Body / sheet metal question ???

BILL WZOREK

BILL WZOREK

Well-known member
I plan on buying a 4'X8' or 5'X12' sheet of metal to do body work AKA
Forming pieces as needed, If I understand correctly ( this may be the wrong terminology ) the steel can be made up of different content of tin / nickel / other alloys. I want a all around general type of material.
Some thing that is easy formable but yet easily weldable with my mig welder.
What Thickness should I get?
What compound mixture or % of each?
In general what should I ask for?
 
The patch panels I've bought have been 18 gage so that's what I bought. And, the place I went to carries 4 x 8 sheets. (They were willing to sell me a 4 x 4 half sheet.)
 
18 gage is awful thick, it's .048" mean thickness.
I think most early ford body panels were about .036" that's the mean thickness of 20 gage.
 
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The thicker it is the easier to weld but harder to formandthe thinner is harderto weld easier to form..I find 20 and 22guage a good in between guage unles you do not need to do much forming then a bit heavier for strength and ease of welding..Hope this helps some...
 
Try to find AK steel (Aluminum Killed) for your patch panels etc. It is more easily worked and most of the old tin was AK cold rolled steel sheet.
 
Copy of Ford blue prints I received from the Benson Ford Research Center for 32 rear quarter panels states 19 gauge cold rolled steel.
 
If you can get Zink tec .Zink coated great for welding and does not rust while you wait for paint ,Fords smaller panels had a smilier coating on ,See my Roadster build .
 
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How does the gauge of steel go ? The Larger the # = Thicker or Thinner
And is it in thousands of a inch / 18 guage would be .0018 ??
 
No, Bill, the other way around. Higher number is thinner. Do a search on google and you should find some info. The only one I seem to remember because it is easy is that 16ga is approximately 1/16" or approximately 1.6mm.

(very rough figures, but easy to remember)

Here's some info on Wikipedia including a table.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheet_metal

Mart.
 
The higher the gauge number, the thinner the sheet. I think it has to do with how many square feet there are to a pound of material or something like that. It's my understanding that metal merchants prefer to stock EVEN numbers only to cut down their inventory.

(Wire goes similarly, but with AWG, raising the number by 3 cuts the cross section AREA in half.)

Here are some SHEET METAL thicknesses for steel:
#22 = .0299
#20 = .0359
#18 = .0478
#16 = .0598
#14 = .0747
#12 = .1046
#11 = .1196
#10 = .1345
 
Thanks Guys

Now it's PRINT / FILE / Then WHERE THE "H" did I put that I know I had it some where.
Most people have Computer files I have my room Divided For example the pile over by atic door is Engine /Driveline the pile by stairs is tool information and so on. LOL LOL
 
As it was explained to me by a guy who claimed to be a Metalurgist:

Hot rolling makes the molecules line up with each other which make the steel easier to form. Cold rolling does not line the molecules up so the steel is "stiffer". Cold rolled is good stuff for frames and heavy sections. Hot rolled works better for forming sheet metal parts like fender patches.

I've used 18 gage for most body panels on my 36. You can get away with 20 gage if your welding onto rusty old metal. 22 gage is good to make screen doors. It's too easy to blow thru it even with low amperage MIG. 3M adhesive works if you must use thin guage.
 
18 or 20 . 22 is not worth being in a car or trying to do any serious welding due to warpage/blow through .
 
commercial grade sizes 16, 18, 20, 22, 24 sheet metal shops. but auto makers have used 19ga, it can be found but you need to ask a supplier if they stock it. akdq is the best grade if you need to put some shape in it (shrink stretch)
 
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I buy draw quality aluminum killed cold rolled steel sheet from Stock Car Steel but the shipping is high to come all the way to TX plus they have to cut an 8-foot sheet in halves to ship it easily. It is shipped between two pieces of Masonite to keep it from getting damaged.

The gage used is the US Standard Revised Gage. There are a bunch of other gages out there but this is the commonly used gage for steel sheet. Most distributors only stock commercial grade products and they are harder to form than DQAK is. The zinc coated stuff can make welding a pain so I avoid it like the plague. The folks in other countries outside the US may have a difficult time sourcing stuff like this so they have to use whatever they can get.

18 gage is common for floors & structural body members but 19 is used a lot for fenders, doors, cover panels, & hoods of the older cars.
 
Tom Morookian said:
As it was explained to me by a guy who claimed to be a Metalurgist:

Hot rolling makes the molecules line up with each other which make the steel easier to form. Cold rolling does not line the molecules up so the steel is "stiffer". Cold rolled is good stuff for frames and heavy sections. Hot rolled works better for forming sheet metal parts like fender patches.

I've used 18 gage for most body panels on my 36. You can get away with 20 gage if your welding onto rusty old metal. 22 gage is good to make screen doors. It's too easy to blow thru it even with low amperage MIG. 3M adhesive works if you must use thin guage.
Click to expand...


It's called annealing. I'm no metalurgist either, but working at being capable. Some sheet metal guys will anneal pieces of cold-rolled sheet metal to make it easier to work on by running a torch over the piece.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annealing_(metallurgy)
 
Guys ... you need to rember two things:

The thickness of a specific gaunge has a range to meet the specs. thus the thickness of 19 overlaps 20 and 18 gauges. What I have found is the new computer cpontrolled rolling mills fab the 18 gauge to the thinner side of the range and thus can qualify within the 19 gauge ...etc. That is, in the thirties with no computer they rolled on thick side to insure the gauge range was met. With computers you can meet the range on the thinner side.

Also when a body is formed in a die press or rolling mill it is stretched and sometimes strunk.. So if you make a patch panel for a 19 gauge body the area of the patch may be outside the range of 19 gauge and a 18 or 20 may be a more perfect match.

If you go to MSC industrial on the web you can buy a cheap china micrometer or thickness gauge...so when you select the material at your local supplier (mine only carries even number gauges) you will be surprised at the thickness of the OEM you are matching to may be one gauge size removed at the supplier.

Regards
Ed Solari
 
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