Fair enough.. None the less, using iron wear surfaces gets
around some
surface finish issues, and might make machining a billet part
simpler/easier/cheaper.
However you look at it, it's probably still cheaper to order the
housings from Racing Beat and be done with it.
Matt-
Matt,
That's about the full extent of it - sad as it seems.
George ( down under)
My guess is 50 pounds saved for $4500 is too much money
and not worth it for the vast majority of 2 rotor users.
The one rotor is another matter as the 30 pounds saved
is a more significant part of the total weight. However
a one rotor Mazda is more expensive than a two rotor Mazda.
One would be adding $3000 to the cost of that for
RB aluminum housings.
There is nothing intrinsically
expensive about the way Richard Sohn is doing it.
You mostly have casting cost of about $5 a pound ($150 for
an end housing) and any machine shop can finish them
without the cost of an NC mill. Also there is far less
technical risk as it uses low tech proven technology.
--
Paul Lamar ...No rotor no motor.
Paul
Richard's work is admirable and I understand it is for his own one rotor
engine development. R.B. housings are available now. IMHO Jim's price is
not unfair when you consider the amount of time and money he has invested in
research and testing. He has a reputation of developing quality products and
he doesn't release half baked products. The reality of the situation is that
the Al. side housings market is an extremely small specialty one with, (and
I'm guessing here), sales probably hovering under 100 pieces annually.
I fail to understand though how how racing professionals are not privy to
the information of what exact plasma spraying method was used to process
these housings. Does anybody know some racers that use these housings?
Lynn?
I can only speculate that RB specified a plasma spray method needed to do
the job in the market they sell into. Our concerns as aviation engine
assemblers and users should be whether or not to form opinions based on
engine duty cycles, and the low total time before rebuild that the racing
community experiences.
Doug Fir
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