The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop patch panel steel

Just got my 42 big truck and will be in this section for years to come. pleanty of rust to fix up here.

Okay just to get the ball rolling, in need to patch some rust holes in my fenders.

what guage and what is the best steel to use. i have to curve it at the bottom next to the running board.

Thanks and Happy New Year
wombat

I did the fenders on my 52 this summer and used 16 ga. I welded up fabed patches and replaced the rear bottom of both front fenders with patch panels from clasic of america both the fender and patch panels were 16ga .

Pete

Thanks for the help. I will go down town and see what i can get. Is it std mild steel sheet?

wombat

Yes,that is what I bought for mine,there is a wholsale steel place near my house that sells to the public and the prices are very good.

Pete

Your truck used 19ga metal for its exterior panels. Good luck if you can find it as only a few select suppliers have it.

I would use 18ga and you will want to get CRS or cold rolled steel, its the closest match to the older steel GM used...Eric

I have a thickness gauge that's invaluable when welding patches just as a double check. It looks like this. Best 3 bucks I ever spent

http://store.cyberweld.com/mimathga.html

thanks for the great advise.
what is the closest to 18 ga in metric.
the local shop has 1.2mm thick sheet, not shore weather it is colled rolled?

So i have a patch 2 inch'x 3' in the lower section of the front fender just above where it meets the running board.
i have never done this type of job before so where do i start?
It has a slight curve in it.

I have a good mig welder and some grinders to cut out and prep up etc.

thanks
wombat

The one thing I would say is get the metal clean. I was able to make some gentle curves by using a curved body hammer and a flat hard surface. I was able to do some stretching that way.

Wombat. The guage thickness is going to depend on the material. Most cold rolled steel is around .0478 inches thick as it relates to 18ga. So if you convert that to mm you're looking somewhere around 1.21412, so I would say you're on the right track.

Google has an amazing conversion calculator built right into their website which a lot of people don't know about. to do these conversions, you can simply type ".0478 inches to mm" and it will spit out the answer like a calculator. It works for most anything that can be directly converted.

Patrick

That sounds good so i got the right metal to start.

Now i realize that i need to cut out the rusted part with a fine grinder wheel.
So i will make it rectangular shape,than strip back all the old paint 1 inch or so around the job.
Then cut a patch piece of sheet a bit bigger than required and then try to shape it to suit.

once this is achieved, trace around the patch from the panel side and carefully cut it to shape.

Have i missed anything so far?
Is there a better way to do this?

thanks
Wombat

If you do a search on patch panels or metal work you will find a lot of info on the process. your on the right path as far as forming curves be creative I have used pipe,my legs,leather shot bag and rubber hammer and many other way's. Do the search and spend a few hours reading then go out and give it a try.

thanks Dan,
I will give it a go in the next few days.

wombat

My neighbor has done a lot of bodywork and taught me a few things about it. I had bondo'ed and painted, but never shaped metal and patched. We reworked an old hood on a JD B tractor. One thing I learned about old metal...they have never been tin cans or toyotas, so they are stout. the metal is hard and has a lot of spring to it. don't be afraid to beat on it. if you beat it too far, beat it back the other direction.