anyone want to discuss the pros and cons of using thin guage steel for panels instead of aluminium?

for my contribution, its a shitload cheaper, not scandilously more heavy (any figures anyone?) and similar in how it wuold be fitted.

plus it can be tacked/welded in.

i ended up with 22g sheets, tacked round, then hopefully made airtight with some strong tape inside.

ugly i know, will probably rivet the side panels.

any thoughts anyone?

I think on a std locost, people struggle with the rear boot panel - ie getting the curve and the edges......steel would make this harder.

a refreshing change from people trying to make things lighter

beware that steel is approx 3x the weight of alu

atb

steve

steel is what i used joel.
Not out of a cost issue but for the long lasting good look of the panels.
there's nothing worse than an ally panel with dings &dents in it when it catches the light.
Pics in archive.
ATB Paul

Yep, my sides and rear panel are steel. I knew it was something I could work with.

'Course then I spent six months making an ali nosecone!

Cheers

Chris

hi all
i used plastic coated steel panel for
inner panels like they use on outside
of buildings about 22g one 10 x 4
sheet does all looks good too
jacko

Chris,

You got any pictures of your car? I've seen you plenty of times but your web site only shows an upside down chassis.

The only downside is rust, but it'll be no worse than the rest of the chassis, just ensure it's painted and rustproofed properly.

ATB

Simon

quote:

---

Originally posted by paulbeyer
Chris,

You got any pictures of your car? I've seen you plenty of times but your web site only shows an upside down chassis.

---

My ten pence worth is not to use ordinary steel plate but to use a product called ZINTEC.its used in the bus body building industry for cladding the busses. It is treated to resist the rust. An old friend Henry Koekemoer used it for his 1800 toyota powered seven replica in Durban (High humidity and Salty air) with no problems. Slight weight penalty but good price advantage. Easy to work and cuts great with a nibbler.Fixed with the traditional rivets easy to replace if you ding it. Spray painted you would have an excellant finnish.
Another advantage is that it does not dent like soft ali. Advantage 3 No reaction between the chassis steel and ali.

think my dad used to use that at the place he works. used to make me project boxes from it when i was n electronics hobbyist as a kid.

i think its zinc plated steel......


atb

steve

time to get a rivet gun now... i hate spending money!

thanks for the opinions guys.

I used a sheet of zintec for the panel behind the seats. I found a load of it at the scrapyard left over from the local boiler factory panel shop. It has a galvanised finish one side and the other side is like a primer.

yours, Pete.

Here are examples of the weight, (in pounds per square foot) of sheet metals:

22swg (0.7mm)
Aluminium 0.371
Mild steel 1.142

14 swg (2.0mm)
Aluminium 1.06
Mild steel 3.26

Mick

...but remember that you don't need use the same thickness to achieve the same rigidity and strength.

I used 16swg (1.6mm) ali for most of my panelling. I'm sure that 22swg steel, or perhaps even thinner, would be as good with very little weight gain.

cheers,

David

16swg (1.6mm) Aluminium sheet weighs 0.848 pounds per sq foot.

Mick

i had this debate with myself over the floor. In the end i plumped for a steel floor as it was cheeper and easier to fit.

Its not just a case of weight over strength, the matterials have different properties.

so essentially 22g steel is similar in weight to 14g ally. i know the steel is very easy to bend, how easy is it to form the aluminium into curves etc?

ps i made a very loud shimmy board like rolf harris played, about 2ft by 1 ft. Could hear it echoing off neighbours houses, which was fun.

Nearly all the curves in the Locost's bodywork are in one plane, i.e. a straight bend, or a gentle curve, in one direction only - easy, no matter what material you use.

The only place where you'd have to get creative is at the top of the rear panel, particularly at the curved corners. You have to bend the sheet round the curve, which is easy, then beat the metal over the round tube, which is 'interesting'. When you get the technique right (in my case, after an initial failed attempt) it isn't too hard in ali. It would be near-enough impossible in steel, unless you're a master panelbeater!

cheers,

David

A good technique for the corners is to cut away a semi-circle so that the metal covers about a third of the inside of the tube and not bother with rivets on maybe 60 degrees of the curves. That way the steel won't want to bunch up.

Seen this done once or twice, but can't remember where. Maybe someone can kindly post a pic.

Pete

mix's figures show what I said

alu has a density (weight) approx 1/3 that of steel.

I know this cos I design x-ray machines for a living that find metal contamination in food. Xrays work on density, and I can vouch as a fact alu has a specific gravity of approx 3 whilst steel, iron, copper, etc are all around 7.5 - 8.0

dont bother using gold pannelling - its got a density of approx 22.




atb

steve

oh crap, so I'm going to have to chuck away all that gold then

A bit OT, but what the hell...

If anyone's in the City of London, have a look in the Bank of England's museum - they have a genuine bar of gold that you can touch (it's in a heavy plastic box, and a security man sits nearby...). Last time I was in there, it was worth about £85,000.

Anyway, you can reach in the box and try to lift it - your arm is fairly straight, and few people can lift it off its cradle.

Makes a joke of all those war films where you see large boxes of ingots being lifted by one man, and hurled into the back of a lorry!

cheers,

David

about 1980, when I worked in CCTV we put a system into a bonded silver warehouse on the thames, next to hms belfast.

There was loads of the stuff. I tried to pick one up, and it wasnt that easy!

In the recent 'italian job' movie, they used 3 minis - supposedly modified - to transport a truck of gold. Didnt seem to affect the 0-60 times too much.

pretty crap movie actually

but no where near as bd as 'league of extrodinary gentlemen'.


atb

steve

I looked up the weight of that BoE gold ingot - 400 oz, or 25lb!

DJ

Too much time on your hands DJ

David, at 85k per bar I guarantee you WOULD handle them ease...

With gold as heavy as it is, I wonder how much lighter the McLaren F1 would have been if the engine bay hadn't been lined with the stuff

about 2oz I bet

atb

steve

With Gordon Murrays weight obsession I should think you are right - but it is still interesting thought about using such a heavy material.

its the gimmic factor.

he coulda used alu plate like everyone else.....but would you have been talking about it now

atb

steve

In Kelly's Heroes (one of my favourite films! ) they're slinging those boxes around. I reckon there's about 16 bars in each. By David's figures (and assuming ingot size is the same) that's 178KG each box!

The one in the BoE is remarkably small - pretty much like the ones they always show in films (about 30cm x 10cm x 5cm - but that's a guess, so don't get your calculator out Mr G!).

David

i didnt

used the windows one

33 kilos!

atb

steve

OK, so I over-estimated the size - sue me!



David