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I gotta agree with Jim on the cost of magnesium. I don't have the latest numbers, but I will try to get them at work tomorrow. However, the basic rules of thumb are: Iron - Cheapest, but heavy Steel - Cheap (25 to 45 cents per pound) but still pretty heavy. Aluminum - about 50% lighter than steel for the same stiffness, but somewhere between $1and $2 per pound. So even at half the weight it is still more expensive. Magnesium - lighter still, but even more expensive. Believe me, if magnesium was "dirt cheap", there would be a whole lot more of it in cars today. It is lightweight and has a very high specific stiffness. It is more brittle, but that can be designed around. Ford is investing lots of money in mining operations in Australia to try to reduce and stabilize the cost of magnesium. We would like ot use more of it......it is just too expensive right now. And I doubt that the economics of producing these materials was significantly different in the 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s than it is today. If anything aluminum and magnesium are more competitively priced. Later, John Jaranson '71 FI Auto Fasty (Jane) '66 Square (???) about half a Late Square (Organ Donor) http://hometown.aol.com/jaransonT3 ------------------------------------------------------------------- List info at http://www.vwtype3.org/list or mailto:help@vwtype3.org