Titanium flat shapes.

This week I replicated 2 parts for the Mini engine bay that could do with a lighter corrosion proof version. They are the bulkhead plate with one hole for heater hose and the alternator adjusting bracket.

I took the original parts off my Mini and couldn’t believe how corroded the blanking plate was. I suppose it has been slowly rusting away since 1986 and the bulkhead is a water trap.

Scanned the parts in to the PC and put into Solid Works. Modelled around the picture of the original parts, paying close attention to the measurements.

Took the Solid Works file and the titanium to an engineer shop in Redditch. It was amazing! Machines the size of houses. The chap put the files into his PC and we walked across the factory to the water cutter.

I wish I could’ve taken a photo of this machine. It’s massive! Like a shallow bath with a big moving girder holding the hoses. Lay the metal on the machine, the chap pressed some buttons and the machine was away. Firing water and abrasive at 60,000psi. The parts were cut and vibrated to deburr any rough edges. They are also accurate.

Here's the finished result

Rusty steel bulkhead plate = 60grammes

Titanium bulkhead plate = 35.9grammes

weight saving of = 24.1grammes

Rusty steel alternator adjusting bracket = 50grammes

Titanium alternator adjusting bracket = 36.5grammes

Weight saving of = 13.5 grammes

Not a massive weight saving with this part but if you notice it's 4mm titanium, 1mm thicker than the steel item, so you'll get the extra strength as well as a weight saving and corrosion proof.

Grade 1 and 2 titanium doesn't polish up as well as stainless steel but you'll never get those little rust spots you'll get on stainless. Yes, stainless steel rusts. It just takes longer.

I'll put these titanium items on sale within a week. I think I have 18 alternator adjusters and about 9 bulkhead blanking plates. They're unpolished but respond quite well to polishing. You'll never get them as shiny as stainless though.

Titanium unf nyloc nuts,Spring washers and Metric nuts

I had a delivery last week of titanium ¼”unf nyloc nuts

3/8"unf nyloc nuts

7/16"unf nyloc nuts

1/2"unf plain nuts.

They look absolutely beautiful.

Unfortunately I had to send the titanium nyloc nuts back as there was a fault, which is a shame. The plastic in the nut kept getting pushed out when I tried them out on my Mini. I'm hoping they can sort it as they were lovely. I'm sure they will.

The half inch nuts were really good. I found out they also fitted the rear radius arms as well as the front subframe in the engine bay.

The side hidden under the car that is a bit of a pain to get to unfortunately. You have to use extensions on your ratchet to get at the nut too. They may fit the side visible from the curb but I've got KAD camber brackets with their own special nut so I didn't try them there.

I placed an order about a week ago for some titanium Metric thread nuts. M8 and M6 plain nuts.

The way I see it there are already metric nuts out there but they're just so expensive. So I'll sell some at a good price and maybe expand the metric range.

I bought some 1/2" and 5/16" titanium spring washers which will compliment the plain nuts I already sell.

Oh yeah! I bought 200 countersunk 1/4" screws that fit on the Mini doors. The standard screws are a total nightmare, as the end of the bolt rusts solid. Then when you use a Philips head screwdriver on them you end up rounding out the cross. I had to drill out some of them. The tougher titanium screws will stand up to much more abuse.

Oh yeah again! I've got some cross drilled washers coming for the back of the rear subframe.

That's it for now. Hopefully I'll do more frequent updates. Cheers, Rich.

I think the Nyloc nuts will be about a week away now and I'll be adding a load to my Mini for starters. You may have noticed little tweaks to the shopping cart quantities and I've thought of adding a section for Metric fasteners as European and Japanese classics are Metric. Well, a lot of it is to do with my rare motorbike being metric, so I want a load of fasteners to finish off all the titanium stuff I've fitted to that.

I'm in touch with a pressing factory in Wolverhampton and hopefully I can manufactured pressed parts for the Mini.Things like washers and some of the stranger shaped locktab type washers you get on the Mini engine. I'll have to have a chat with the titanium stockist to see which grade is best for this job because grade 5 ti is quite brittle. Well, it was when I tried bending it in a vice with no heat.

What do people think of titanium brake bleed bolts? I had one shear off once and It was a nightmare to fix. I could have a small run of them made.