Planning on making skirts-what type of metal and where to buy?

Making custom skirts but wanted to know what gauge/type of metal I need to use and where can I buy in Austin,TX...

 

cut your metal out of a car roof, trunk, hood, maybe doors

 

What kind of car are these skirts gonna be going on?

 

1962 Impala-i want to fabricate 'cruiser style' skirts that will extend from the diagonal beltline along the side down to the bottom of the car and back to the bumper.I'll post dimensions here in a second...

 

Alot of people use the roof from a VW bug.

 

I'm thinking about full skirts for my 60 Elky.
I'm eyeballing this 99" long, fairly flat, no ugly ribs, '82 Volvo stationwagon roof I have keeping the sunshine off my lawnmower at the moment.

If you don't use new steel, (not recommended, because NO car panels are dead flat, you need some "crown" to the metal even if it is slight to look right,) check out some "boxy" newer stationwagon's roofs for metal.
Work and weld outside or with good ventilation though because a lot of them are galvanized now and the fumes'll get ya.

 

here are the dimensions with cruddy paint mockup (light blue area)

5ft 8inches at longest
1ft 6inches at widest

 

Just wondered what kinda fixings you're going to use?

 

18-20 ga will work,if you have a way to put some shape in it.

 

This would make a great tech post. More!

 

i agree. I have been wondering how to build the same thing.

 

how abouts makin a wood buck ... then hammer the metal over that ? yeah how are ya gonna attach it to the car ?.....

 

probably best to use an english wheel to put some crown in them to keep the metal stiff, and then wire form the edge to keep the shape of the skirt. If I remember correctly there was a guy on metalshappers.com that makes skirts and has a fairly decent tutorial and pictures on how to work the metal for skirts.

 

This is also a great question, since the kustom made skirt will run longer than the usual skirt that fits in the fenderwell with a rubber gasket/vise screws. Any suggestions would be appreciated; the '62 Impala did not come stock with skirts, so everything is aftermarket. I've consider stationary/welded but how the hell would you change a flat?

 

exactly what i was gonna say. find the right curve in an existing panel and use that as your skin.

 

You could make the frame of the skirt out of 1/4"X1/2" flat bar. It is pretty easy to bend into shape. You can pound it over wood to make it curve. Weld some 20 gage to it, check to make sure it is still fitting right (you may need to put heat directly opposite of the welds on the flat bar and pound into shape to even things up), re-bend as necessary, then start adding shape. To add shape use a slightly curved faced hammer over a flat piece of wood or steel. Smooth by more hammering over steel. You would need to re-check the fit on the car constantly through the whole proccess. Practice on a s**** piece first to get a feel for it.

John www.ghiaspecialties.com