"Gauge" of sheetmetal steel?

[b5blue]

What "gauge" steel is the: Door skin, Front fender and Rear quarter steel on a 70 Charger? Looks to be 20 or 18 gauge steel?  I'm getting ready to do some patches! (If it ever stops raining!  )

[c00nhunterjoe]

I want to say 18. 20 is too thin.

[b5blue]

I'm feeling the same, after years of steel framing experience I can tell handling steel studs and track but this is not that easy. 

[c00nhunterjoe]

Its definatly not 20 and 16 would most likely be too thick. My money is riding on 18

[b5blue]

I'll have to save as much steel as I can from my Dutchman filler panel I'm removing and reuse it for patches!   

[c00nhunterjoe]

You can pick up 24x24 peices of 16, 18 or 20 from home depot and tractor supply.

[b5blue]

Thanks I'll check! 

[c00nhunterjoe]

If you are just doing a patch job to buy you time I would suggest looking into the 1\4 skins jc whitney sells. I think I paid 180 bucks for the pair. They are 20 gauge so a hair thin, but they didn't fit horrible and it beat having to keep cutting patches and trying to mold a wheel lip like I did on the 1st side. They do not have themarker light provisions in them.

[b5blue]

I'm patching just the front of a pair of them the previous owner put on!  (Yea no rear side light, I've not figured that out yet!)

[c00nhunterjoe]

The lack of marker lights didn't bother me. If my paint makes it through this season and over the winter I am going to put the general lee decals on it. The car will be "series correct" with wavy body lines and no marker lights....lol

[Daytona R/T SE]

If you are just doing a patch job to buy you time I would suggest looking into the 1\4 skins jc whitney sells. I think I paid 180 bucks for the pair. They are 20 gauge so a hair thin, but they didn't fit horrible and it beat having to keep cutting patches and trying to mold a wheel lip like I did on the 1st side. They do not have themarker light provisions in them.

I had a pair of those "Thrown in" on the deal when I bought my '70.

The next day at work, they got "Thrown in" to the dumpster.

Total garbage.

You'd be better off hacking the skin off an old refridgerator with an axe.

Chances are, it would be closer to the correct shape.

[b5blue]

  Mine were all that was available 25 years or so ago. 

[68ChargerJMP]

I think it's more like 22 gauge. I just had some checked at a local sheet metal shop the other day. I had to buy 20 gauge to get close to the same size.

[Mike DC]

Two comments here: 


#1 - With repro metal, it's not just the thickness that may be lacking.  The alloy of the steel is usually weaker, which can leave you with the impression that it feels "thin" even when it's not.   
 

#2 - The sheetmetal stamping process may affect the thickness of the final panel.  Stamping is a stretching process.  And some areas of the panel are gonna get stretched more than others.