sheet metal thickness

Greetings to all:

What is the most popular thickness for sheetmetal bodies. (both factory and used by you for fab purposes.)

Do you use "Paintlock", or just bare metal?

I used the Search function and got tired of reading....without even one mention of what sheet metal thickness is used in bodies.

This is for a new build. TYVM Miz

 

18g here. Just paid $72 for a 4'x8' sheet of cold-rolled. Prolly too much money, but it was Friday afternoon and I had to get it before the weekend...

 

18ga. is the most popular but if your working with newer cars then 20ga. would be what to use, I use 16ga. on truck beds. I also only use bare metal I wouldn't trust my paint on top of some "mystery" paint applied to the sheet metal.

 

Thanks guys for the fast replies. I can go get the stuff today yet.

Yah, I agree, bare metal. I keep thinking of all those Chevys and Nissans with that grey phospate coating showing through. It did stop rust, it didnt stick to paint to well...LOL MIZ

 

years ago when I was doing some sheet metal fab, I found that the metal on some of the older vehicles I was working on was something like 19 gage for the innner structure, and 21 gage for the outer skin. of course the only suppliers I could find had only even numbered gage metal available.....so 20 would probably be a good starting point....but it depends on what exactly you are doing.

 

When they "deep draw" sheet metal to make body parts by stamping them in between big dies, sometimes the same part will have a variety of thicknesses in it, depending on how stretched it is. It seems like most of the older American car bodies are 18, 19, or 20 gauge, but sometimes the same part can measure more like 20 gauge in some areas and 18 gauge in others after stamping.

Most old pickup beds are 16 gauge.

 

i have learned to use 18 gauge for patch panels ..only because once you start welding on any metal higher than 18 it gets to flemsie and warps easy....18 gauge is harder to form by hand but its my choice