making my own

will be working on wife's 77 volare this winter and need to fix the typical rust on the lower fenders and quarters.i know they don't make new patches so i will probably have to make my own.My question is what guage metal should i use 14-16-18 ??

I made mine out of an old air conditioner.

Most patch panels you can buy are made from 18 to 22 gauge metal. The lighter the gauge the easier it will be to shape and form.

You can also try looking for a donor car that is not rusty and cut the pieces out...It,ll save alot of work...
67 GTX
I,d rather push my PLYMOUTH than drive a ford

as far as finding a good donor car here in the rust belt,not a chance.I called DVAP and no offense to them but their prices foe patch panels was a little out of my range,so i guess i will make my own.One mor question,is 18 lighter guage or is 22 lighter? thanks for the replies.

22 ga. is lighter...

Donor car or 18 gauge. EZ enuf to work with. F bodies wre sure bad about rusting, especially the older ones. I heard they started using a lot more galvanized metal after about '78. Something to remember if you go donor route.

I heard from a friend who fabricates parts to look for old washing machines for sheet metal he said the coating on both sides prevents the metal from ever rusting through and its very strong,gauge of metal varies on washing machines brand!

Yes, make sure both sides are coated after welding!! Nothing wrong with using scraps of sheet metal to fix patches. I fixed the typical rear window rust on my 69 RR out of scraps of steel.

Thats too bad you can't locate jobber 1/4 pnls. They used to be available, I welded a couple on an old 79 Duster (Volare) I used to have...that was in the early 90's tho'

lowes sells various gauges and sizes of sheet metal very reasonably price too

thanks for all the ideas,i will definitely be using those.