What is not aluminum?

Alan_uk

Alan_uk

A2OC Donor
So what bits of the A2 body are steel? I think I read once (on this forum?) that the rivets are steel. Is that so? What about the sub-frames?

I presume the exhaust is steel and I guess all mechanical parts are steel/cast iron (e.g. the wheel hubs as they are showing rust pits :-(

I particularly interested in knowing which bits to keep an eye on for corrosion.

P.S. Did I spell aluminum right? Found this link http://www.world-aluminium.org/history/language.html
Seems both Aluminium or Aluminum have an equal claim to etymological and historical justification.
 
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apart from the 1.2 model all the suspension components are steel, which if i remember rightly makes the car approximately 100kg heavier
 
I doubt if the rivets are steel as this would cause corrosion between the 2 different metals.

As a side note, after watching 'Hows it made' on discovery channel, aluminum & aluminium seem to be 2 slightly different substances. Aluminum being more raw & aluminium being the finished pure product - or is that just the Yanks/Canadians view?
 
Yip cars like the BMW 5 and 6 series that have aluminium fenders and roof panels (6 series) have to go to amazing lengths to isolate the steel from these panels to stop corrosion. So I doubt steel rivets will be found anywhere on an A2...

They also claim the new 5 series is not as safe as you may think in some types of accidents as the aluminium front is softer than the rest of the car and even a mild shunt lead to it being written off... The latter being true for an A2 being hit from any side I guess! (As Rob can show in his signature pics!)
 
Alumina (processed Bauxite) is the material from which raw aluminium is obtained by electrolysis, iirc.

Aluminum is an Americanism of Aluminium.
 
omitchell, I think you will find the bottom suspension arm is aluminium, it certainly was on mine when I looked whilst it was being tracked!
The wings and wheel housings (projecting arch bits) are plastic, the cars entire space frame, doors, roof bonnet and tailgate are aluminium this gives a weight saving of around 40% when compared to a car of the equivalent size made from steel, The car has a drag factor of 0.28 which even now is one of the best for a production 4 seat car!
 
Hi Guys, thanks for the responses. Looks like I [we :) ] need to ensure that the chassis doesn't suffer from corrossion. When washing the car I always use a power jet underneath and I'm thinking of buying a angled attechment to make that easier. Has anyone suggestions for treating the rear hubs which are showing rust spots. It looks so unsightly.

I found the article ref. by omitchell fascinating, especially the E mode of driving. I make that 150 mpg!

I was a bit confused in the article with:

"The three-cylinder TDI is the first direct-injection diesel engine to have a light-alloy cylinder head, but that is not all: the engine block, too, is made from aluminium."

It seems to imply that *all* TDIs have aluminium engine blocks and heads. Is that right?
 
Painting the rear hubs is the easiest & probably cheapest option. Quite a few people have done it as it's a common problem.
I'm tempted to paint the front calipers & rear drums on ours red. :)
 
Rob Earl said:
Quite a few people have done it as it's a common problem.
Click to expand...

I'm planning to do mine in the spring along with a good clean and wax.

I wasn't intending to sand down to bare metal, just a surface wet&dry sanding followed by Krust (is that the name?), the non-concentrated type, followed by zinc/anti-rust primer, top coat and maybe a lacquer. But I'm open to suggestions.

On my old Cavalier I used to spray the Krust on the sub-frames and they would come up a lovely black colour and give a bit more protection, but then the vehicle was coming towards the end of it's body life (13 years) though the engine had only done 120K. I had it from new. Wheel arches went in the end.

Maybe the A2 warrants a steam clean and check every couple of years. In theory the A2 should last more than 13 years but it may be difficult to get replacement parts by then. Who in the club has got the oldest A2 and how is it doing?
 
Just happen to come across this in an article about Aluminium construction:

The mechanical joining methods; clinching and self-piercing riveting; are increasingly used in this industry especially for Al-cars like Audi A2 (Figure 5). It contains
• YAG-laser welding 30 m with P = 4 kW, v = 5,5 m/min
• MIG[brazing]-welding 20 m v = 0,7 m/min
• Self-piercing rivets 1800 pieces
The line has 220 robots and the degree of mechanisation is 80 %.

Article: "Environmental concerns are driving the development of the welding
processes and applications" http://www.msm.cam.ac.uk/phase-trans/2004/Pekkari.pdf

It would be good to have a forum section where people could post interesting web articles on A2s
 
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