A concern that's been noted on a WWII site is the state of the original aluminumium and magnesium components...
This is the posting referencing it and those with engineering backgrounds will recognise some of this...
... Contrary to popular belief aluminum does corrode, many will have seen surface corrosion, the dusty bloom and the 'warts' of crystals. What is not seen and needs testing is internal crystallising which weakens structures. Most of the material known as aluminum was actually Duralumin an alloy of aluminum which was not brittle and could be rolled into skins with a higher tensile strength. Rivets were made from magnesium alloy and will be weakened by corrosion. Magnesium alloy was used for lightness and good rivet forming qualities, it has a short life - nobody expected these aircraft to be used for long. All refurbished aircraft have had these rivets removed and replaced with a modern material. When machining magnesium it was without liquid coolant air was used - pick the nice shiny component up and within hours there will be your fingerprints etched like sepia negatives - the acid in your skin will do that. I witnessed two magnesium flashes on the workshop the mag dust hung like cobwebs around the machine, if a labourer did not regularly remove it a spark would set it off and 50 blokes would be tempoarily blinded as as huge 'flashbulb' ignited ...
On an upbeat note, there are considerably more airworthy Spit's now than there were 20/30/40 years back and a number of "gate-guardians" are now up-up-and-away... hopefully many of these will be too...
