Metal...body?

[NSTG8R]

Yep. Those plants were big ones. The Chrysler plant is just a massive empty building. (was the last time I saw it). Everything is leaving St. Louis. That place is getting pretty crummy.

No argument there [place is getting pretty crummy], the area where the plant was is just an open expanse of concrete and weeds for as far as the eye can see...I drive by it every day. There's talk of turning it into a "Industrial Park"...Which is pretty much what everything around it already is, and mostly vacant.

 

[slinches]

Booboo, the gauge of the sheet stock, the yield strength of the steel and the shape of formed panel all have to be considered in determining the dent resistance and load carrying capabilities of a vehicle's steel body panels. Just comparing gauge thickness is misleading. However, much more emphasis has been put on reduced weight in recent years, which may have been at least partially achieved by lowering the design standards for panel durability.

 

[NSTG8R]

I think the standard stuff now-a-days is around 18-20ga,(That is what I get for thinking, Edited). My 58 chevy pickup was carved out of a solid block, that was some serious metal.
" Automotive sheet metal once ran in the range of 18-gauge, which was 48 thousandths of an inch thick (actually 0.0478 inch). 20-gauge became common in more recent times, and this meant 0.0359-inch-thick metal—still a lot to work with in-bumping and metal finishing. However, more recently, 22-gauge (0.0299-inch) has become common, and now 23- and 24-gauge (0.0269- and 0.0239-inch, respectively) have appeared on the scene under the euphemistic name, “high-strength steel.”
Resto Series Number 2: Sheet Metal Basics - Old Cars Weekly

Booboo, I was pondering the very same thing once the announced they "sheet metal body panels". If real number crunching didn't want me want to shoot myself [only mildly kidding], and you knew the gauge of metal they would be using, you could figure the weight savings VS SMC [if you knew the material thickness of the SMC]. Back in the day I had a '96 Jeep Cherokee and a '94 Ford Ranger. We had a "wicked" hail storm. It beat the tar out of the Jeep hood and roof, but the Ranger was untouched . I'm not sure of the gauge of metal that was used on each [that would take research...too lazy for that sh*t]. But since the Elio "announcement" of metal body panels I've been thinking, "how thin of a gauge of metal are they going to have such a significant weight savings that it made it the go-to material [the speed of manufacturing the panels VS SMC is a "Duh!!"]. If they take the weight savings too far you could end up with something that dents as easily as a beer can [and trust me...I know my beer cans ].

 

[Coss]

Booboo, I was pondering the very same thing once the announced they "sheet metal body panels". If real number crunching didn't want me want to shoot myself [only mildly kidding], and you knew the gauge of metal they would be using, you could figure the weight savings VS SMC [if you knew the material thickness of the SMC]. Back in the day I had a '96 Jeep Cherokee and a '94 Ford Ranger. We had a "wicked" hail storm. It beat the tar out of the Jeep hood and roof, but the Ranger was untouched . I'm not sure of the gauge of metal that was used on each [that would take research...too lazy for that sh*t]. But since the Elio "announcement" of metal body panels I've been thinking, "how thin of a gauge of metal are they going to have such a significant weight savings that it made it the go-to material [the speed of manufacturing the panels VS SMC is a "Duh!!"]. If they take the weight savings too far you could end up with something that dents as easily as a beer can [and trust me...I know my beer cans ].

Oh, like the new Ford F150's?

 

[Elio Amazed]

Mine.

Outstanding.
Don't you have a '57 chevy too?

 

[bowers baldwin]

Outstanding.
Don't you have a '57 chevy too?

Yea, sold the Savoy years ago, to buy another 57 Chevy, sold that and got the Bug. Long story short currently have a green 57 and the Bug, the Fiat and the race truck.

 

[Coss]

Yea, sold the Savoy years ago, to buy another 57 Chevy, sold that and got the Bug. Long story short currently have a green 57 and the Bug, the Fiat and the race truck.

Race truck? Oh?

 

[Ty]

Oh, like the new Ford F150's?

They don't dent so easy. Yeah, I've seen the commercial where they drop pavers into the bed. Have you seen Honda's version? Not a dent or chip. You won't see Chevy doing that. Elio probably went to steel body panels for cost and availability's sake. I doubt weight savings had anything to do with the body choice. Now, the frame, on the other hand...

 

[Darrellh]

I think they went to steel primarily because Shreveport is set up to make stamped steel.

 

[Ty]

I think they went to steel primarily because Shreveport is set up to make stamped steel.

Shreveport could stamp parts using rolls of steel but doesn't make the sheets of steel. That's just for the record in case someone gets confused. I figure that's what you meant but sometimes, things get taken out of context.