Porsche Fun Fact of the Day

Porsche 930S rear fender slats are made of balsa wood.

Makes sense. So were the floors in C5 corvettes I think. Balsa laminated between aluminum sheets. Light and really strong.

Forgive my racism, but that guy looks so 'Murican.

That's an interesting fun fact. Actually I didn't know that.

wheelsmithy wrote: Forgive my racism, but that guy looks so 'Murican.

That's because a lot of 'Muricans came from northern Europe.

First thought was C5 floors as well. Cheap, light, and simple way to make a light strong floor that doesn't reverberate like, well, a big flat piece of plastic, which is what it would otherwise be.

wheelsmithy wrote: Forgive my racism, but that guy looks so 'Murican.

His features are a bit Timothy Huttonesque.

you would be very surprised how many boats are glassfibre with a balsa core. Even the 'glass hood on the racing 914/6 was laminated around balsa stringers.

And believe it or not.. Balsa is considered a hardwood

Makes sense. Much easier to shape than foam

I knew that about boats, but not about Porsche, but it does make sense.

Not to thread jack, but it does remind, who knows why but my mind wanders , about the Nissan GTP cars my friend's shop were restoring. They were made of essentially aluminum honeycomb. These huge pieces were so light you could pick them up with a finger. Everything about them was insanely light. And the welding was unbelievable. Hard to believe a few guys in California built them in a helicopter hanger.

Now I want to build something in aluminum honeycomb. Anyone else used that here?

What's interesting is that they tried several composites but none performed as well as good ol' wood!