Halibrand Magnesium 427 Wheels

[rodneym]

Originally Posted by ERA Chas

You need better traction on the garage floor???

One of the few genuine 'Laugh Out Louds' on this site.


Rodknock - Just how old is your KMP and how many miles do you have? Why do you have such a rep?

[Got the Bug]

Originally Posted by ERA Chas

You need better traction on the garage floor???

Just catching up with the latest in the wheel saga. Classic stuff ERA Chas!

Seeing RodKnocks KMP in the Bay Area is akin to an Elvis sighting.

[ERA Chas]

Be advised all-my experience is that powdercoating will make them easier to clean brake dust but will not stop the gray from coming. Dow 7 or untreated will turn to gray under any coating. It's a function of the brake and wheel bearing heat.

[RodKnock]

Per the M&A Website:

"Magnesium has many benefits over aluminum.

IT IS 36% LIGHTER THAN ALUMINUM
MAGNESIUM HAS EXCELLENT MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
WITH NEWER HIGH PURITY ALLOYS THAT ARE NOW AVAILABLE, CORROSION IS ALMOST NON-EXISTANT WE CAN SUPPLY FINISHED CASTINGS WITH A DOW 1 LIGHT GOLD PROTECTION FINISH
or DOW 9 OPTICAL BLACK FINISH

I kinda wish I could see the "optical black" finish, but likely will go with the "light gold."

Corrosion is almost non-existent?

[ERA Chas]

Originally Posted by RodKnock

Per the M&A Website:


...WITH NEWER HIGH PURITY ALLOYS THAT ARE NOW AVAILABLE, CORROSION IS ALMOST NON-EXISTANT

Corrosion is almost non-existent?

I think I posted this to you once before on like page 2 or 3:
BULLSHIRT!

[ERA Chas]

OK here's a guy with M&A's modern miracle mag. Now do you believe???

Thanks Mike!

[ERA Chas]

Anybody try talking directly to M&A to see status as they know it?

Neither 'supplier' seems to want or can't get their molds produced after getting adequate interest from this bunch. -No matter where they price them.

[RodKnock]

Originally Posted by ERA Chas

Anybody try talking directly to M&A to see status as they know it?

Neither 'supplier' seems to want or can't get their molds produced after getting adequate interest from this bunch. -No matter where they price them.

No, I haven't talked to M&A recently.

Not a bad idea, but I've found communication to be overrated when it comes to magnesium wheel production.

[ERA Chas]

Originally Posted by RodKnock

No, I haven't talked to M&A recently.

Not a bad idea, but I've found communication to be overrated when it comes to magnesium wheel production.

OK then here's another thought. Why not contact the nice folks who make the high quality Vintage wheels (by all accounts) and discuss pouring mag in those molds instead of bauxite.

They'd be $600 per wheel instead of $1000. You would have a beautifully poured and machined set with very minor shape differences from originals. A steady supply. You would not be held hostage to guys that apparently don't see the percentage$ for casting 25 sets (initially). They are acting like health insurance companies-they want to price you away -so you don't buy their insurance. With Vintage you'd have folks that are responsive to questions and orders.

The snobs among you would say 'well it's an offshore wheel and not a "real" Halibrand'. The show-off factor is less. That makes no sense unless you want them for a 3000 series car.

Your current Trigos are less "real" than that-they're aluminum, have stems in the 'wrong' location, shape and marking differences. Further, Kress' stuff would not be "real"-no logo or stampings per original. I don't know what Richard's wheels would be marked like.

RodM has made a serious, organized effort to make this happen-350+ posts and 24 pages worth and is still being ignored like a lap dancer with leprosy. Others desirous of mag have launched similar campaigns as evidenced by the multiple wheel threads. At some point you've got to realize these two don't wanna make these wheels for you.

I have no axe to grind-I've got my "real" ones- and have no connection to Vintage. I just hate when a flock of very willing customers with $$ at the ready are consistently ignored with a host of bogus reasons-and worse, unresponsive communication-why these can't be produced. You've got to conclude the message from Kress and Richard is "go away".

Of course an inquiry to "China" and you'd have 1000's of mag wheels in 6 weeks for $199 each...

[RodKnock]

I've got to assume that Bob Lacey, I believe the owner of Vintage, has had to have seen at least one or two of these ridiculous magnesium wheel threads. He's probably staying away because isn't pouring a magnesium wheel a little different than an aluminum wheel?

I've been chasing a set for three plus years now. I think my best bet may be finding an NOS set on eBay, but then I'm competing with the CSX3000 owners, which could/will be problematic.

[ERA Chas]

Originally Posted by RodKnock

I've got to assume that Bob Lacey, I believe the owner of Vintage, has had to have seen at least one or two of these ridiculous magnesium wheel threads. He's probably staying away because isn't pouring a magnesium wheel a little different than an aluminum wheel?

Exposing yourself to NOS sharks is asking for an $8K set. You could do Webers for that.

Yes that's true mag pouring is different but my point is, it can't hurt to ask...

[rodneym]

I wouldn't give up hope just yet on Fran. Everything I've heard about him is that "he'll get it done" and "he's the guy to call" with many singing his praises. He's recently run mag kidneys and is always filling some voids in our hobby.

I've emailed Richard twice last week. Still no response. If I call, I'll catch him. Notice the word 'catch'. I'll post his latest today.

Fran did say he'd call me today.

If we get nowhere with Fran and Richard then maybe we can try Chas' idea.
I know that Trigo isn't interested. I'm confident that a min run (25 sets?) would all get sold in a resonable amount of time (whatever reasonable means ) but that initial outlay of cash is the blues that everyone's singing now.

[RodKnock]

All it takes is one call to M&A. They can build a mold very quickly since they know the wheel quite well having built Halibrand's version as well as Fran's version in the past.

The difficult part is the money. I'm sure $25,000-$50,000 of seed money is required to get them going.

[slider701]

The other question I have is why would you spend $4000 on a set of cast mag wheels instead of finding someone who can forge them.

A set of forged wheels is going to be 10x the strength of cast wheels, and shouldn't cost that much (if any) more to make.

I'd be willing to bet that if you took a bunch of detailed pictures and measurements from your aluminum wheels and sent them to the last link in my post above (the Chinese one) they could reverse engineer the wheel and make them for $500 a piece in forged magnesium.

[RodKnock]

Originally Posted by slider701

I'd be willing to bet that if you took a bunch of detailed pictures and measurements from your aluminum wheels and sent them to the last link in my post above (the Chinese one) they could reverse engineer the wheel and make them for $500 a piece in forged magnesium.

I'm not looking to make this my life's work. Also, I'm just not qualified to navigate the peaks and valleys of wheel manufacturing.

Having said that, I did have a long conversation with M&A Castings today. Much info to digest, but they could/would build it for us, if I/we come with bags of money. The cost is very similar to previous postings of mine on a per wheel basis, but obviously decreases as the quantity increases. Whoever puts up the money would own their own wheel molds.

It doesn't sound like Fran or Halibrand are close to inking a deal with M&A. There's more info, but I don't think it was for public consumption. Needless to say, it doesn't sound like we're close to having UPS drop off boxes at our front door steps.

[RodKnock]

I should add that you could just make as few as 10-15 sets of wheels, but the cost would be greater.

Personally, if I decided to go into the wheels business, then I wouldn't be doing it for free. Not much money in it anyway.

Where would I put 40-100 boxes?

[Cobra Pack]

I wouldn't write off Fran. Unfortunately, I don't believe more than 4 people have called him. If you read these threads, it seems like a couple dozen people want these wheels. In reality, I think there may only be a handful of interested parties at this small volume price point.

I wanted magnesium kidney beans. I asked for them and I got them, so he will make them --- if there is true interest.

[Mark IV]

Originally Posted by Cobra Pack

I wouldn't write off Fran. Unfortunately, I don't believe more than 4 people have called him. If you read these threads, it seems like a couple dozen people want these wheels. In reality, I think there may only be a handful of interested parties at this small volume price point.

I wanted magnesium kidney beans. I asked for them and I got them, so he will make them --- if there is true interest.

I talked with Fran early today on something different. As he does not "compute" I mentioned the drift of this thread to him. He said very few have actually contacted him to register interest and fewer yet are ready with a deposit.

While I know Fran is not doing this gratis, I doubt he will pay off the SPF GT40 he bought from me with the proceeds.

Bottom line from my outside view, if you want a set, step up to the pump and commit. Twenty pages of web posting will not wheels make......

[ERA Chas]

Bob Lacey??? Maybe he wants to play???

There is obviously money to be made-and even if the list is only a dozen, several have said they want multiple sets.

[RodKnock]

We talked about coatings, backspacing, markings or lack thereof, but it all seems overwhelming to a dipstick like me.

If I did do it, and the likelihood is almost nil, then I would keep it very simple. You get the original backspacing specs, a choice of natural finish or black powdercoating (Dow 9). I was told the gold color hue (Dow 7) can be iffy, so I'm not sure I would if I were in the magnesium Cobra wheel business that I would get that coating.

But of course, I've already spent too much time on this nonsense.

So, would you guys pay $5,000 for a set of wheels?