When your car needs a fender, you can either go to the local body shop, your local dealership, or order one from an aftermarket parts supplier on the Internet. But when a 1935 Bugatti Aerolithé needs body parts, there's no one to call. It's not like you have a local Bugatti dealer with a full complement of parts in stock. You have to make that all by hand, which means you need people who know how to work metal and how to work with the different kinds of metal out there. Especially when you realize that the aforementioned Bugatti features a body with a whole lot of magnesium.
The Guild's Classics is offering up some insight into what it takes to work on the multitude of classic machines that cross through its garage space. Today we're learning about metal working from a master fabricator. He's got a piece of aluminum and a piece of magnesium, and he's shaping each into a basic dish.
Basic to him, of course, but the process of turning each square slice of metal into a perfectly smooth, round dish is fascinating. Especially when the person hammering each dish out can clearly explain what's happening in front of our eyes. The aluminum and magnesium are the same thickness, yet the magnesium is both lighter and harder. It takes a different approach compared to the far softer aluminum.
In the end, each dish is well shaped and we've all learned a ton about metal shaping along the way. More videos in this series should prove to be welcome explorations into the world of rare vehicle restoration.
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