Hey guys, I'm finally getting to chopping my first shoebox this weekend (actually my first chop in generarl) and I'm looking for a little advice. I know there's lots of experience out there so let's hear it. What gauge sheet metal did you use to fab up the sail panels? I think the original steel is 18ga but that seems a little thick for forming by hand. I don't have an english wheel so I'll be working with a shot bag and hammers / dollies, and whatever else I can find to bend steel around. Any experiences? BTW I'm looking to go about 5" up front and 7 out back. Thanks, Rob
This is where it's really handy to have a hood or roof skin cut off of another car to work with. Doesn't necessarily have to be a shoebox Ford but something of the era. Not only does it give you an identical gauge and type of steel, but usually you can cut out a curved piece that is close to the shape you need, and it makes it a lot easier to form than flat steel. I just made a set of '40 Ford style teardrop skirts using the roof skin from a '56 Chevy I parted out. Gave it a perfect crown and the thickness was just right. I'm planning a tech article on it for next tech week. The other benefit there is that it's way cheaper than buying a big sheet of steel. A junkyard or fellow hot rodder would probably sell you an old hood or let you scalp an old sedan for $20 if you don't have anything laying around.
18 gauge is perfect, but if this is your first chop and you don't have an english wheel, you are probably gonna not have such a good time, since those shoeboxes are pretty advanced to chop. Here is how I know http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=498420&highlight=casny
Cool, thanks for the advice guys. I've got some junk doors laying around and a few sheets of 18ga so looks like I'm good to go. Figure I'll probably make a few panels before I actually get one right. Chris, I've been following your build and in my eyes those lines are perfect.... exactly what I'm going for. It's a good thing someone who knows what they're doing has layed it out for me!! ;-)
The last shoebox that I chopped I used a 200 lb acetylene bottle to form the sail panel around, worked like a champ. I have seen people use an English wheel and overwork a panel to the extent that it was virtually unusable when they were done, a little shape is always better than a hardened panel. If you don't want to use the standard 18 ga then see if you can find some of the softer steel...I forget what they call it but Ron Covell uses it when he is doing hammerforming.
I plan a moderate chop for my shoebox, 4 - 5 inches. I really like this chop.. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=379161&highlight=shoebox+knife and he didn't fabricate sail panels, just filled the gap. What's the advantages/disadvantages of each? Rich
I like that chop also because he added metal to the C-pillars and gave them deminsion and thickness. Some take to much metal out and the pillar fades away. I used 20 guage on my chop.
That was a fairly mild chop and the gap in the sail panels was fairly managable. When the roof drops a bit farther then the metal above the drip rail curls inward and is a little harder to shape. In these cases a full sail panel replacement works best.
the fords of the 40's and 50's used 20 gauge sheetmetal.if your going to use a lot of rolling or hammering use 18 ga.then when you stretch it it will be as thick as the 20 ga.
Henry must have got a smoking deal on 18 gauge that got rolled to thin because he used the hell out of 19 gauge. The difference is .00625" who is going to be able to tell the difference?
It's kinda funny that you would mention a car manufacturer getting a "smokin deal" on material...I just heard this weekend that the reason that Chevrolet used wood in their cars for so long was because they bought enough wood to last them years. While they got a better price on the wood Ford ate their lunch by going to all steel.
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