Repairing dents in galvanized Argosy endcaps.

[1Michigander]

I have a 1975 Argosy 24 and the previous owner put two good-size dents in the top end caps. One is on the right side of the trailer in the front and the other is on the left side in the rear. These caps seem to be galvanized steel. It appears to me that I will need to remove the plastic molded endcap on the iniside by drilling out the rivits and then pounding out the dents from the inside. Am I on the right track here? Has anyone else out there repaired dents in Argosy end caps before? I would like to avoid a trip to the mothership for this. It does not affect performance of any kind and I use it regularly so I know there are no leaks. Also, once I fix the dents I want to have it painted any ideas there as well would be very welcome.

[CanoeStream]

The good news is that your Argosy is painted in the first place. Dents like this deformed and stretched the metal. They can't just be popped out and all is hunky-dory. Pictures might help us understand the size of the dents. I'd think you're going to be using Bondo to finalize the countour -- so how much of the dent could body filler take care of in the first place?

[Happycampers]

Hello... The Hubby just took out a dent in the rear end cap.. yes the plastic end needs to come down...I believe he posted some pics in our thread Costalotta start ot finish... .. You are right on track about taking them out from the inside but may still need to do a little body work on the outside... Hubby does auto collision repair...

[1Michigander]

Unfortunately, I am not very savvy as for as adding pics. I will try to figure it out. It is not as straight forward as adding picks in a regular email. The dents are pretty substantial. I will try to get pics on here to show you what I mean. It would take too much filler to try to fill in the dents as is.

[balrgn]

If you have a crease in the dent it will take some doing. We have spot welded a tab and used a slide hammer to pop them out.

[1Michigander]

Thanks for the advice. I am going to have to get the plumbing fixed first. This Arogosy is a real nightmare for someone with ADD. "OK, I'll fix this. No, wait I need to do that first. Oh, this needs fixing too." I fell like I am chasing my tail. I guess I'll have to do triage, make a list and check things off as I get them done. Otherwise I will start too many things and never finish anthing.

[Lumatic]

Originally Posted by 1Michigander

This Arogosy is a real nightmare for someone with ADD.

ADD......Airstream Dent Disorder?

[CanoeStream]

Originally Posted by balrgn

If you have a crease in the dent it will take some doing. We have spot welded a tab and used a slide hammer to pop them out.

Interesting idea. I'm not a welder and don't play one on TV -- but always have heard about respiratory protection if welding on galvanized.

1Michigander -- Photo posting: I think we're all on the same page with digital photos these days. Before attempting to post, you will need to resize any photo so it's under 300K -- that's 1024 x 1024 large in .jpg format, but 600 x 800 works well for members to view. I usually opt 'Save As' in an image editor because clicking 'Save' will replace your original photo file (which will be gone forever). 'Save As' -- but save it to a place you can find easily -- My Pictures or your desktop.

So -- in the last post in a thread, Click 'Post Reply.' Enter some text in the text window (3 character minimum).
Scroll below the reply window to the 'Additional Options' box. Select 'Manage Attachments.' A separate window will pop up.
Click "browse." Then select the file to be uploaded. Be sure that the photo is appropriately sized. You may select several photos to upload at the same time by repeating the last step.
Click "Upload" After pics have loaded close the pop-up window
Click "submit reply" to mount the text of your message - photos will automatically appear in the post.

[balrgn]

Spot welding is just that, not a worry... ?