Toy,
Look thru the yellow pages for some sheetmetal fabricators. They usually carry all the metal and in different gages for what you would need. Usually these places have the huge shears, brakes, and rollers. If you have the pattern or plan size you need they can cut and bend in no time. Prices are not outrageous either. They sell the metal by the square foot and price varies depending on gage thickness and type of material. I had some inner rockers bent up for my '62 and I only paid $15 for the pair material and labor. One other thing, if you are not going for the polished look then got with the 6061-T6 which is readily available. 5052-H32 or H34 is a real good aluminum to work with also. Shears will be your best bet. I would avoid a plasma cutter on aluminum as it tends to leave really crappy edges. One real easy way to cut aluminum is if you have a table saw and a carbide blade. Go slow with it and you can get good clean cuts with only a small burr. Don't try to cut any 6061-O though as it will gum up because of the softness of it. Stay with the T6 or the 5052 series. If you want a mirrored finish you can go with Alzak that is already polished or with an 1100 or 3000 series that would need to be polished. The 1100 or 3000 series polish up nicely due to the fact that they are a softer material. T6 will not polish up as nice due to the hardness. Small pieces of T6 on a good buffer and with some good compound will polish but as far as bigger sheets, forget it. You can try here for getting some prices... <a href="http://www.copperandbrass.com/" target="_blank">http://www.copperandbrass.com/</a> <a href="http://www.centralsteel.com/" target="_blank">http://www.centralsteel.com/</a>
Good luck and keep us posted on the progress.
Kevin
[ October 22, 2002: Message edited by: Kevin45 ]</p>