I recently purchased some of your videos. I want to tell you how pleased I am. Thank you for all the time and energy you put into your videos. I do have one small question. I was reading an article about Steve Moals California V-8 Special and they mentioned that they had to powder coat the inner frame work before hemming on the aluminum body panels because of corrosion between the different metals. Well in your video "Edge those Panels" you use a piece of steel rod when you put a wire edge in the aluminum fender. Is there a possibility of corrosion between these two different metals. Again thank you for the great videos. Doyle

The Tinman Respondeth:

Doyle,

Good question. I have taken wired edges apart that were 50 years old and found some rust on the wire. And I have taken them apart that were 30 years old and the wire was nearly gone. I use copper coated welding wire because the copper helps protect the steel. Stainless might be good, but it does react with the aluminum. Galvanized brake line is lighter, a bit less strong but bends well, and is well protected.

Salt water, seaside air, and lack of care (sitting in the swamp) cause most of the corrosion I have seen in wired edges. I wouldn't get real extreme about the protection because it is liable to get wrecked or need paint before it shows any rot. These collector toys get sunny days, heated garages, and never any winter road blast so why try a 1000 year protection???? My methods on million-dollar historical artifacts have lasted 30 years quite easily, and I did the work on reasonable budgets, too.

Kent

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