FLA shell repair? Recommendation ...

[funkill]

Well, I called my insurance agent and filed a claim for the tree damage to the rear of my trailer. They will make a *field estimate* ASAP since I will be waiting until after the holidays to get it to a repair shop. (I have a little trip planned for X-mas to New Years.)

Sooooo, a couple of you chimed in on my previously posted pics with rough estimates of $2000 to $2500. Insurance will cover that. I called the only shop I am familiar with (Sanders RV in Alachua) and they, initially, thought more like $3500 to $4000. I sent them my photographs to see if they can work out a closer estimate for me. I think $4000 is going to push the threshold for my repair claim... I do not want my TT totalled!!!

Do you have any recommendations for others who could make these repairs? Airstream service center or otherwise?

Also, I'm wondering if the new aluminum panels will be of differing material - that will interfer with my intended polishing job.

Laura

[kennethowens]

A fellow could take the money, order new panels and do
the best job possible yourself....probably need a few new
tools too. Never done it myself!!! Just an idea.....

If you don't feel like you could DIY - then do you know
any skilled fellow needing some work. If you ordered
the panels from Andy at Inland - I feel sure He would
provide the technical assistance for your project.

Just a couple of thoughts - feel free to ignore
if my ideas do not fit your situation.

[HowieE]

I think if it were mine I would take the money and attempt to push it out from the inside. Now that said it will never look like new but new material will not match your polishing and will be a much bigger flag.

If it is not a rear bath I would remove the inside cap, make a 6in. by 36 in pice of 1/4 ply and glue 1 in. ethafoam to the wood. While someone holds the ply bent across the dent work the dent out from inside. Use a 4 in. diameter piece of plywood with foam glued to it and tap with a hammer working from the outer edge of the dent inward.

I took a dent about that size out of a friends trailer in a camp ground. Now we were able to cut the inside skin because it was behind a cabinet and would not show. That saved use a couple of hours from having to remove the inside skin.

If this does not turn out to your satisfaction then you can consider replacement of the panels.

[funkill]

Originally Posted by HowieE

I think if it were mine I would take the money and attempt to push it out from the inside. Now that said it will never look like new but new material will not match your polishing and will be a much bigger flag.

If it is not a rear bath I would remove the inside cap, make a 6in. by 36 in pice of 1/4 ply and glue 1 in. ethafoam to the wood. While someone holds the ply bent across the dent work the dent out from inside. Use a 4 in. diameter piece of plywood with foam glued to it and tap with a hammer working from the outer edge of the dent inward.

I took a dent about that size out of a friends trailer in a camp ground. Now we were able to cut the inside skin because it was behind a cabinet and would not show. That saved use a couple of hours from having to remove the inside skin.

If this does not turn out to your satisfaction then you can consider replacement of the panels.

Soooo, what if it IS a rear bath? Guess that just means removing a few cabinets before removing the end cap? I'll have to look close to see if the dent is located low enough to try removing the cabinets and cutting the inner panel.

Thanks for the info on the mismatch of materials. I really want to try the polishing but my decision is not in cement. I like the idea of trying to salvage it - and do the work myself - but this gal might not be up to such a job... I also sent these pics to a local paintless dent removal company.

Laura

[HowieE]

My hesitation on the rear bath was if the dent was behind a shower stall it would mean the removal of a lot more than the average person would be willing to tackle.

Besides the shop you have contacted see if you can find an "OLD" auto body man that remembers how to remove dents rather than just putty over them.

Just the fact you replied tells me you can do it.

Good Luck

[kennethowens]

HowieE - "Just the fact you replied tells me you can do it."
I like that attitude / approach!!!
DESIRE / DRIVE / AMBITION - Good stuff

[funkill]

Okay - so someone has confidence in me .... but taking cabinets and end caps out seems really, really daunting for a single gal. I'll do some searching round here and see if I can find how hard it is - if stuff easily realigns, etc. If I can't find the answers, I'll make another thread!
Laura

[HowieE]

One secret to keep in mind it you do start drilling out the rivets of the inside end cap. Use a sharp drill bit and not a lot of pressure. If you are using a dull bit and pressure to make up for the dullness you run the risk of braking through and drilling through the outer skin. A safety against this would be to slid a piece of rubber tubing over the drill bit to stop the bit once through the inner end cap and before the drill can reach the outer skin. Leave less than 3/4 of an in. of drill bit exposed.

[Aerowood]

Originally Posted by HowieE

One secret to keep in mind it you do start drilling out the rivets of the inside end cap. Use a sharp drill bit and not a lot of pressure. If you are using a dull bit and pressure to make up for the dullness you run the risk of braking through and drilling through the outer skin. A safety against this would be to slid a piece of rubber tubing over the drill bit to stop the bit once through the inner end cap and before the drill can reach the outer skin. Leave less than 3/4 of an in. of drill bit exposed.

These work well also

http://www.browntool.com/Default.asp...&ProductID=344
Kip

[Shacksman]

Originally Posted by funkill

Well, I called my insurance agent and filed a claim for the tree damage to the rear of my trailer. They will make a *field estimate* ASAP since I will be waiting until after the holidays to get it to a repair shop. (I have a little trip planned for X-mas to New Years.)

Sooooo, a couple of you chimed in on my previously posted pics with rough estimates of $2000 to $2500. Insurance will cover that. I called the only shop I am familiar with (Sanders RV in Alachua) and they, initially, thought more like $3500 to $4000. I sent them my photographs to see if they can work out a closer estimate for me. I think $4000 is going to push the threshold for my repair claim... I do not want my TT totalled!!!

Do you have any recommendations for others who could make these repairs? Airstream service center or otherwise?

Also, I'm wondering if the new aluminum panels will be of differing material - that will interfer with my intended polishing job.

Laura

Laura, Hill Kelly Dodge on Hwy 29 in Pensacola, FL. has an RV shop that was an Airstream dealer. They still do very good work on Airstream panel replacement.

[funkill]

Originally Posted by Shacksman

Laura, Hill Kelly Dodge on Hwy 29 in Pensacola, FL. has an RV shop that was an Airstream dealer. They still do very good work on Airstream panel replacement.

Thanks Doug. I'll check them out too.

Laura

[funkill]

Sometimes I don't have my head screwed on too tight ... I don't know why I started a second thread on this subject. I'll just continue with this one.

So, Progressive showed up promptly at my home this afternoon. After a couple hours of figurin', they came up with a price just over $2500. They got panel part price from an on-line source and then used some Airstream repair estimater for labor time. They left me a check for the amount, minus my $500 deductable. Thankfully, that total was within the illusive Threshold for considering it totalled. I asked what would happen if the repair shop came up with a higher estimate and they suggested they'd do some negotiating and cut an additional check A/R, threshold not withstanding (- or would it be threshold withstanding????).

My initial thoughts on fixing this are (1) have it pulled out (2) fix it myself (3) replacing panels --- in that order of attempts. I know that anything short of replacing the panels will still leave a wrinkle but I would rather that than the mis-match of materials if/when I polish. I guess I still need to get a shop estimate before working on it so I don't *skrew* myself later if options 1 & 2 are really unsuccessful.

Thanks for all the ideas and info!
Laura

Oh, Ophelia is now safely stowed in my neighbors RV garage. 20'Wide x 16'High x 35'Deep. Unfortunately, the 14'H door was set to only open to a height of 8'. Had to disconnect the opener to get it high enough to get the trailer in. The home owner is going to try to reset the auto garage opener. Regardless - it's in a nice place. My side yard looks a little empty - and now needs some sod repair - but it does look much larger!

[kennethowens]

Better look before ya leap

[funkill]

Originally Posted by kennethowens

Better look before ya leap

nice graphics!

Yes, in my stupor, I posted these pics in another thread http://www.airforums.com/forums/f381...t-59265-2.html

Andy's first swag in that thread was, "Ball park, depending on a dealers labor rate, those 2 segments would cost a little over $2000.00 to replace." I gave Progressive Andy's number but they couldn't talk with him immediately, so they did their own figurin to come up the the $2600 estimate.

Sigh... what to do, what to do. I think I'll crack open a cold one, look at my empty yard and give it some more thought. At least Sanders RV is near my December trip and I can get their shop estimate before doing anything (except taping her up to prevent water intrusion - that should look real cool ).

Laura

[henw]

J C Sanders just replaced a long side panel for us. Goodyear Marathon tread separation that flapped around causing great damage.
Their work was excellent and done on time. Honest and very nice folks.
The cost was was right at or less than what the expert at AS in Jackson quoted to me over the phone.
I made sure our AS was at the dealership before the insurance estimator could get a look at the damage. As it turned out, Sanders was able to take photos and deal directly with our insurer by email/phone.
The insurance company originally wanted to have a claims person who had no experience with AS estimates write the damage up. I new that would result in insufficient coverage.
Anyway, you'll get it fixed right by those boys in Alachua.


Tom W

[flyrc]

It never fails. I keep track of all kinds of items that are available and items needed and of course they are always 3000 miles apart.Case in point, I know of a 73 that was snow crushed last winter and has two beautiful end caps. It will be interesting to see how this all works out. What ever you do, don't get rid of your trailer.

[funkill]

Tonight a guy from a dent repair shop is coming by to look at Ophelia. He has never worked on an Airstream but, has pulled dents from helicopters and small planes. He uses a (glued) tab system with a slide hammer (?). The glue is not a overly high-tensile strength one. Thus, the tab/glue would fail before the aluminum. He said the only damage on the heli was a few broken rivets which were probably already damaged. I probably won't have any work done in advance of getting a full estimate from Sanders during the holidays - unless this guy is really confident that he can work it out. Actually, I have another small dent that I will suggest he work with first to get a feel for how the aluminum reacts (this dent is near the beltline, below the rear, right marker light and does not have any creases). Here's a pic of the seperate ding.

Let me know if ya'll have any ideas on this method of dent removal!!

Laura