[martinogdenbsx]

Hi

I am in the process of smoothing my door handles off,my question is what thickness metal should i use?Someone recommended 22 guage???

Is 0.8mm thick alright??It is brushed steel is this still alright??

Thanks

Chris

[BarryK]

At metal Meet they had a 101 class for an hour I attended. The guy teaching that class said always use the same metal thickness that is on the car for most perfect weld.
An example was welding a 20 Gage to a 15 Gage would result in a bad weld as the 15 will accept the heat at different rate than the 20.

Another interesting point the guy brought up was if your working on making a panel for a 60-70 model car that came with 18 Gage use 19 for a wear and tear equalization.

Another interesting point he brought up was the most perfect gage to use to make new panels is 19 gage and he pointed out almost impossible to find in south and must be special ordered in most other places.

DAMN! Go to a one hour meeting and I'm an expert!! LOL

[MARTINSR]

What make model and year of car are you working on?

If you are just covering up a recessed "hole" in a door like an 80ish Toyota pickup, guage matching isn't going to matter a lot if any. If you are butt welding in a patch, then the guage is much more critical.


.08mm would be an eqivalant to 22 guage or .029 inch or so.

Brian

[martinogdenbsx]

Well it isn't a hot rodder car,it is a Honda civic hatchback 94 model.

[poncho62]

Originally Posted by martinogdenbsx

Well it isn't a hot rodder car,it is a Honda civic hatchback 94 model.

Cardboard........isn't that what all the body mods on Civics are done with that.............

Seriously, the Civic metal is probably a little thinner than the older American stuff. Best to check it with a micrometer.

[MARTINSR]

Your going to be filling in OVER a recessed area right? I can't remember or does it have a big rectangular hole? Than it isn't that big of a deal. But 22 guage is what that door is I am pretty sure.

If you have a nice close up photo it may help. If it is the handle I am thinking of it is a rectangular hole with a small lip. So, you will need to cut off the lip and butt weld the piece in. Or, you could flange the edge of the hole and lay the piece which is slightly larger than the hole into the flanged area and weld it that way.

If it has the recessed area like a "dent" that the handle sits in you could leave it and weld a patch over the top. This is not the "best" way but could be done a little easier than cutting the area out and butt welding. I did it that way a number of times years ago on mini trucks. If you weld VERY slow with MANY tacks you can keep the heat down and not warp the door.


Brian

[martinogdenbsx]

cheers,i havn't taken the handle off yet but i think it is a whole there isn't a recess in the door where the handle is.