gollum

iTrader: (1)

Titanium is lighter and stronger than steel. Plus titanium has less thermal expansion then steel.

Has anyone ever priced titanium connecting rods and pushrods for the LS motor?

Cstraub

iTrader: (1)

Ti rods will run you around $3K a set. Light pushrods are not a good idea.

Chris

777

iTrader: (21)

i'm pretty sure no one makes them...you could prolly get them custom made...but you will never need them and you will be spending soo much money that it's definatly not worth it...the reason they aren't made is because there is no need/demand for them...forged rods and hardened pushrods are good enough for anything anyone has done on the lsX motor...

gollum

iTrader: (1)

The new GM LS7 427 motor uses the titanium parts I mentioned. Maybe GM will start selling them seperately.

240M3SRT

I heard titanium wears out faster. Even though its stronger the parts are "brittle" and need replacing more frequently, making them "race only".

Ill be lucy to afford titanium retainers and seats one day...LOL.

777

iTrader: (21)

i didn't know that....where did you find this info...

sb427f-car

The con-rods have been well publisized, what turnip truck did you just fall off of?

I'd say if you're looking for strength and a PROVEN part, and have the $$$$$$$$$$$$$, cha ching!, to do it with. One word...


Carillo. But totaly unnessacry for the average mill. I even wonder why they put them [Ti] into LS7.

777

iTrader: (21)

i haven't really been paying attention to the ls2 nor the ls7...the c6 z06 is so far out of my league ($$$) i'd rather not even look at it and become depressed

sb427f-car

I hear ya there.

BUYAMERICAN

Titanium does not wear out and is far superior to steel. There are several hign dollar production cars and motorcycle that use them now. Titanium worked very on on the SR71 at Mach 3+ superheated and cooled with over decades of use.

sb427f-car

But it leaked like a siv on the ground and at the time, it was the only material to stand up to those kind of stresses. Talk about an awsome machine

BrentB@TEA

I'll be Ricky

CAT3

iTrader: (9)

I was quoted on average $4500 for a set of Con Rods machined for LS1, and the price was no different for stock, 4.00 or 4.125 Stroke....Lowest was somewhere around $462 per rod and top dogg was $889.35 per rod, on or about, but this was over a year ago. Ti pushrods, agree with Chris on this one, you need some kind of weight in there, I would look more into Ti Rockers (bet those lil ******* would run at least $220 a piece) and Ti Lifters! Good luck and use Google search, I had contacted about 7 companies that were capable of handling what I was looking for, so its out there.

Charlie

Cal

iTrader: (1)

Titanium was used on the SR-71 because of it's high heat tolerance. Aluminum sheet metal would melt because the skin of an SR-71 gets up around 2000 degrees. It's true that it leaked like hell on the ground; tolerences were designed for operating temperature.

Titanuim weighs about half what steel does, but has the same strength, although it is more flexable. It is not brittle compared to steel. It's very expensive to machine and weld. To cut it on a lathe, you have to turn it at low rpm, use a high feed rate, and tons of cutting oil. You make each cut without stopping, because it work hardens. It is best to weld it inside a sealed chamber filled with an inert gas, or at least have shielding gas blowing on both sides of the piece you're welding. Besides the high cost of the material, you also have the higher cost of working with it.

2c5s

iTrader: (11)

cyphur

iTrader: (10)

to everything Cal said. when you state a fact, don't be an *** and leave out the important ****...like WHY it leaked.

titanium is expensive, and yes the LS7 should have some Ti pieces. J-Rod has a post in the LS2/LS7 section you can find via search if you want the official list from GM.

Cal

iTrader: (1)

Didn't I say it leaked because the tolerances were correct for it's operating temperature, which I just said before that were very high? Obviously sitting on the ground it will be much cooler, so the metal shrinks. How is that being an ***?

777

iTrader: (21)

im sure he wasn't referring to you

sb427f-car

No he was refering to me and I wouldn't think that it would take a bunch of gear heads to think about tollerences when I made the statement. Just thought anyone that didn't know anything about that thing might find that (perhaps one of the most interesting fact) just that, INTERESTING. Maybe I should have gone on to say that the plane was the first to use what we know today as "super cruse" turbine fan engines and that the leeding conical inducers actually move to help with proper airflow into those enormouse engines. I guess should have also pointed out that the performance aspects of it rivaled that of the X-15 rocket program. (Of course a lot of it is/was classified). They take off with only partial fuel load due to weight. Also, "New York to LA in 35 minutes." I can keep going if you want me to, but I think my "jack ***" point is proven.

Incase it isn't, Ti is probably overkill for most of the readers/posters here, WHEN you factor in the costs. Still cool, and who knows, mass production eventually? BTW, another intersting fact, Holset, a leading manufacture in diesel turbocharging technology, is still refinaning ways to cast turbine wheels in Ti (they've been getting better @ it with their new lines the last I checked). I think the main problem is the fact that liquid Ti is subject to A LOT of purousity (microscopic holes and pores in the casting) when it cools, more so than steel if I am not mistaken.

Cal

iTrader: (1)

Well said . . .

And this may be off topic, but I think it is interesting to note that the SR-71 still holds many records, speed and altitude being among them.

Another interesting fact about heat; the interior of the cockpit was so hot you couldn't touch anything without gloves; about 350 degrees. Crew members had long flights, so they took food with them, which they cooked by just holding it against the window.