buggy roof skin...

[wasted wages]

I'm looking to buy a sheet of 4x8 aluminum to skin the roof of my buggy.....

what thickness should I use ???

I can get it in: .050 .063 .080 .090 .125

I'm thinking .063 or .080

What say the brotherhood ?

 

[Deuling]

I like what norby did on his ibex.

 

[NorCal_Chris]

I'm probably going to end up with .125. That's the min requirement for koh and seems to be a popular choice. I've heard of a couple of people using .80 and having rocks poke holes in it.

 

[big dan]

I like what norby did on his ibex.

I imagine that there will be an outbreak of road sign theft if the right people see that.

I have a friend who is cutting up an aluminum box truck that Im getting one side of. Don't know the thickness but it should be good for a roof skin

 

[Greg Ducato]

Have you considered cutting the roof skin off of a full sized van? They have nice reinforcement ribs for strength and it might be a good look for you as well as being inexpensive.

 

[mrk5]

Typical road signs are .080 for reference.

 

[blazinzuk]

I would do the .090 or .125. I would prefer to do the .125. It can actually hold up to small rocks, doesn't vibrate as much in the wind.

Anything thinner than .090 I have had to attach way more than I wanted to and put bead rolls in to keep it from vibrating like crazy

 

[wasted wages]

Have you considered cutting the roof skin off of a full sized van?

hmmmmm. interesting idea.......

Typical road signs are .080 for reference.

I was wondering if anyone would chime in with that info....

I would do the .090 or .125. I would prefer to do the .125. It can actually hold up to small rocks, doesn't vibrate as much in the wind.

I've heard of a couple of people using .80 and having rocks poke holes in it.

This is the info I was looking for.....sounds like it's gonna be .090 at a minimum..
Thanks for the input guy's !!!!




.

 

[MNorby]

I was wanting to do 1/8" since some rules require that. I was lucky and happened to have a 4'x4' sign at the shop that was 1/8" thick. Here is what I ended up doing with it:
http://coloradok5.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3372303&postcount=298

 

[diesel4me]

The side panels and roof of a P series step-van with an aluminum body are at least 1/8" thick,maybe closer to 3/16"...they also have nice "rub rails" along the sides that make for good stiffeners !..

A co-worker at the junkyard used the aluminum side and roof panels off a P-30 bread van to plate the floor of his 16 foot car trailer,and it held up well..
Maybe you can find such a van at a salvage or scrap yard..here there is a scrapyard that sells used metal like beams and plates,and you can get aluminum things there pretty cheap..

Another place you might try is a DPW garage--they usually have some old highway signs they replaced that are pretty large,and aluminum,and one of the employees might be willing to let one "dissapear" for a small bribe!.....here they replaced a lot of the aluminum signs with medium density fiberboard instead,it seems to hold paint better,holds up good,and its cheaper..