How would you fix me?

[soldiermedic]

Anyone have any ideas? I thought about fabricating a new wood trim piece to cover it.

[overlander63]

Looks like somebody had a tv set in there. You could do as you suggest, and use a larger piece of wood to cover up the problem area, or you could use fiberglass mat and resin to remake the area.

[john hd]

larger trim might look out of place, i would attempt to repair the area as terry suggested.

if it doesn't turn out you could still cover it up.

john

[smily]

I would cut out the rest of the header and make a box or shelf to fill void.
I have actually seen where folks add a wire screen shelf above this ridge for additional storage and I have seen it done with oak shelf rail with little banister or spokes, it looked like it was OEM.

I think you are asking for a big mess by truing to repair with fiberglass. If you are not experienced with fiberglass, it is a real headache.

[soldiermedic]

I have zero fiberglass experience, but dont want to cut the header out as it will be nice storage for radio, dvd, etc. Plus I don't want to remove it for the sake of keeping it as whole as possible.

[john hd]

it is not that hard, there is a learning curve when working with it. it is just fiberglass cloth and a 2 part epoxy.

try practicing with it on a sheet of plastic or newspaper when you have the skills try it on the trailer.

you may have to construct some kind of backing for it while it sets. kinda like paper mache projects kids do over ballons.

john

[maxandgeorgia]

I think that if you had a wood trim piece that matches the current trim closely that you could "step" up the trim by adding a piece straight across the top of the storage unit, stopping or 'stepping" down where the end curves begin. It doesn't have to be very wide, just enough to cover the gap. Easy fix, and will look nice, like it had always been there, in my opinion. ~G

[LI Pets]

The way I did it was to make up a plywood or luan part as a mould, wax it lay over the fiberglass with resin.

When you remove it, it will have the super smooth finish you need.

Or makeup a complete overlay out of wood, and stain to finish.

[Fyrzowt]

I think John's suggestion makes a lot of sense. Try to glass it first, if it doesn't come out just right the first time it's called learning. The next time will be better. Remember you can shape it to some extent by grinding/sanding. Just make sure you use respiratory protection.

As has been stated, you can do something with wood if glassing it doesn't produce an acceptable result. Fiberglass will keep it most original.

Dave

[Daedalus]

How about drilling styrene dowels into the existing plastic for a strong mechanical connection, and then attaching styrene "mini-ribs" w/ adhesive to re-create the curve of the original piece. When that is done you can get busy with the fiberglass. It's messy, so practice on your corvette but it's very easy to do. When it hardens you just add more layers as need be. Once you have a good strong fiberglass shape you can add bondo and sand, sand sand. As far as the woodwork you can either redo all of it or patch it as required.

See attached (I hope) pics

By the way congrats on your Safari find.

Don

[Fyrzowt]

Wow, that was fast! Don't change anything!

[Mel]

Don - what a helpful first post (and with pictures, too!) Welcome to the forums!

[Daedalus]

Mel thanks for your comments. Now I must get back to work or I might have to fire myself.

[clancy_boy]

Don, Is that all done with photoshop????? That was impresive work.

[Daedalus]

clancy boy
- yes that was done quickly in Photoshop. We use it alot in the early idea stages of projects - (I'm an architect with a residential/commercial practice in Stone Ridge, New York.)

[doorgunner]

How about an off the wall avant garde approach. Wad up a slew of dollar bills and glue them to the wound? Naw just glass it the nice thing about fiberglass is you can grind it off and start over again if not happy. Just do it and have fun- protect your lungs when sanding. Tim

[Alden Miller]

I'd go for the woodworking repair. It doesn't look like the opening extends much above the trim. I'd make a new piece of trim that was just wide enough to cover the opening. I'd make the trim piece the same size all the way around the opening so it didn't look like a patch job.

-Alden

[soldiermedic]

Since I am much more the wood worker than the fiberglasser, I will most likely try the wood working first, and post a pic for everyone to judge. If it looks good, problem solved....if not I can try to glass it.

Great post Don!