Body panel Stainless steel gauge

[mr_maxime]

What's the thinnest gauge of sheet metal used on a body panel? I read that it might be 22 gauge.

I just ordered the eastwood surface conditioning tool and I'd like to test it on a scrap piece of stainless first

[David T]

The panels on the Delorean are 16 Ga, relatively thick. Because of that thickness there is enough to fix dents and grind and sand the surface flat.

[Josh]

16 gauge

[mr_maxime]

I figured I'd grab my micrometers from work and check myself. It's about .028" thick, so in between 22 and 24 gauge. I only checked the front and rear fender. Where did you get 16 gauge from?

[Bitsyncmaster]

I figured I'd grab my micrometers from work and check myself. It's about .028" thick, so in between 22 and 24 gauge. I only checked the front and rear fender. Where did you get 16 gauge from?

I get the same reading on my front fenders measured where I can get a mic. on it near the windshield.

[David T]

That is the number I remember from the literature. I am going to measure it myself now. You have me wondering.

[mr_maxime]

That is the number I remember from the literature. I am going to measure it myself now. You have me wondering.

16 gauge seemed rather thick since the fascia brackets I have are 0.07" and they are nowhere close.

[David T]

Just measured a corner of the L/F fender. It comes up as .029. Not exactly accurate because the corner was shaped in a press so you can expect it to be slightly thinner. In any case if you look up .029 in a gauge chart for S/S it is on the high end of 22, almost 21. Looking at several gauge charts you can see that they do vary and if you measure MM and use European charts they are also a little bit different. Be sure to use S/S charts, not CRS (Cold Rolled Steel). Point is the thickness is nowhere near 16 ga. 21 gauge is not a common gauge, at least not here in the US. Since the closest gauge is 22 you can say the panels are 22 gauge S/S. 16 Ga is closer to .057.Thanks to Mr_Maxime for pointing this out. The next time I get better access to a place to measure an undisturbed area of S/S I will take some better measurements and find a better chart for European S/S to try to determine exactly what the gauge is. I have a feeling between the European gauge standards and converting from inches to MM I don't have it exactly right. Just be aware, you can call it a certain gauge as long as you hit the MINIMUM thickness for that gauge. You don't have to be in the middle or high (thicker) end of the gauge so steel Mills will always look to work on the low side of the numbers and still be able to deliver metal to that gauge thickness. The better way to order tons of steel (if thickness matters) is to order by a specified thickness plus-minus a tolerance. That way the Mill can't play games with the gauge charts. When I had a steel shop this was always an issue, how the customer specified the thickness of the metal. If they used the ordinary charts for gauge, they had a large variance and the hollow metal industry had their own gauge charts so they could "cheat" just a bit more.

[mr_maxime]

I did make sure to use SS table. I agree it probably started as 22 and was stretched thinner when formed into shape. For my purpose I'll probably get slightly thinner on my scrap piece.

[Mark D]

No need to guess here. Just check the print



.80MM is ~ .315" which is 22 gauge for SS sheet.