I was told that most cars in the 50's were stamped out of 19 gauge, I think 18 gauge would be the closest thing, 20 gauge is a little thin.
According to Ron Fournier, 19 ga is what body metal was until the newer high strength steels were introduced and the guage was thinned. Ron uses 19 ga DQAK (Draw Quality, Aluminum Killed) for his fabrications in steel. However, for a low crown panel like most doors skins the deep drawing potential of the DQAK wouldn't be all that important. For the same reason, I would think 18 ga dirtydixon suggests in the above post would work well too. Ray
19 ga. dqak is what we used in Lazze's class. I ordered mine from Central wire and steel. I just made two roof fillers for laqte model Jettas and could tell the differnce between it and regualar cold rolled sheet.
That's what I thought my asshole next door neighbor who I swear has been doing body work for 30 years on old cars is fuckin with me. He told me 22. After I bought .20 gauge.! Thanks guys I'll stick with the 18 or 20. I'm never asking that dick anything else.
That's what I thought my asshole next door neighbor who I swear has been doing body work for 30 years on old cars is fuckin with me. He told me 22. After I bought .20 gauge.! Thanks guys I'll stick with the 18 or 20. I'm never asking that dick anything else.
depends what tools you have Chondro...18g is hard to form with out a bender. i use 20g for door skins(and i have a guillotine n bender). plenty thick enough. bear in mind if you weld a half skin or new bottom on the door skin,it'll be a lot harder to correct any distortion if you use 18g. just my .02 PB
I posted the following on Metalmeet.com last year after trying to figure out what you buy when ordering metal. What you want to look at is the thickness and not the gage. All gages are not equal. If you look at each gage and the tolerances, you will find that there is some overlap between the gages. The info below is out of the "Machinery's Handbook, 21st edition, page 467" for sheet metal. When you call your metal dealer, ask them if they don't have 19 gage for the thickness of 18 gage. It might measure close enough to the upper tolerance for 19 gage to work for you. Even it is a little more, it might not be that much of a difference. Most of us would rather work with a little extra instead of less. Several us have been talking about a metal purchase on the west coast, you would be surprised on some of the metal thicknesses we have been quoted. The only way that you will know for sure is to mic it and it will vary some. The tolerance for these gages is +/- .004, this was from the table on page 467 for Cold Rolled Alloy Steel (for coils and cut lengths) between 40 and 48 inches wide and between .0314 and .0508 thick.
You'll need an English wheel to get the door crown right with 18G, 20G would be easier without one. I always use 18G for most everything. CRUISER