Fabbing some Titanium 911R deck lid hinges.

[thrown_hammer]

First of all thanks to Tom Tweed for sending me a set to copy. I have started fabbing a set out of Titanium. Actually two sets. Part of the deal with Tom was he got a set too. I am posting my progress and my chicken scratch blueprint in case anyone wants to take a stab at it themselves. The hinge on the right is Toms and the peices on the left are my parts. just need to bend and weld. I have a lead on a welder so it's just a matter of time. Anyhoo enough babble here are the pics.




P.S. All dimensions are in metric.

[RickM]

Shawn, where did you source the titanium and what method of welding will you use?

Btw, the fabbed duplicates look great so far.

[thrown_hammer]

I had this plate laying around for years. It just happened to be the same thickness as the R hinges! Its a Titanium alloy that is more mallable than pure Titanium. Not sure on the method of welding. I can find out when I drop them off to be welded.

[911ctS]

Looks cool!!!... what thickness of titanium are you using? Do you know what a reasonable price is for that type of titanium, say for a square ft.?

Clint

[thrown_hammer]

Its about 1.6MM thick but has been flycut down from 2MM. The originals are 1.5MM thick. I am not sure on the cost.

[Randy Webb]

Some of the engine supports would really be nice out of Ti -- and they are big enough to cut a few lbs. too.... esp. that big cup shaped thing that goes around the crank pulley.

[Early_S_Man]

Very nice work so far, Shawn!

A future project of mine is to get a TIG welder and build a 36" x 24" x 18" 'glove box' ... so I can fill it with Argon and do some welding on some fabbed Ti sheet metal parts ...

[thrown_hammer]

These probably won't save any weight over the standard R hinges. But Ti is easy to work with and i had a sheet laying around. Oh yeah...it's also worth a few hundred "Cool Points"!

[Eric Mckenna]

you'll need an Argon Gas and a pressurized chamber ( devolid of a reactive gas) in which to weld it. not an easy thing to gather up .. the are not many people who weld Ti inthe US..
Good luck Shawn.
those will be sweet . I have some Ti 3v/2.5al tubes at home.. from when I worked for a Ti bike maker..
if you can use them let me know..

Eric

[thrown_hammer]

Eric,
I have connections...
I will keep the tubing in mind. Maybe I could use it to build safety bars under my F/G bumpers?...

[Eric Mckenna]

SWEET! lemme know man..
It's not going any where.

[Embs]

Jeez Shawn what's next cobalt chrome door hinges? Beryllium springs? Just kidding, very cool project. Now where would a guy get a sheet of titanium.....

[thrown_hammer]

Now where would a guy get a sheet of titanium...

[Eric Mckenna]

hahaha man don't give away too much info about the source Shawn. HAHAHAHA!

[fryardds]

Very nice Shawn! You are a man of many talents.

[thrown_hammer]

The plate is a scrap plate that was thrown away many years ago because it got skimmed to thin at the milling operation. I dug it out of the scap bin thinking, Hmm...I may need that some day.
All the work on the hinges are with handtools. A cordless drill, a bandsaw and a grinder.
Yeehaw Monster Garage here I come!

[RickM]

And here I thought you were using a milling machine....

[Matt_'77_2.7]

I was just reading about TIG last night. Lincoln Electric manual states that you only need a trailer rig or enclosed purge chamber with more exotic materials than titanium. Titanium requires longer post flow and possibly back purge, but officially the purge chamber is no longer required.

If you want to mail me a couple of scraps, I could practice with my TIG. I could potentially do it for free if you liked the quality of my welds. I a not a certified welder, but I would love to try titanium. I really enjoy welding stainless, titanium is supposed to be similar.

Matt

[thrown_hammer]

Matt, you have a PM.

[Cornpanzer]

Very cool Shawn! Cant wait to see the car next year