Dent and replacing light fixtures

imeynstein · 03-26-2004, 10:39 PM

I have a dent in the skin on the rear of my AS over the window. The guy that I bought it from said that a tree had fallen on the trailer from a storm. I do have a large suction cup and was wondering if I could make the skin slippery using dish detergent and water and try to slowly work this dent out or if it would stretch the skin. Also, I was at Wal-mart looking for alternatives to replacing my over-head sink light fixture with a florescent light strip and am wondering if this would be a difficult thing to do or if this is a 'no-no'. Since I have a '74, the light fixtures have yellowed and besides, I wanted a more updated look, plus more light. Has anyone removed the old ? control panel?. It is about the size of an old VCR and takes up the overhead storage. I do not need it really except to check the battery charge, but I do not know what to do with the wires that would be 'free' since it would not be attached any longer, or should I buy a new panel to replace the old one???? One last question--WHEW--I would like to replace the old vent covers on top of my trailer and replace them with some translucent ones to let in more light...... Any ideas??

Edie · 03-26-2004, 10:58 PM

As for pulling out the dent, Brett reduced a huge dent in my sister's trailer.

We couldn't stand the dent. It wasn't there when we sold the trailer to her. We LOVED that trailer.

Do a search on the words dent and suction. You will get a lot of threads that deal with the issue and find lots of good advice.

imeynstein · 03-26-2004, 11:24 PM

Will check those threads too--thanks! I will post photos this summer when I get to work. Hopefully all will go well. Wish me luck!

j&jsoldsilver · 03-30-2004, 02:03 PM

I pulled out our control panel the other week & noticed the corroded battery in the clock first thing. I believe I will keep our panel since it is so prominent and we do not need more storage.I am attempting to keep ours as original as possible. Our bath
light fixture is also yellowed but usable for now. Camping World
has an assortment of newer light fixtures in their catalog, I notic ed.

Rick Gillis · 03-30-2004, 02:37 PM

I had a large dent in the front of my trailer that I was able to reduce substantially using a giant suction cup which I picked up through JC Whitney. I eventually had to replace the panel since the skin was stretched when I made the dent, but at least I did not have to look at the “huge” dent in my rearview mirror until the panel was replaced the following winter. Another member of our local club had a dent in the rear of their trailer, which we pulled out with the suction cup, with no visible marks afterwards. A great $20 tool!

thenewkid64 · 03-30-2004, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by j&jsoldsilver

Our bath
light fixture is also yellowed but usable for now.

The lenses are sometimes available at Inland RV. They were a nice bright white when new.

Enjoy your new to you trailer!