Repair of scratch in Alclad

[Eagle & Bear]

We have a 12 foot long scratch along the side of our 1976 29' International. It is cosmetic and not a structural problem. The scratch is about 3/16ths inch at its widest and tapers down to about 1/8 in. It is through the Alclad. The center of the scratch has a rough texture so I am hoping that some kind of silver or aluminum material could be bonded to the scratch and polished. Any success stories out there?

[Rmoran113]

Sounds like the same dent as on my 71 25' land yacht. Previous owner scraped tree branch. It runs from kitchen window about 4' to next window. It really stands out, recently riveted a wide piece of belt line trim piece over it but not happy with look. I can't afford to replace the whole panel. Looking for how to put a patch info. I figure a patch would look better than belt line trim.

[Steve Bryant]

Eagle and Bear, can you post a picture of the scratch please?

[Eagle & Bear]

The images give a rough idea as to what the scratch looks like. I dodged a pole that was projecting into a construction area with my TV but it hit the side of the AS.

[perryg114]

About all you can do is sand and buff and keep it waxed. Keep a can of WD40 around and coat the scratch if you see any corrosion. Wax is better if you have it handy.

Perry

[Steve Bryant]

I think that Perry is on the right track. I'd really consider leaving it alone. I know that isn't what you want to hear, but even if you meticioulsly sanded it with multiple grits of paper, polished the aluminum and kept it waxed, the rest of the trailer wouldn't match. This is going to be tough to do much about in my opinion.

[Steve Bryant]

Eagle & Bear,
What did you decide to do regarding the scratch?

[Ganaraska]

It would be possible to iron out the scrape from the inside and bring the surface back level. To do this you would have to remove the inner skin and cabinets etc to get access to the back side of the panel. Then sand and buff out the scratch.

This would have to involve polishing the whole trailer for a uniform appearance. And the area still might be slightly wavy.

I would leave it unless you are planning a major renovation job.