Mystery metal intakes

Do these look familiar to anyone?



I picked up a pair of these a long while ago, and haven't figured out what they're made of. They are very light (much lighter than stock aluminum intake spacers, even though they're much larger. The little white specs seem to have appeared since I last eyeballed them, so corrosion of some kind? The surface finish is pretty rough, but that could be from decades of corrosion. Short of lighting them on fire, or otherwise destroying them, is there a way of telling if they are magnesium?

If they are, is a magnesium intake a bad idea for some reason? I couldn't imagine why, but, I'm just not that smart.

t ingermanson said:

Do these look familiar to anyone?

View attachment 123551

I picked up a pair of these a long while ago, and haven't figured out what they're made of. They are very light (much lighter than stock aluminum intake spacers, even though they're much larger. The little white specs seem to have appeared since I last eyeballed them, so corrosion of some kind? The surface finish is pretty rough, but that could be from decades of corrosion. Short of lighting them on fire, or otherwise destroying them, is there a way of telling if they are magnesium?

If they are, is a magnesium intake a bad idea for some reason? I couldn't imagine why, but, I'm just not that smart.

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Take a chip with a utility knife, or several chips from a inconspicuous place, touching with a propane torch. Report back.

Tried previously to do that with file shavings, but no ignition. They just kinda sat there and blackened.

The color sure looks like corroded Aluminum - like it came from the sea shore.

Richard Tool said:

The color sure looks like corroded Aluminum - like it came from the sea shore.

Click to expand...

I'd agree, except they are so much lighter than the stock alu ones, despite being a lot larger.

Edit: Scratch that. Just weighed them and they are about the same weight, but the size to weight discrepancy fooled my little brain.

A single drop of 10% caustic soda solution should tell you what you have - if it fizzes, you have nearly pure aluminium, if the drop turns black, it is copper-bearing aluminium, If the drop turns white, there is magnesium or zinc. If you then add a drop of dilute acid, and it fizzes, you have zinc.
If you live near an airport, get to know the aircraft people - they work with metals all the time.