the most worse kind of energy after the Air/Pressure kind of "Motor". It´s the kind of change the kind of usable energy, what makes the electric nergy so worse for driving any Automobile. It´s even the completely worse & wrong way. And you should better think about "Control the pople" or "Dstroy the western local Auto/Industry" when we speak about the electric Atuomobile. It´s in all doirections a complete scam. And that´s the truth & this truth could be digged deeper & deeper, but i wouldn´t tell you here about that worst case scenario. But when you´ll see Automobile Industry/Makers what shoot themselves with taking the best kind of models with internalt combustion engines out of production, for take any (ANY!) electric Automobil in production, you should see or even think about the truth behinde. One of the best examples are if there was Alfa Romeo canceling the QV or Dodge the HEMI for/in combination with the present Charger/Challenger. That was a completely FAIL in any kind of observation angle if you know what i mean. And i think it´s the same like it was back in the 70´s when they destroyed the true customer oriented, American Automobile/& Industry into a "Sad surviving rest of Makers &/or mostly withouth Models that could nearly b the same kind of quality, beauty, production numberss & so on, like it was BEFORE. And back then the "BIG OIL LIE" what is now more actual than between the last event of the "Oil Cricis", that´s narly the ame kind of event, with allways the sam lies & also same kind of manipulations for the people. That´s the sad. & i really hope you, who is naming that time back then "The dark days" could see the truth & then you should have learned from back then, that the "Electric Automobile" is the big scam in itself; It´s also a big dream of the "Social/Communism" Kind of "leadership. & i really don´t mean the forces you could see like any president or so, no. These are all actors for a little clique behind the scenes using the heads you could see in TV for theyr goals and even agendas. But it´s allways the same with lies! They´ll be found out by the pople with the time and a economy will come back on. Just look at the present American Automobile, or also German Automobile Industry. For sure, there are the last remainings of the good thre now. But back in roundabout 2005-18 the Auto industry of Amrica and Europe came back to a new, nice height. And that height is now in high danger to detroy, hopefully not that this would be destroyed like it was back in the last same kind of "Cricis"; for 20-30 years. Because the kind of destruction what was made with "REGULATIONS" what was made back then, was begun 10 years or so back then from now. Th so called "Regulations" are the worse who could make that possible. And now these "Regulations" comes up to the light of day.... I hope you fel fine, can´t tell you how much i would live at Amrica, for exampl Arizona, Texas or so was the most kind of "I love to live" for me i think :) You coul be sure to be a lucky guy as an Automobile Enthusiast, but about that topic we could speak in the next comments or so, if you like my friend! :) Cheers Till

[@zzzoo2]

So much cool info in one video-thanks Steve! The theory and history of all this car (and other) tech is fascinating!

[@stevetuttle5472]

Great episode! Very interesting and entertaining.

[@redneckhippiefreak]

The worst part of a Dorito is they are a lot like 2 strokes. nearly 30% of the Fuel and Oil mix is pushed out the tail pipe and never burned... Which is also the good part. XP

[@suzi_mai]

A dorito? Didn't know they made motors too.

[@redneckhippiefreak]

@@suzi_mai Slang for a Rotary engine... Cause the "piston" is a triangle....

[@SteveMagnante]

"Crunch all you want...we'll make more" is what Doritos TV commercial host JAY LENO used to say. Anybody remember that? -Steve Magnante

[@jarrodwidiger5472]

"Ask me how I know" with an oddly specific setup. Steve, if we ever meet we are drinking on my tab!

[@deaconblue949]

I remember when I was going to college and one of our friends came over to our apartment in his Volkswagen fastback. It must have had a fuel leak or something and it caught fire. It had some magnesium parts and it burned to the ground rather spectacularly. Took the fire department a while to put it out.

[@chilee6994]

That's an interesting story about the rotary engine . I'm always learning something with you

[@stephengreen3566]

"Ask me how I know." LOL

[@craiga9492]

Now you're just showing off Steve lol. The hubcaps are impressive but now you're identifying random parts. Good job!

[@garysgarage.2841]

I suddenly have the urge to burn magnesium.

[@jeffreythomas3241]

1992 - sounds like firsthand information!

[@williamluzinski8200]

Great information, I like the magnesium story.

[@garryhatchett775]

That Chrysler bell housing is out of a truck with 435 new process 4 speed truck trans.

[@marcellashirk8676]

Thanks for the grind

[@SteveMagnante]

Any time

[@kentkirkpatrick7953]

I've got two of those rotary powered snowmobiles. 69 cat, and I stuffed one in a rupp nitro! They are awesome!

[@will7its]

Yeah and they sound cool too. I have an engine in the garage, might have to get it running.

[@UberLummox]

Haha they don't call him Stevie Mags for nothin!

[@ClaremontClassicGarage]

My dad used to race an NSU. Lots of funny stories.

[@davidmccrory5604]

Love it great episode always so informative

[@danielkingery2894]

HAHAHAHA.... "hypothetically speaking"....is not how I expected a Junk Yard Crawl story to start out. 😜

[@kentpool7414]

Steve: This is a cable operated, 56-65 Chrysler trany, 6 cylinder with a tail shaft, but not a 65 because it does not have a tail yoke. Me: I think that's from a car.

[@danielkingery2894]

I was happy to recognize it as a tail shaft housing....lol

[@oldsledpurgatory3595]

Cool to see an old Wankel sled motor. I've heard some people refer to these as "three stroke" engines. Surprisingly loud for its size, and decent power output; around 25 or 30 hp. Looks like it's in decent shape and could possibly be saved.

[@wreckerjonny6144]

We use to go to Carlisle swap meet and my friend would buy everything bell housing's.

[@magnusrx7]

Didn't think you would find a little wankel there with all the V8's ;) I've been running Wankelmazdas since 94. Currently have two 1977 Cosmos and a 74 Rx4 wagon.

[@berniebass3575]

If l where ever to go back to school,(not) l would want this guy as a teacher,👍

[@dubiousf00d]

No need to ask, steve. Lol. Learned this myself with rims. Back when we would burn tires..lord what a fire!

[@vet-7174]

My parents bought 2 Mazda wankles, Ran good but Consumed Fuel like a Corvette !

[@chuckersw]

Man, you are like a wallking car and pick up encyclopedia. Thanks Steve. Funny story. lol😂

[@randymack2222]

AMC's Pacer was also designed around the Wankel engine that never happened!

[@joemoore8054]

Steve ...your a world of knowledge.

[@knutbkristiansen]

Awesome video

[@markae0]

Great story at 3:45!!!! , just hypothetical of course.

[@ralphvelleca2499]

Great analysis of aluminum 👍

[@SteveMagnante]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@ralphvelleca2499]

@@SteveMagnante Thanks again for your knowledge and your passion about everything automotive

[@Richard4point6]

Excellent!

[@LakelandAutoMarine]

Great video as always! I can’t believe you didn’t know what that front wheel drive transmission was since you’re a Mopar guy. That’s a 604/41TE which kept Chrysler dealers busy through the 1990’s and put many kids through college. 😃

[@valhallajones3865]

Yep. And it was from a vehicle with a Mitsubishi 3.0 V-6. You can tell by the U-shaped area between the top bellhousing bolts where the coolant tube ran through. The lack of an extension housing for the right side axle shaft makes me think it was from an AWD minivan. After all the bugs were worked out this became a fairly reliable transmission. My 2007 Grand Caravan has 205k miles on the original unit that has had no work other than a few fluid & filter services.

[@joshuamuchmore5049]

I was searching for these comments. 😁 604s were the hot movers 20-25 years ago when I started.

[@saturnfivehynrgrc581]

Good stuff Steve thanks man!!! Like button energized.

[@SteveMagnante]

Much appreciated

[@kfolkjr]

The VW transmission is from a type 3 or 4. The automatic vans had an iron differential section.

[@offroadrocks1]

Did you bring the entire Hot Rod magazine library out to the scrap yard?

[@johnkranz4004]

Very KOOL Video Steve

[@rotorhead5000]

The aluminum being worth more than iron at the scrap yard, while true, is kinda misleading for a lot of folks (this isn't directed at Steve in particular, I've been trying to help and old guy grasp this concept for a few years now). Is it worth more than iron/steel per pound? Yes, but it takes a surprising amount of aluminum to make that pound, and if you are fighting it all apart, to get out say that siezed camshaft, or dowel pins out of bell housings, you will spend staggering amounts of time to make marginally more money (the difference equivalent of your time only being worth a dollar per hour at best) people have trouble grasping that when you see the simple dollars per pound.

[@truckladders4104]

Nathan your right But thats what makes aluminum cans so popular. to scrap Endless supply, no prep strong demand

[@rotorhead5000]

@@truckladders4104 I can see that, I live in a state where you have a 5c deposit on all your cans, so our cans end up back at a redemption center instead of the scrap yard.

[@ExUSSailor]

That was weirdly specific for a hypothetical...

[@papasmodelcarroom8450]

Great video

[@SteveMagnante]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@hurk130]

"Ask me how I know." Ha!

[@rixkafer56]

Just remembering those days in my youth burning pallets on the beach and drinking beer from a keg... the fires are now outlawed but the beer aint ! Thanks for sharing and i hope the electric car goes the way of the wankle... i think hybrid is the answer

[@TrashcanGarage]

Used to be a beach up in PA on Lake Erie that you could drive onto, park and party. And there was a cool old beach club within walking distance and a drive-in movie theater across the street. By the late 80s, rich folks had bought up all the beach property to put up phu king condos. I'm still mad about that one.

[@feelinfine1973]

Steve,.. for those who didn't know about Magnesium fires know now? I wonder how many we'll have tonight? 🤣

[@BubbaSmurft]

2

[@Sas0Squatch]

Nice 300m special back there. I have one here along with a couple plain Jane models. They ran strong and the special had a big extra 5hp over standard along with the speed limiter raised or removed and a numerically higher final drive ratio for better burnouts. Should do a quick look on that

[@CR7659]

Steve did a video on that car a couple weeks or so back.

[@shaggydogg630]

Another great show Steve that I couldn’t click on fast enough.

[@snotnosewilly99]

Napoleon III was dictator of France in about 1850. When he had a big dinner party, the lower ranked people ate off of gold and silver plates. The Grand Baffoon Napoleon III ate off of Aluminum plates. Aluminum was more expensive than gold or silver in 1850. ( Napoleon III started a war with Germany, and immediately got himself surrounded and captured.)

[@michaelmathews295]

They also used that Sachs engine on a motorcycle, a Hercules if I remember correctly.

[@88SC]

Magnesium parts in Curtiss Wright engines made life tense for B-29 crews in WWII. The supercharger housings, to be specific, where there was fuel and an ignition source (as in El Monte) if it backfired, usually during takeoff or climb.

[@oligoprimer]

Even the steel engine cases in the B-29 engine ( Curtiss Wright R-3350 so ~3350 cu. in.) had a high magnesium content and would burn spectacularly if oil too ran low and the engine overheated.

[@BSWThunder6]

Those Wankel snowmobiles made a really cool sound but they also burned gas like mad. And I use magnesium to get a wet or green wood campfire going. Very handy.

[@Sebastian_Dinwiddie]

Off to find a magnesium fire!

[@TEN-TIMES-HARDER]

its was over $4 a pound a while back, all the old aluminum box trucks got scrapped for more than they could sell for still running..... And magnesium the epa took the only primer that worked off the shelf, it will sacrifice its electrons faster than zink.... Now it has to be anodized when new, or soda blasted , neutralized, and immediately treated with Zink-Chromate etch primer, The Chromate is illegal in most states, i get it from michigan....

[@haroldmordt4421]

Steve, when you get done with that junkyard [ in 5 or 6 yrs.], you need to come to Old Car City in White, Ga.,just North of Atlanta! You might have a lifetime of video's!