(las) Vega's

[Carter Shore]

Don't dis the underlying technology too much, the
Alumasil process was used successfully by Porche for
the 928.

To understand the concept of the Vega motor, imagine
two 18" pieces of 2x4, with 4 empty beer cans lined up
between them. Now use steel strapping to tightly bind
the assembly together. The long head bolts on the Vega
connected the stiff iron head to the main bearing
saddles. The block was cast from a special high
silicon (carbide?) content alloy. After machining, the
bores had to be etched, revealing the hard crystalline
wear surface of the silicon. The iron plating on the
pistons was to prevent galling and provide a better
bearing surface. Thermal coefficient between piston
and block was of course more closely matched, although
the piston still expanded from runnning higher temps.

Aftermarket pistons with teflon coating were tried,
but how many shops were equipped to re-etch the bores
after a rebuild (which was often!).

Since Vega was intended as a low$ high volume product,
engineering features that could have incresed the
reliability were obviously overridden by cost
concerns.

Cared for properly, (oil changes, coolant, filters)
these motors could last 100K+, as my friend's did. 

But even if you kept the motor alive, the body would
dissolve in rust around it, almost before your eyes,
especially in salted winters, or near an ocean. 

Maybe electrolysis somethere? (note from budget dept
to engineering, sacrificial magnesium anodes deleted,
too expensive).

Carter Shore
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger.
http://im.yahoo.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from diy_efi, send "unsubscribe diy_efi" (without the quotes)
in the body of a message (not the subject) to majordomo at lists.diy-efi.org