"Eisboch" wrote in message
...

"Calif Bill" wrote in message
m...



I think the only "aluminum" cylinder was the Chevy Vega.


I think you are correct.

Aluminum can be hard anodized however, resulting in a surface hardness on
the Rockwell scale very close to steel.

Eisboch



Further on this: (I looked it up because I was curious) .....

The original Vega block was a cast aluminum alloy, called 390, that was
16-18% Silicon, 4-4.5% Copper and the rest, pure aluminum.
It had no cast iron cylinder liners. The Si content increased wear
resistance by allowing primary crystals of Si to precipitate out of the
aluminum.

This was all part of a general industry driven evolution of the use of
aluminum as new alloys were developed and applications were being tried.

It's also one of the reasons I've never been a big GM fan. It seems like
they, more so than the other manufacturers, have a history of experimenting
with things, like metallurgy in this case, using their customer's cars as
the guinea pig test beds.

In the case of the Vega, it certainly was a flop.


Eisboch