lots of bodywork questions

[Guest Anonymous]

What gauge sheetmetal should I use? Where best to get that (hardware store?)? What should I use to cut out the rusty sheetmetal-sometimes two layers thick from overlap (this is my Volvo-not the 02 thank God)? I have a Milwaukee "4" grinder that I can attach a carbide blade to but it's dangerous and not very precise. I also have a Sawzall but that seems to bend the edges and deform the surrounding material. I guess I could use a finer blade and less pressure but it seems the back and forth motion of the blade is still a problem as compared to a one way spinning action. Is there something else out there I should be aware of. Roto Zip maybe? A nibbler won't get into the tight corners btw. Any good bodywork links I should check out? I'm practicing on the Volvo and mini van before doing even the slightest bit of bodywork on the 02. TIA!

[Guest Anonymous]

you can get it from a sheet metal shop, see phone book.

Check out Eastwoods site (see link) for body working tools and info, also see Metal Shapers for additional info.

http://www.eastwoodco.com/

http://www.metalshapers.org/

[Guest Anonymous]

Go down to your local auto dismantlers and ask if you can cut off a door skin (or something that works for your application) from something in their crush pile.

[Guest Anonymous]

....I live in the rustbelt. I would be lucky to even find a 79

Volvo let alone one not corroded into oblivion. But thanks for

the help.

[Guest Anonymous]

(nt)

[Guest Anonymous]

(nt)

[Guest Anonymous]

You can use your 4" grinder for cutting the metal. Use thin cut-off wheels. You can cut 18, 20 gauge with some big tin snips, but it can be tough doing radius'I'm a rookie at it too. I got HP Books Sheet Metal Handbook for starters. Very helpful. Makes it look easy. It isn't. I bought some tools from eastwood. I have a great deal of respect for people who can bend metal, fix cars and make a living at it.

[Guest Anonymous]

Makita electric die grinder and 3" cut off wheels for bigger areas and a Dremel and small cut off wheels for tight areas. The 3" wheels last quite a long time if you don't push the cut too hard - the Dremel wheels go away fast, but make a VERY thin cut.

If you have a comressor and air tools an air die grinder would be as good or better then the Makita, which only has one speed (about 20K rpm); another great air tool for the purpose is an air cut off saw - it's kinda like a little sawzall, but used at low speed with fine tooth blades, it'll make a really nice cut in a pretty tight radius.

If you can find any Volvos of the same 2xx series anywhere, cutting out same gauge metal to use for patch panels is probably a pretty good idea - a metal fabricator friend told me some time ago that sometimes the metalurgy is a little different between the body metal and generic mild steel sheet which can sometimes cause minor welding problems. Using metal from the same source avoids the problem altogether.