Aircooled VW South Africa

Please, noob on panel beating:

Where do I get sheet metal that is suitable to use when patching cancer on panels and what is it called? What thickness for the old VW's?

Rgrds

Barry might be the best person to ask, I use 1mm cold rolled sheet, easy to shape and weld.

Iv been told the same,1mm or even 1.3mm cold roll is the best.

Beetle metal is thinner and softer.
I haven't mic'ed it, but I'd guess it would be 0.8mm.
You can get something called drawing quality steel which is a little closer to VW tin in workability, but unless you need to put in a LOT of shape it's doubtful you'd notice a difference.
If you need to finish your weld seams (ie they are visible AND you have dolly/spoon acces to the back side) then you MUST use the same thickness as you're welding to.
If you are just whacking them in with a hot-metal-pump and will be knocking the bead down and mudding over it, thickness probably doesn't matter.
Some etch primer (NS5 or similar) on the back of your patches will keep rust at bay for a while - if you can get some kind oof tube in there to blow some in after welding, even better.

DON"T get galvanised sheet - you will develop a SEVERE headache from the fumes if you try to weld it. Hot rolled (probably only available down to 1.6mm) is also not so good as you must remove the millscale.

Quick hi jack. sorry Sarel... where could one score "thread plate, or diamond plate" you know, the metal that bus floors and step sills are made from? I just need enough to make running boards for my bug. UNHIJACK.

Try NFM (Non Ferrous Metals) KZN do have a branch.

Rgrds

Another jack.. Where would you purchase cold rolled steel in Cape Town area

Unjacked

Do what we did. Get a unsalvageable (for restoration purposes) beetle/bay shell and just cut the pieces from there

karmakoma wrote:Do what we did. Get a unsalvageable (for restoration purposes) beetle/bay shell and just cut the pieces from there

Don't they all tend to rust out in the same places?. Learn metalshaping and you'll never need to cut up another donor. you are probably cutting up stuff that will be considered restorable in a couple years time when there's even less old tin around.

Johan any steel merchant should carry it. I get from Crawford Steel in Strand 021 853 7090, but you should find closer to you quite easily.

Thanks Barry,, busy with small metal shaping on this side,, still got a lot to learn

johanb wrote:Thanks Barry,, busy with small metal shaping on this side,, still got a lot to learn

Come down to Killarney on Sunday Johan.....

Very nice refrence to steel and tube as well as sections, Drawing steel CR 210
http://www.stalcor.co.za/kulungile/KMGD ... tronic.pdf

Rgrds

Hi Barry,, at the racetrack or at Dave's..
Estimated time and I will try and arange something..

SAHR Steet Festival at the track. Gates open at 09:00

Sarel you done't NEED drawing quality (DQ) steel. Regular cold rolled will do fine for most applications. I prefer it, and don't use DQ at all for any of my shaping.
I've mentioned it a couple times before but if you're serious about learning to do this right, order David Gardiner's DVD at metalshapingzone.com or sign up at metalmeet.com and/or allmetalshaping.com

Barry wrote:SAHR Steet Festival at the track. Gates open at 09:00

Sarel you done't NEED drawing quality (DQ) steel. Regular cold rolled will do fine for most applications. I prefer it, and don't use DQ at all for any of my shaping.
I've mentioned it a couple times before but if you're serious about learning to do this right, order David Gardiner's DVD at metalshapingzone.com or sign up at metalmeet.com and/or allmetalshaping.com

Barry, DVD on order, also joined bothe the forums, thanx for the advice

Rgrds