live in northern NJ and im about to notch my subframes to alow true dual 3" exhaust with sportline springs. i already have tru duals 3" with turndowns but droppin 1.6" will give me NO GROUNDCLEARANCE lol but i want to keep the duals. ive done alot of fab work already on the chassis. handmand LCA's and panhard rod. custom thru floor subframs from 2"x2" mild steal. i can find sheetmetal from HomeDepot etc but i need something alil thicker for the stock notching subframes since i want to keep some of the ridgity. anyone know wat gauge to use and where i can get some of the material to do it? rememeber norther New jersey...

 

You will not find anything thick enough at home depot.

I wouldn't use anything thinner that .070 thick steel. Got an old torque arm laying around? Cut the stamped torque arm up and that will be more than adequate to patch up your notching.

 

i don't think that 0.070" will be thick enough. i work at a sheetmetal company and 0.070 is pretty easy to bend. if i was you i would go with some 3/16" or 1/4" thick u need something that aint going to bend very easy and by notching it you're taking away from the box shape of it as for where to get it try finding a local fab shop and you could probably get them to roll it and everything for alittle of nothing.

 

where about in NJ are you?

 

you guys have Lowe's??? i've gotten some pretty good metal there.. 3/16" but i do live in hawaii.. haha look in the yellow pages for scrap metal or something..

 

far north like essex county, im like 20min from NYC.

yeah ive done sheet metal work but ive never needed anything this thick before, i'll prob go with 3/16" i dont think lowes or homedepot will have any lol. they suck for metal. the stock subframes arent even that thick tho, i belive the tranny crossmember and torqur arm are the thickest metal on the car lol

 

have you looked around for any fab shops around you?

 

look on mcmaster.com or http://www.onlinemetals.com/ i get all the metal i use from them cause i don't know of any places in northern nj to get metal

 

What exactly on the car are you planning on cutting that you need 3/16 or ¼”??? almost nothing on the car is heavier then 18ga, and even for reinforcing/boxing there isn’t much reason to go more then about 11ga (1/8”).

Just because you can bend a piece of steel when it’s a flat piece not attached to anything doesn’t mean it’s weak when it’s bent/welded to something as part of a structure.

 

thanks i'll have to look into that site. yea its really hard to find metal around here for this type of stuff.

yea i know the car metal is crazy thin lol i have no idea how they just dont buckle especially with the spot welds that are super scary weak. the cross member that runs the front subframe to the trans crossmember, i'll be notching both sides for my 3"dual headman header extenstions that are gona be run off my long tube headmans...i need the ground clearance bc of my sportlines that will be going on. the stock subframe metal is like 2 seperate peices of 14ga steel that are bend over eachother that are then spot welded together. should be interesting, i'll be looking for prob 1/8" instead since i already have custom thru floor subframes

 

DOnt forget that ever since the advent of the model T chassis manufacturers have used structural steel for bodies. The steel that your car is made from is not just mild steel, it's treated for rigidity. Not only that, but as Crossfire states, flat steel that bends is a lot different than bent flat steel in terms of rigidity! If you take that thin piece of steel, and bend it into an "L", you will find it much harder to bend an additional fold into it. If you bend it into a "U", it'll be even harder. Box that "U" into an "O" and you will have a tube of steel that you wont be able to bend without a hammer and torch.

If you are going to channel the subframe, you will probably only need steel as thick as the original subframe, certainly no thicker than .093 inches. Heck, take a look at mild steel roll bar tubing. less than .100 thick and is capable of handling the jacking of the weight of an entire car when you use it as a subframe connector.

 

hmm i didnt know that, i just assumed they used stamped flat steel for our cars, thats wat it looks like to me. i also read somewhere that the cars used diff types of metals and that some cars are more prone to rust and fatigue than others, something about where they got the metal from and the different qualities that they are made from where GM got the metal, good info, i just kno that when i cut into the floor pans to install my custom thru floor subframes that the foor pan metal is like rubber lol and no more than 18 gauge if even that.
i found a sheet of 16 gauge steel and i think im just gona use that. its not 1/8" but its pretty sturdy i think thats wat the stock subframes seem to be. i gotta find more of that square 2"x2" steel tubing so i can reinforce my car more, anyone kno where u can get 4ft or so sections of that stuff?

 

I don’t know about since the model T, but since at least the unibody cars of the 70’s, possibly 60’s have major sections built from “high strength steel,” which I’m assuming involves some sort of heat treat since there are all sorts of warnings about not welding to them with a torch, use a mig to control heat input…

Honestly, I don’t really know what the difference is with the stuff, but I’d like to have a real answer… otherwise it’s properties seem similar to mild steel.

 

rt46east in clifton right after you get off the parkway. first building on your right they have a hole **** load of steel for mad cheap

 

i have a friend who lives in clifton, i'll ask him if he knows the place....