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True, aluminum is great at transferring heat. It's also lighter. But, strength of material is a factor. A thin sheet of steel is much more stronger than a thin sheet of aluminum. My bolt-on valve covers are finned and aluminum, but they are thicker than stock. In terms of thickness I may be breaking even, I don't know (thin steel or thick aluminum). You must remember we are talking about a stock engine with a built-in cooling system and, to echo Jim, in order to have a properly running engine it must run at a certain temperature (operating temp); any cooler results in a poorly operating engine (poor mileage & increased wear). The engineers did a great job at making a hardy engine. Only when you start going above stock power levels or running in *extreme* environments does heat begin to become an issue. Toby Erkson air_cooled_nut@pobox.com <-- Please use this address for email '72 VW Squareback 1.6L bored and stroked to 2.0L, Berg five-speed '95 VW Jetta III GL 2.0L, P-Chipped, Jamex sport suspension Portland, Oregon, http://www.pobox.com/~toby_erkson/ >-----Original Message----- >I have always heard that aluminum was able to transfer heat (ie: cools >quicker) at greater rate than say steel or tin. > >If this is in fact the case (I may be WAY wrong here), >wouldn't a VW cool >better if the cooling tins were made of aluminum? Also, if >that's the case, >would aluminum valve covers aide in cooling also? ----------------------------------------------•>’7------------- Unsubscribe? mailto:type3-request@vwtype3.org, Subject: unsubscribe