Body/fender steel

[jtucker]

Quick one...What gauge steel is used for the body and fenders on my '31 coupe?? Thx.

[Jim Huseby]

20 ga. on the body, aprons & doors & doors. 19 ga. on the fenders. 20 ga. ranges from .035 to .038" thick when you buy it from most sources. 19 ga. ranges from .040 to .048". 1018CR or 1020CR closely approximates the alloy. Readily available. www.olympic-speedsters.com

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Originally Posted by Jim Huseby

20 ga. on the body, aprons & doors & doors. 19 ga. on the fenders. 20 ga. ranges from .035 to .038" thick when you buy it from most sources. 19 ga. ranges from .040 to .048". 1018CR or 1020CR closely approximates the alloy. Readily available. www.olympic-speedsters.com

Jim, are you certain about that? Every bit of research I have shows the fenders are the same material as the body sheetmetal. What do you know about this that I don't??


.

[wrndln]

I to, thought model A sheetmetal was made form 19 gauge metal. I thought Ford used 19 gauge throughout the 30's. Maybe I will mic out some body panels.
Rusty Nelson

[Tinbasher]

19 Gauge is used for production. Difficult to get aftermarket repairs. J.Poole

[Mike V. Florida]

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I too have read here and other places that 19 gauge steel was used but now I have a copy of the fender print that shows;

FRONT FENDER
FULL CR. L.O.C.H. STEEL - #20 U.S.S.GA.=.037

[Terry, NJ]

I prefer 18 or even 16 Ga for patch panels where there is a lot of welding and grinding. But I'm an amateur, just doing the best I can. But I can appreciate thickness in the metal when you blow a few holes in the work, even with a small MIG (wirefeed) Machine.
Terry

[Jim Huseby]

Hi Brent- I know you knew the answer because you've been working on these things for years, so I'm not scolding you and this answer is for all listening in, too. Re-checking, I just measured into into a clean, acid dipped, de-burred cut out segment of a '29 rear fender and even though it had had some surface rust (removed and smoothed), it measured .040" (19 ga.). I've been using nominal 18 ga. for decades to repair and metal finish A fenders because it's a little thicker than 19 and will dress down to 19 if ground or filed. I like full thickness with no evidence of repair on either side. A fender will measure 20ga. or less where it has been ground on or heavily rusted. I have repaired dozens or hundreds of them and I believe they were all 19 ga. But there were way more than 20,000 of them stamped, making the ones that I've had my hands on very few.

[WKaufman]

Not to add to the confusion, but I had a '29 with one 17ga. rear fender and one 19ga. fender. The 17ga. seemed that it weighed twice that of the other one. Always thought it might be an old aftermarket from Western Auto or some place like it.

[Mike V. Florida]

Originally Posted by Jim Huseby

Hi Brent- I know you knew the answer because you've been working on these things for years, so I'm not scolding you and this answer is for all listening in, too. Re-checking, I just measured into into a clean, acid dipped, de-burred cut out segment of a '29 rear fender and even though it had had some surface rust (removed and smoothed), it measured .040" (19 ga.). I've been using nominal 18 ga. for decades to repair and metal finish A fenders because it's a little thicker than 19 and will dress down to 19 if ground or filed. I like full thickness with no evidence of repair on either side. A fender will measure 20ga. or less where it has been ground on or heavily rusted. I have repaired dozens or hundreds of them and I believe they were all 19 ga. But there were way more than 20,000 of them stamped, making the ones that I've had my hands on very few.

Interesting! Could Ford have changed the gauge between the 28-29 and 30-31. The part of the drawing I have is for part numbers 16035-C thru 16038-C. The dash C according to the parts index on MAFFI refers to drawing 30-31.

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

'Bout the thickness of skin needed to post here--LOL
Minerva suffered a DENT on top of L/F fender, as if someone dropped a 47# BOWLING BALL on it!! Chuck/Henry, with the aid of a HUGE rosebud torch, straightened that dude, TOP/BOTTOM, EL-PERFECTO, without BONDO, even!!
DON'T ask how it happened???---BUT, y'all would have been proud of me, by suffering that crater, I AVOIDED takin' out THE WHOLE SIDE of a HIGH$$$$$, white Mini-Van!
I ALMOST squeezed my BLACK-PHHANTOM through a space THIS l-----------------------l WIDE, @ 45 MPH!!
Chief sed I could have been a NASCAR driver, BUT, I CULDN'T go thet long, without PEEING!
I've had varying answers from some drivers, when I ask,"Whut do you do when you GOTTA' GO"?????---("Is thet a coolant leak,?--NO, about 1/2 way back to the rear end"!!!)
Bill W.

[Bill Underwood]

So when was a 2X4, 2x4? Long time ago! I have seen factory prints that spec 20 gauge also. However, I think thru the years, specs changed. One posted that it mic'd out a .037; well, current 20 gauge is usually found to be .035.

I think a real issue is specs then vs. specs now.

I've mic'd good Henry body steel and find it to be from .037 to .039 and fenders roughtly the same.

I usually patch with today's 20 guage and often fenders with 18 gauge depending on where it is on the fender.The usual break in the bead goes back better in 18 for me. I make the patch.

BU

[Jim Huseby]

Mike V: Measure some.

[Mike V. Florida]

Does anyone have a print for the 28-29 fender?

All this is interesting, really!

Seems there is little consistancy in the sheet metal sizes between drawing specs and actual metal. Even between actual fenders.

[Marco Tahtaras]

Originally Posted by Bill Underwood

So when was a 2X4, 2x4? Long time ago! I have seen factory prints that spec 20 gauge also. However, I think thru the years, specs changed. One posted that it mic'd out a .037; well, current 20 gauge is usually found to be .035.

I think a real issue is specs then vs. specs now.

I've mic'd good Henry body steel and find it to be from .037 to .039 and fenders roughtly the same.

I usually patch with today's 20 guage and often fenders with 18 gauge depending on where it is on the fender.The usual break in the bead goes back better in 18 for me. I make the patch.

BU

There are a couple things that confuse the issue. First, Ford used U.S. Standard gauge for steel which has slightly larger numbers than the standard gauge for sheet steel.

US Standard Gauge

16 gauge - .0625"
17 gauge - .0563"
18 gauge - .0500"
19 gauge - .0438"
20 gauge - .0375"

I've looked at several drawings of items where sheet steel was used and generally a tolerance is included. When the tolerance is pretty narrow, it always excludes the nominal figure for the comparable sheet steel gauge.

Obviously there is also a problem measuring an item that has been drawn instead of the original sheeting. It will obviously be thinner than the sheet stock over much of a fender but should be thicker in some areas as well. I don't have a micrometer suitable for measuring inside a radius.

I thought I had a fender drawing but all I found was this '30 running board drawing which is obviously heavier gauge than other shields and fenders. I found it interesting that is says "18 U.S.S. gauge .049-.053 auto body stock".

[brito36]

The front fender was #20 USS GA. .035-.040, Auto Body Stock. I just checked my print on A-16035-C. Sorry..... I don't have what's necessary to post the portion of the print.

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Originally Posted by Mike V. Florida

Does anyone have a print for the 28-29 fender?

All this is interesting, really!

Seems there is little consistancy in the sheet metal sizes between drawing specs and actual metal. Even between actual fenders.

Yep, several of them. If you recall, I sent you a copy of the print showing those specs. awhile back. Also remember that Ford was not the only manufacturer of Model-A fenders, ....AND re-read Marco's point about sheet stock vs. stamped metal.