Hey there, I am replacing my pistons and cylinders and have realised that the old cylinders are the perfect size to fit my sprue base for casting. I am worried about their composition though as I don't want them melting in my forge. Could anyone enlighten me as to their composition?

Basically cast iron but what grade ????????????. So with those thoughts they would melt at around 1150 deg C

DH

Thanks D Hanna,
That will work as I am just melting brass and silver. I was a little worries that they may have been some lighter alloy with magnesium which could have been interesting :P

Nope. VW cylinders are cast iron. As DH says, melting point around 1150 deg C.

You might be thinking of expensive Porsche cylinders, some of which were aluminium.