Hi, Gang,
I know that I am going to stir up a hornets nest (it never fails but that's OK) because I am looking for feedback for interest in marketing titanium parts for the C5 and C6 Vette and the C6 Z06 in particular. I have been filling my car with titanium race bolts for quite a while now and several people have suggested that I direct sell them to forum members. If I get enough response, I plan to come on as a supporting vendor. My business model will start out running out of my house and home computer with PayPal with a very informal web site to come asap.
I have heard all the arguments that titanium is too expensive and the weight savings are not enough to be cost effective. That is absolutely the case. Whenever anyone tells me that they can get more performance from a cam change, I always say to my self, "Why not do both?" My drag racing and road racing history has left me a complete weight fanatic. A power mod will make your car accellerate faster, and so will a weight reduction. However, the weight you save doesn't have to be hauled down from a high speed or forced around a tight corner lap after lap. Also, the parts used in the brakes and such lower unsprung weight which gives the added advantage of helping to keep the tires in contact with the track. Drag racers will confirm that saving weight at the front of the car is a double bonus since it not only lowers overall weight, it also increases rear weight bias for better traction. Believe me, when you have all the available traction and it still isn't enough, rear weight bias is your only friend. I don't know about anyone else but I really enjoy driving around town with that light, nimble feeling. If you can feel the difference between a full and a half a tank of gas, you could be a candidate.
So far, I have prototyped 33 individual bolt kits for specific areas such as Header Bolts, Oil Pan Bolts, Door and Hood Hinge bolts, ect. in order for someone to prioritize which areas to address first and buy when finances allow. I am continuing to develop new kits as time allows and plan to add other parts such as race hubs and swaybars. After that? Who knows? I know I have always wanted a featherweight, carbon fiber honeycomb lift-off hood and an aluminum honeycomb tunnel plate. If you have never seen a piece of Aircraft Grade Aluminum Honeycomb, that stuff is absolutely incredible.
All bolts will be Aerospace Grade 5 6AL4V Titanium that is as strong as the stock bolts but is 46% lighter. All kits are hand fitted for optimum size (speed nipples and extra length eliminated) and with all non-structural material machined away. The average weight saving per kit has been averaging around 55-57%.
Please respond here for discussion or PM me if you might be interested in more information. If I get enough response, I will become a supporting vendor and open for business.
Gary Knox

 

Depends on the price

Dope

 

Man! What would a bolt and nut kit cost for our Vettes?

It sure would save a lot of weight but will it be cost effective! I am interested though

Shoot some preliminary numbers at us when you can

Thanks,Matt

 

I like the pick and choose aspect of the bolt kits. I might want to take advantage of some kits and not others. Interested.

 

how much weight is saved per $ ?

 

SOMETHING TO KEEP IN MIND.

 

Considering the cost of being a vendor ($250 per month) you would have to sell a lot just to cover that expense alone.

Perhaps sell your bolt kits through one of the current vendors and cut them a slice of any profit. Once you have a large number if products to carry then think about going on your own.

Perhaps make replacement parts for brackets (and things like battery trays, etc) that will significantly reduce weight. More than just bolts.

$.02

 

Someone correct me if I'm wrong...but I thought that one of the weight saving advantages of titanium is that you can make the parts thinner and smaller without compromising strength. You save weight because its lighter to begin with, but also because you're using less of it. If that's in fact the case, than replacing assemblies like JOSHUA suggested would be the best way to go! You can't really change the size of the bolts too much...

Sounds REAL expensive, though. I wonder how many bolts you'd need to replace to equal the weight of, say...an ac compressor/condenser/evaporator. Or the stereo system. A guy could pull a crap-load of weight outa his car for zero dollars if he was that serious.

Just my .02.

 

It would be necessary to provide weights for stock bolt sets vs. Ti bolt sets. For example, if Ti header bolts saved me 5 oz. at a cost of $75 that's probably not an efficient use of funds in anything other than an all out race effort.

 

A quick search revelaled 5/16"-18 X 1-3/4" Hex head titanium bolts (kinda close to our header bolts, a little long though) for $9.24/each. Thats over $110 a set. Checking further, I found that a bolt of this size in STEEL weighs about .64Oz. The weight of titanium is about 60% that of steel, so the weight of one titanium screw would be about .38oz, a savings of about .25oz. Thats 3oz savings for $110. Unless I screwed up my math, that's a deal I'd probably pass on.

http://www.pitstopusa.com/detail.aspx?ID=67540

http://www.portlandbolt.com/bolt-weight-calculator.html