Picked up some rectangle & square tubing and a sheet of sheet metal yesterday for the model t coupe I'm building. I asked for 20 gauge steel sheet which a gauge chart shows it to be about .035". I measured what the steel yard gave me this morning which was suppose to be 20 gauge and it measures .025 which I think is 24 gauge. I got a full 4' x10' sheet. I was going make the inside door panels (which the doors are wood framed that wiil be replaced with 3/4" square tubing then the sheet bent to make the panel and I was going this sheet metal to make my floor also . My question is do you guys think this is thick enough for being used for the floor or do I need to make the steel yard give me what I was suppose to get in the first place? I had a rental truck yesterday and combined moving some stuff and getting the metal. Without the rental truck I have no way of returning the sheet. Thanks for any comment or suggestions! Doc B.
I like 16 gauge for the floors cause if you put enough bracing under it you dont need to bead roll anything. 24 gauge is super thin. Like if you drop a tool on it, it's gonna dent.
i picked up 14gauge for my floors and firewall from a furnace/boiler shop very cheap. they even have a bin out back full of s****s.. check them out in your area.. my firewall bent, 14gauge,5ftx3ft was 55.canadian. i got 4 pieces of 2ftx5ft for 15bux a piece. plus tons of good metal from there bin.. ask for some scratched stuff, they usually cut it in strips and throw it out
Wifey, works for Misa metals and she says that .025 falls between 23 and 24 gage depending on the tolerance range....
I have used 1 mm [.040] to my floor on my shoebox and some other places have i used 1.25mm [.050"] and 1.5 mm [.060"] but i like 1.25 best easy to weld and not to hard to work with /Stefan
X 2..................16 ga is good for floors, strong enough but not excessive... btw..body skin is usually 19 ga....on older cars, not the new stuff Ray
Are you planning on driving through minefields? Nice to know I'm not the only one here versed in the art of overengineering! Never forget the overengineer's motto: "Yeah?! But my **** doesn't fall apart now, does it?"
Just to add another number to the mix, Im doing my floors now using 18 gauge. Its plenty strong. Im not rolling any beads in it because there is enough structure underneath