The flashing metal sold in the local hardware stores tends to be fairly hard, difficult to fold around compound curves. I'd like to find some softer material, ideally fully annealed like aluminum food wrap. Aluminum is acceptable, galvanized steel might work, copper is going to be overpriced for what I'm doing. Thickness isn't critical, .010" would be fine. Most aluminum foil is well under .001", I think "heavy duty" foil is under .002".
Any ideas where to look, or names to search online? Thanks for reading, bob prohaska
------------------------------- Pure or low alloy aluminum types 1100 or 3003 should do, I don't know a local retail source. 5052 in the O temper might be fairly easy to form. I bought a 4' x 8' sheet of it from an HVAC shop and had them shear it into 2' x 4' sections my equipment can handle. I form aluminum into rectangular boxes to hold electronics and make compound curves in steel for rust repairs.
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I form compound curves on my anvil or a wood cylinder with a depression in the end, hammering metal over the depression stretches it concave, then it can be rebent into oval etc compound curves for matching repairs, like fenders. I've shaped up to 14 gauge steel this way, into a trumpet bell shape for the baseplate socket for heavy lift tripods.
I modeled the Ranger's embossed floor patch from cardboard, then soda can aluminum, then 0.030" aluminum, and last a sandwich of galvanized steel roofing. At each step I found a better and more accurate way to form the shape. The final MIG welded version is planned to be galvanized steel from above-ground pool trim. Acetone removes its powder coating.
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upper oval is access to a cab mount bolt head, the lower was the drain after dipping the cab in the vat of primer, and could have been left solid in a repair panel.
Rust ate away around the lower oval cutout which was incompletely sealed with a rubber plug. It ate into the end of the raised rib that points toward its center. My patch continues the rib across the now filled drain in a stiff triangle that lets the rest of the patch lie flat, the only compound curve from shortening the edge is at its lower (rear) end where the floor rises anyway.