Abstract: The invention relates to a method for manufacturing a hollow body (10) of zinc plated sheet metal comprising at least one first sheet metal panel (12) assembled to a second sheet metal panel (14), said first panel (12) comprising a main portion (18) perpendicular to a parallel end portion (18), connected by a radius of curvature (20), said method comprising at least one laser welding step during which the first panel (12) is laser welded to the second panel (14) with a predetermined clearance (J), characterised in that the invention comprises at least one prior positioning step during which the panels (12, 14) are placed one on top of the another with no clearance, and in that during the laser welding step, the laser beam (27) is positioned in an area of the radius of curvature (20) of the first panel (12) corresponding to the predetermined clearance (J) between the first and second panels (12, 14), for “transparency” welding.