Making a New Belly Pan...can it be done?

[aluminitus]

So I picked up 9 sheets of 4x8 .030 aluminum sheet today from a local place at $37 each. It is mill finish on one side and white powder coated on the other. The white side will go against the steel frame as an added layer of protection against corrosion. Oh...and they even fixed the kinks in my over-the-door eyebrow for free and they tried out a product called Sprayon Heavy Duty Citrus Degreaser on the underside of the drip cap where there was some nasty corrosion kind of stuff going on that wouldn't come off with Nuvite. The Sprayon took it right off, saving me the trouble of making a new one!

[tesstoaster]

Just to confirm, the wrapped sides on a '72 vintage uses 0.032in 5052 aluminum?

[Belegedhel]

There seems to be plenty of debate about what is right and/of necessary. I just redid my 21" '73 with .032 6061. The materials cost about $400 from Aircraft Spruce, I think including shipping. That was two 12x4 sheets and one 4x6 sheet. My replacement was thicker than the original, which was probably around .025.

[tesstoaster]

Originally Posted by Belegedhel

There seems to be plenty of debate about what is right and/of necessary. I just redid my 21" '73 with .032 6061. The materials cost about $400 from Aircraft Spruce, I think including shipping. That was two 12x4 sheets and one 4x6 sheet. My replacement was thicker than the original, which was probably around .025.

Yes, but is that the belly only or does that also include the side wraps? I think the factory used 0.032.

[Belegedhel]

I did the belly, wraps, etc. all in the .032

[aluminitus]

Belegedhel- Beautiful! So nice to see the whole thing together!

[Belegedhel]

I just reviewed the original post, and the concerns about making the curved sections. I found with the .032' 6061, that it did not take a bend very easily. I tried some test pieces, bending it over the edge of my bench, over some 4" PVC pipe, but either I would end up with a hard crease, or it wouldn't take the shape. Luckily (or unluckily), I had bought an English Wheel as one of those "its on sale, how can I pass up a deal this good?" kind of events. The Wheel did the trick, though I am sure most people don't go to this kind of length.

[aluminitus]

Belegedhel - The cat is out of the bag now! Tell the Airstream community that you have your own English wheel and suddenly you will find yourself with lots of friends who just happen to need some compound curves

We were able to get the back piece on and one of the curved side pieces this morning. The side piece looked great until we got to that back corner. It looks like something from Monty Python.

terry gilliam dancing teeth - YouTube

Or pretty much exactly like what CV65 warned me about. I stood back and had a good hearty laugh at my own expense.
I guess tomorrow is another day. It the mean time, other than making tiny cuts, any advice on the matter?