Aluminum body panels for 69 Camaro

[comp-spec]

Im not saying there junk. I like the idea alot.All I was saying- From what I seen they will need a little work before paint.

[ProdigyCustoms]

I think they are cool is the right situation. But what I see is them being used in hard core cars that first need to look really good which will require work even with NOS panels> Cars that are driven hard, and wrenched on a lot, all of which can lead to headaches with soft panels.

James, I have a friend with a NSX he needs to fix the fender. I could probably save my guy some serious money if he can repair instead of replace since the Acura dealer told him absolutly not. I had a nightmare with my aluminum repairs, although i will admit it was 15 years ago.

Can you share the precautions,steps and materials you use.

[comp-spec]

(Can you share the precautions,steps and materials you use)
I would also like to know If you don't mind
Thanks

[kennyd]

i wish we would have seen these before we bought NOS for the one we are working on .

[kennyd]

Originally Posted by TravisB

most collision shops wont repair alum. panel's on the newer cars anything more than about a fist sized dent gets a new panel. As frank said filler does not like aluminum.

it's not the body shop , its the cheap ass insurance adjuster that dont want to add extra time for the repair .

[LateNight72]

Originally Posted by Jamess113

My point was, new cars are made of aluminum and don't dent by "taping on them" and correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't these brand new panels with no "fist" size dents to be repaired? There are plenty of auto body shops out there repairing aluminum body damage, mine being one of them. I can't image having to tell one of my customers that I couldn't fix the small dent in there rear quarter panel and that I'd have cut it off and replace it because it's aluminum . There are special precautions,steps and materials in repairing aluminum and if you don't follow them or use them, you will probably have a repair that won't last.

I'd like to know what series and gauge aluminum there made of? The wrong series or gauge maybe the reason for them denting so easily. Dose anyone know what there made of besides just aluminum?

Man you guys make it sound like these things are junk. They can't be all that bad.

Just my take at the subject at hand.

Jay

I agree, my DD had an aluminum hood & trunk lid. Either panel is harder to dent than the steel quarters.



Either way, you could simply lay down an epoxy primer, THEN do your filler work over the epoxy. This would be the optimal way to do it, IMO.

I can see these denting if they are made of 26ga. aluminum. But because they're aluminum, they could easily step-up to 18 or 16ga, and still have them alot lighter then OEM.

-Todd

[68TT396]

I have been wanting these for a very long time. Aluminum body panels when done right will work even better than steel. If this were not so then all our fighter aircraft would be made with steel skins.

Let me start by saying I have 13 years of experience working on US Air Force fighter aircraft in the repair & fabrication area.

Every fighter aircraft skin is made from aluminum, titanium or some form of composite. We make most of the skins from 2024 or 7075 grade aluminum. They are all installed with flush mount removable fasteners or with panel adhesive & flush mount rivets. The exotic materials are typically only used for radar tracking reasons and in high heat areas that would melt aluminum.

For the building of complex shapes like our fenders the material needs to be weldable so the higher strength 2024 & 7075 can not be used. We need to switch to 5052 or 6061 in an un-heat treated condition so they don't crack during forming. After they are formed the product needs to be annealed to remove the stresses put into the panel during forming then it needs to be heat treated.

An after fabrication heat treated 6061-T6 formed panel will be extremely tough to dent but if you do manage to dent it then it is as simple as lightly heating the area with a rosebud torch until the area returns to its as-heat treated shape. As long as the area is not too badly damaged (like a sharp crease) the light heating will bring the panel back into shape.

If these new aluminum fenders were dented from people knocking on the top surface then they were made from un-heat treated material and never annealed and heat treated as they need to be.

Another thing that needs to be done is to increase the panel thickness a little. From the photos it looks pretty close to the same thickness material that the stock steel panels are made from. This just won't work. The material needs to be about 50% thicker than steel to have the same dent resistance after it is heat treated. If it is un-heat treated and the same thickness as the steel counterpart it will dent if somebody even looks at it funny. This is probably what the Cobra's & early 60's light weight cars used, un-heat treated low strength aluminum that formed easily. It would explain why they all dent so easily and couldn't handle people leaning on them. We walk all over our fighter aircraft with no fear of denting the panels.

Aluminum body panels can be made to be very durable and light weight at a fraction of the cost of carbon fiber. They will be more expensive than steel but should not be $4000 for a front clip. I can see a 50% upcharge for the material change and heat treatment so a front clip should be in the $2000 range.

[BThibodeaux]

Or how bout just runnin a big F'in motor that don't know the difference between +-200lbs.?

[JamesJ]

Originally Posted by BThibodeaux

Or how bout just runnin a big F'in motor that don't know the difference between +-200lbs.?

yup.... could not have said it better....

[andrewmp6]

I'm with everyone else nice idea but a fender denting from getting knocked on somethings wrong there.I'm cheap ill stick to fiberglass.