i just picked up a 92 civic shell for $200.....
my friend had some welded in mild steel base plates in the front and on the shock towers...and had a main hoop, rear bars, and halo bent up for it as well

he said the bars were cro-moly..but i'm not sure how to tell. i set them outside last night..came back and they were flash rusted all over...does that mean they're steel? cause i hvae no clue.

they don't have any markings on them or anything either...

would the thickness determine the metal? or should i just post some pics?

 

chromoly is steel and it probably rusts faster than mild steel

 

oh....didn't know that

so how do i tell for sure..before i go mig it in?

 

Only simple way I know of is to hope the labeling is still somewhere on the tube or ask the person that threw it in.

 

i don't trust the person i got it from

and as far as i've seen....no labeling

 

You can measure the thickness, if it's over .110" then it's probably mild steel.

 

Yea, measuring thickness is probably your best bet. Anything over .095 or so is more than likely mild steel. If it is thinner, it is probably chrome-moly. Also...chrome-moly comes with a black coating on it...so if its a bright shiny type of looking metal, it is mild steel...unless for whatever reason someone stripped all the 4130 coating off of it???
Kyle

 

it does appear to hvae a coating.......

 

Chrome moly steel is very hard. If you strike it on a tangent with a hard stone it should spark. Mild steel won't do that.

Alternatively, try grinding on it. Chrome moly steel should send off sparks that burst into little spark clusters. High-carbon steel has a similar effect but tubing isn't made out of this material.

 

well...i'm going to gauge the thickness today..
if it's cro-moly...that's gonna suck, cause i don't have any use for it