Is galvanized sheet metal ever used in constructing these cars? Any reason not to? I know aluminum sheet is lighter, but . . .

My step-daughter is a journeyman sheet metal worker and says large factory ventilation duct jobs often have "scrap" left over that's too small for them to mess with, but large enough for body panels.

I can't see why not - but bending the metal could prove to be a bit harder, unless you heat treat it first. Did your step daughter mention how they make the ducts?

At least you'll have less chance of the panel rusting!

the zinc galvanising burns off when welded and is toxic.....perhaps you need to remove it at the weld points - does it contaminate the weld too I wonder?

atb

steve

I used some that I found in the scrapyard for the panel behind the seats. It's galvanized one side and like a primer on the other. It came from a local boiler factory where they use it for panels and it's called Zintec. It's very thin so it was riveted on with a good bed of mastic. If you had enough of it you could panel with it and paint the primer side as they do at the factory.

yours, Pete.

The gasses given off when welding galv give you zinc fever, a bit like rally bad flu - the cure is drinking lots of milk!

You also get a residue on the weld which is yellow like cotton wool - it also makes for a brittle weak weld. Best avoided really

She said wearing a respirator is mandatory when welding it, but didn't mention weak welds or ugly yellow cotton stuff (I'll ask about those).

As to bending it, they just use standard sheet metal brakes (cold).

Sounds like it should be fine to use wherever riveting would suffice, though, and I'm thinking about using is as flooring if I can get it thick enough.



[Edited on 23/9/03 by carcentric]

provided you grind away the areas where you are gonna weld, I woulda thought that would stop the problem....unless a welder can tell us otherwise!

atb

steve

I made up some repair sections for my old Sunbeam Lotus with galvanised sheet. When welding it, I got a sort of white fluff floating around (a bit like bonfire ash). It was pretty thin stuff (22swg I think, just like the original floor). Other than the need to wipe of the weld to remove the ash deposits so I could see where to weld next, it didn't give any particular trouble with a MIG and C02.

Cheers,

Neil.