What Gauge sheet metal?

[T-Mill]

I'm playing around with an idea for a new front end to replace my damaged one... and I'm going to make the bulk of it out of sheet metal, at least the parts that will mount to the car, and was wondering what gauge sheet metal I should use? I'm thinking 18 gauge? or is that overkill? 22 gauge? I'm not sure, and obviously I'd like to go as thin as possible to keep cost down... Also I know of a few places locally where I can get some sheet metal at a descent price, but does anyone know of anywhere, like online or anything, to get it cheap?

I'm sure some people are going to advise against trying to make a custom front end, but as with most of the things I do to my car, I don't necessarily do them to have the end result... I do them just for the fun of doing it... It's not going to be rice, just something unique and sleek.

[nimrod.sixty9]

Re: What Gauge sheet metal?

Ill be watching for the build thread ;)

[ne0hisda0ne]

Re: What Gauge sheet metal?

are you going to photoshop this first? do you own a copy of autocad? anyways, lets see some renderings... :)

[Blizzard242]

Re: What Gauge sheet metal?

I don't understand what the fun in doing something is if the end result isn't worth the time and effort. If I spent all the time I did on my turbo setup and if it didn't run I'd be very upset.

Either way, I believe that if you're going to be innovative and create a custom front end, you should be experienced with what you're working with. At my work we use sheet metal that's like 1/8th inch think and that's still pretty tough stuff to work with if it involves any bends. It is however, aluminum. That's all I can help you with from my experience.

[T-Mill]

Re: What Gauge sheet metal?

I'm not saying that I don't want to enjoy the end result, trust me I wouldn't be doing it if I didn't think I could do a good job. I'm just saying that there's some people who don't think that stuff like what I want to do is worth it because it's too much work or a PITA. But I enjoy the work so even if the end result isn't "worth" all the work to some people it was worth doing for me because I enjoy doing it... you see what I mean?

The only reason I put that is bc I didn't want this thread to become a thread about people trying to talk me out of doing this... Just wanted to see if there were some people who had some definite answers to my qtns... I've done some metal work, and plenty of fiberglass/bondo work, but it it's been mostly on projects other than autobody exterior so I'm just not too sure of what thickness I should use... I think I'll head down to the body shop today maybe and pick some brains...

[Blizzard242]

Re: What Gauge sheet metal?

I'm not saying that I don't want to enjoy the end result, trust me I wouldn't be doing it if I didn't think I could do a good job. I'm just saying that there's some people who don't think that stuff like what I want to do is worth it because it's too much work or a PITA. But I enjoy the work so even if the end result isn't "worth" all the work to some people it was worth doing for me because I enjoy doing it... you see what I mean?

The only reason I put that is bc I didn't want this thread to become a thread about people trying to talk me out of doing this... Just wanted to see if there were some people who had some definite answers to my qtns... I've done some metal work, and plenty of fiberglass/bondo work, but it it's been mostly on projects other than autobody exterior so I'm just not too sure of what thickness I should use... I think I'll head down to the body shop today maybe and pick some brains...

Hey np, i understand.

Why don't you go with what you think would be good? I'm sure you can think of the pros and cons of sheet metal thickness. However IMO, I'd work with something that I could form easily but won't rip if a rock flies at it on the highway.

[t-topV6]

Re: What Gauge sheet metal?

i would go with the others, easy to work with, thick enough to not have it tear holes in your bumper everytime you hit a rock..

ill be keeping my eye out for the build thread.. should be good

[T-Mill]

Re: What Gauge sheet metal?

Well I think I figured everything out for materials... I should be getting my engine in, hopefully this week, and then I'll be driving it from my sister's garage (where it's been for way too long) to my garage where I'll be starting my front end soon after. I'll try and remember to take pics as I go, so I can post some progress every now and then, but it's gonna take a while to do... especially since I finally have everything to do my T-top conversion so I may decide to do that first, but we'll see... If work calms down I might see if I can fashion up some CAD drawings of what I plan to do and post them once I start this "little" project...