How to make a ballast plate from lead???

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0100

New member
How do you make a ballast plate?

I hear you should use poured lead?

How is this obtained, does it come in a bag like concrete then mixed and then poured into a mold?

Also what should the mold be made out of so the lead ballast plate can be removed from the mold and not have the mold fussed/welded to the lead ballast plate?


Thanks.
 
With the IT ballast rules being what they are (100# max, must be in 25# 'pieces'), I'd suggest going w/ barbell plates. They've got steel ones at Walmart in 25# size, and they're not that much.

You really don't want to get into melting and casting lead. If you have a short-track speed shop near you, call them, they probably have lead bricks/plates that you can buy.

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MARRS #25 ITB Rabbit GTI (sold) | MARRS #25 HProd Rabbit
SCCA 279608
 
0100, Bill is correct with his thoughts with reference to adding weight to your car.

That being said a 5 pound molded chunk of lead is approx 2 inches x 2 inches x 3 3/4 inches. Depending on how much you need heating & molding lead can be a bitch. Oxygen/acetylene tourch set, a cast iron pot, wood for the mold. Making a 25 pound size mold (5 x 7 1/2 x 2) is ok, heating enough lead in the cast iron pot in one pour is the bitch. Taking the mold apart is simple.

Ya can buy lead in pellet form, stick form & chunk form from a diving shop & the stuff is not cheap.

Have Fun
wink.gif

David





[This message has been edited by ddewhurst (edited April 16, 2004).]
 
Cripes Guys. Don't even hint at the idea of melting/ torching lead.

Quite hazardous to your health!

Buy a weight lifting set.
 
We got lead bricks from a speed shop in NH... they work great. One of our crew guys got them, not sure where, but I can check with them at the track this weekend. I do think it was from a "circle track" shop.

No reason to go through the pains in making your own bricks, It probably would cost more to make then to buy in the end.

Rayond
 
If you're dead set on making your own (I highly recommend the lifting plates), try using the Cerro metals in McMaster Carr (can be found other places). These are lead alloys with low melting points (the stuff I use is 208ºF) and rather easy to work with. Do it with proper ventilation and gloves, and do not use a torch to melt it directly (very easy to get too hot). Buy yourself a cheap toaster oven and melt it in that. Throw away the oven when you are done.

But, go with the lifting plates. It'll be cheaper in the long run.

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Bill
Planet 6 Racing
bill (at) planet6racing (dot) com
 
Spare car parts work well too... my ballast weight is a flywheel. My crew still makes fun of it.

Anthony R.
ITA #86
CRX Si
 
Hey gang, Guys go with the dumbell weights, or buy lead weights. Lead can be very hazardous. I use dumbells and just drilled a second hole to hold them w big steel fender washers. Glenn
 
Guys,
For what it's worth... My car still has the original SpeedVision World Challenge style "rewards weight" ballast trays in it, which accept ballast plates that are 3"x12-13" in length...

Rather than using lead, what I did was go to the steel yard and pick up some 3" wide steel of various thicknesses and had sections cut into 13" lengths. I then drilled two holes in each to line up with the mounting holes in the ballast trays.

A 3"x13"x 1/2" piece of steel plate weighs just over 5lbs, so I am able to stack them to get the appropriate weight. With this achieved, and were I to actually have to add weight for IT (was using ballast for the Radial Sedan class I run as a second group), I'd just tack weld the appropriate number of pieces together to meet the minimum weight rule...

This was a cleaner and cheaper solution than trying to put together 80lbs of lead...

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Darin E. Jordan
SCCA #273080, OR/NW Regions
Renton, WA
ITS '97 240SX
DJ_AV1.jpg
 
I understand that serious NASCAR cup teams use tungsten. More than half again as heavy as lead and more dense even than uranium.

Money is no object...

K
 
Is Tungsten safe to touch like alloy metal?

I think I can get some of this for not much more than lead. I just don't want to have toxic or cancers material in the car.
 
Nah, if money is no object, use depleted Uranium like the F1 teams did...before it was banned.
smile.gif


Tungsten is lower on the periodic table of elements than gold or lead.


[This message has been edited by Greg Gauper (edited April 16, 2004).]
 
I stand corrected....

While it has a lower molecular number, Tungsten is a very dense metal.

Tungsten - 19.25 g/cm3
Gold - 19.3 g/cm3
Uranium - 19.05 g/cm3
Lead - 11.34 g/cm3
Iron - 7.85 g/cm3
 
Awesome just what I was looking for. Thanks Titanium, fitting name for this thread.

BTW what is Ti g/cm3?
 
The density of CP titanium is 4.50 g/cm^3

(edited for fat fingers)
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Ty Till
#16 ITS
Rocky Mountain Division

[This message has been edited by x-ring (edited April 16, 2004).]
 
The F1 teams use something these days that I've actually touched. Its CRAZY heavy. A little tiny peice felt like a brick. It seemed unreal. They do this so they can precisely place it to get the weight distribution exactly the way they want it specific to the car setup and aerodynamic center of pressure etc.
 
Originally posted by Blix:
The F1 teams use something these days that I've actually touched. Its CRAZY heavy. A little tiny peice felt like a brick. It seemed unreal. They do this so they can precisely place it to get the weight distribution exactly the way they want it specific to the car setup and aerodynamic center of pressure etc.
Click to expand...

I believe that is the elusive element 'Unobtanium'
smile.gif
 
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