Reply to "Head light plastic/brass gear replacement and thread question"

I don't know if the argument about the lack of strength in magnesium side plates makes a lot of sense. I think aircraft landing gear and even wheels are made from magnesium. Maybe it's a different alloy or a design issue? I think Jack DeRyke was at one point an SCCA regional or national champ in auto X so he had to be hard on his car. I don't remember he ever talking about the side plates giving him problems. I've never seen the side plates in person. There were pictures of the carbon pieces on a link from the pantera mail list that I get every morning. They looked great, or as much as you can tell from photos. All the inside reinforcements that are on the stock panels seem to be there. There are supposed to use the factory hinges. I have contacted the guys in Sweden and they are counting heads to see how many pieces they need to make. I don't know the exact difference in weight from the factory bars to the hollow ones but it is substantial, plus it's on the suspension. I found out after the fact that the flaw in the bars I currently have in where the washers are mounted on the bar to keep the bushing in place isn't done right. It should be annealed or isn't annealed or something like that. I understand that it's a heat affecting the metalurgy of the bar kind of thing. I now check that spot on the bar after every event. Making or bending bars is the easy part. I don't know how critical it is that the washer be in place the hold the bushings on at the specific point. Outside of my Pantera I don't remember ever seeing those on a bar before.