Where do I buy floor panel sheet metal? (1 Viewer)

[Zack1978]

Hi everyone,
I want to play around with my Millermatic 135 and I would like to purchase some floor sheet metal to patch the floors in my 79 mini short bed 4x4. Any ideas where to get metal like that?

Thanks,
Zack

 

[cruiser88]

go to a local scrapyard first,cheap. look in your yellow pages under salvage buy all the crap ya want dont buy the good stuff yet

 

[merbesfield]

I bought 4'x9', i think that was the size 20 gauge metal for about $35.00 a sheet.

 

[brownbear]

new is cheap enough. Get a 2x2 or bigger chunk of 18 gauge. 20 gauge is better for the fenders. But 18 is thicker for the floor.

scrap has surface rust...new can too.... but shouldn't

 

[Southeast Overland]

For my Pig I bought 2 sheets appx 4 ft by 4 ft of 16 gauge, a sheet of 3/16 plate (I think) appx 3 ft by 2 ft, and some 'fish net' or whatever you call it appx 6 inches by 4 ft for $70 from a local welding shop. Check out your yellow pages.

ETA: I compared a piece of flooring that I had removed and thought 14 gauge was closer but I thought it woudl be too hard to work with.

 

[Nomis]

I wouldn't go any thinner than 18 guage on the floor pans. OEM spec'ed out at 16ga up until 8/76 IIRC - this is what I am using and it is fairly easy to work with with a little grunt work.

 

[Zack1978]

OK, well now I must learn to weld better, as I played with the sheet metal, all I am doing is burning holes in it! Oh and I spent $5.00 for a new piece of 18ga metal.

Zack

 

[brownbear]

OK, well now I must learn to weld better, as I played with the sheet metal, all I am doing is burning holes in it! Oh and I spent $5.00 for a new piece of 18ga metal.

Zack

Sheet metal is really hard to draw beads on.

I found low heat(a or B) and higher feed rate seems to be better. If the feed rate is slow you end up in one spot too long and burn a hole. Increase the feed and move quickly across the joint.

Also for welding in panels it is better to use the tack method. Just spot weld in the whole panel.

Do a spot weld, then move down a couple inches. Then more down further. Then start at the beginning again...over and over again till it is all welded. That way you distribute the heat over the whole piece at once.

On exterior body I just did short zaps, then used a rag damp with cool water to cool the panel. I was able to not have any distortion in the panel this way.

 

[Pinion]

If youre looking for flat, durable gauge sheetmetal go to your local dump/transfer station and cut out the sides of washer and dryers.

 

[cruiser88]

If youre looking for flat, durable gauge sheetmetal go to your local dump/transfer station and cut out the sides of washer and dryers.

thank you , when in reality is cruiser sheetmetal clean gots to learn to prep/clean and weld.

 

[breckbone]

Sheet metal is really hard to draw beads on.

I found low heat(a or B) and higher feed rate seems to be better. If the feed rate is slow you end up in one spot too long and burn a hole. Increase the feed and move quickly across the joint.

Also for welding in panels it is better to use the tack method. Just spot weld in the whole panel.

Do a spot weld, then move down a couple inches. Then more down further. Then start at the beginning again...over and over again till it is all welded. That way you distribute the heat over the whole piece at once.

On exterior body I just did short zaps, then used a rag damp with cool water to cool the panel. I was able to not have any distortion in the panel this way.

This is what I'm planning on doing to mine as soon as I get more education on welding, etc. Do you have any pix of your project? Also, my rust is a section on the rocker panel below the driver's door. It goes over the seam just behind the door. I'm concerned about recreating the seam. Should I bother trying or just fill in the entire seam top to bottom?
Thanks.

B-