Postwar sheetmetal

[Jyrki]

I wonder if anyone knows anything abouth this. When I started working with the fender skirts of my 46 Roadie, welding patch panels on, it was plain horrible. Even a tiny tack weld made the panel warp and twist. The old rusted through pieces of sheetmetal are like spring steel. When you bend them from convex to concave, they immediately spring back, like spring steel. I chemical stripped all the paint away, and discovered a faint, oval stamp on the skirt, "ARMCO STEEL". Moreover, the surface texture resembles wire brushed with rotary, random pattern. I wonder if this is some leftover steel used for tanks? Anyway even the heat from tinning the surface for leadwork will badly distort the panel. It will recover while cooling, but not when you apply a thicker layer of lead.