At one time i saw a picture of an all aluminium 5.9 and also there was an included picture of what looked like a couple of 12 valve and 24 valve aluminium heads sitting on a bench, Ive also heard gossip of cummins techs fooling around. R&D aluminium stuff but that the expanssiona nd contraction rates were all messed up for long life spans. Anyone out there with thier thoughts on this? thought id post this to get the conversation stirred up

 

I'll bet these guys would looooove to get their hands on an all aluminum Cummins engine.

 

Al head & Fe blocks work for the 93-97 LT1 series engines. I haven't seen to many failures there. More recently the Al heads on the Duramax have survived 60-75psi pressures with just studs. I'd love to be an aluminum head test truck.

brandon.

 

my big ? is were is the melting point of aluminum if i remember right its around 1218 degrees and i hear of guys with egts of like 1500 and 1600 can you say melt down. i think we would just have to run twins that much sooner . are the going to still atleast steel sleave them . also with the head they would need to find a good mix between the aluminum and some other metal to keep it from warping and worse melting . but if they when they get that all worked out can you say big power to weight numbers. for the drag racing guy that a big deal and i bet even the sled guys will like it cause then they can be heavier and stay in the same class.

 

They use aluminum alloy (mix of aluminum and other metals) otherwise your aluminum pistons would melt I would think expansion rates are more of a problem on our inline engines because of the length vs. a v8, for example look at your shrunk exhaust manifold that you can replace with 3-piece, and this is not an issue on PS or DMax

 

Doesn't aluminum dissipate heat faster?

Meaning it soaks it up quicker, but also gets rid of it quicker, right?

Chris