Sizzler,
Good questions!
We do have an accurate weight on the block--with girdle--already, 79 pounds. We know the weight because our CAD software calculates volumes and weights for us. It is EXTREMELY accurate. Now, we did go in an add a few fillets and radii, so we may be off by a pound or two. I am always amazed by the latest CAD/CAM software. I am amazed by the price too.
Once the code is done (we are in the final touches as you can see the wooden block) then it is no big deal to machine aluminum. We are hoping to have the aluminum block next week. (But we do keep changing little things here and there thanks to Dralle, Mike Lefevers, and others). Better to fix them in wood than aluminum. So if everything blows up it make take an extra week. Who knows--when you jump off a cliff you never know where you will land.
The girdle attaches at the main caps. Not on the pan rails.
As for titanium, Ferrari tried it in F1 and they couldn't make it work. Titanium is a strange alloy. It has a very low coefficient of thermal conductivity and it galls easily. In theory you should be able to make an exceptionally light block, but practice doesn't bear that out...so far.
Incidentally, a billet titanium block would cost about $25,000--for the material alone!
David
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