Sovereign vs. Deer

[Alsupp]

Last fall during the rut here in Kansas, we had a deer strike on our '83 Sov. What looked to me like a HUGE doe ran out in front of us, and as we passed her, I was thinking to myself "whew, we missed her". Immediately we heard the "thunk" and the pull of impact. The deer hit the front SS of the Sov - she went between the Sub and the Sov! Here is the damage pics. The aluminum tape is from the field repair I did that evening at the campground - these shots are from the following morning.




Well, a family friend has some sheet metal skills, so we hired him to help with the repairs:


The new sheet metal is from a local surplus store - an entire 5' x 10' sheet for $70, as opposed to a new panel from AS for about $360! Note the color difference.

Here are the the olympics installed:


Our friend had the idea to scratch off the finish with scotchbrite and WD-40 to get a "closer" match. Here is the final product:




Not a perfect match, but we are FIXED! We are interested to see how it weathers in time.

[Phoenix]

Great repair job; and another interesting story for the next Airstream gathering!

[vswingfield]

Very nice job! Keep us updated on how it weathers in.

(Deer=Giant Rats with Antlers.
Doe=Giant Rat without Antlers.)

[casa3805]

Ahhhhh we have an 84 Sovereign with a nice patch as well. Can't post pics from the phone but something happened a couple of owners ago that forced the installation of a patch on the side that my grands thought was a secret door. :-) vintage character...

[meredith]

That's amazing! Did it kill the deer? I can't believe the damage that it did. It could have been a lot worse.
M

[c_lewis77]

too bad AS doesnt make "Deer Guards" to go below the rock guards!
great job on the repair!

[Splitrock]

I'd hang onto that guy's phone number.

[Skatiero]

Really fantastic repair job! Looks great! What thickness aluminum is the patch?

[casa3805]

Originally Posted by casa3805

Ahhhhh we have an 84 Sovereign with a nice patch as well. Can't post pics from the phone but something happened a couple of owners ago that forced the installation of a patch on the side that my grands thought was a secret door. :-) vintage character...

Now that I am home I wanted to let you see our patch. See it? Yours blends much better! Might have to try the scuff technique. Thanks for sharing, your friend has great skills!

[Alsupp]

Originally Posted by meredith

That's amazing! Did it kill the deer? I can't believe the damage that it did. It could have been a lot worse.
M

We looked for the deer as we were in the mood for fresh venison, but could not find her. The coyotes were sure whooping it up in the distance though!

[Alsupp]

Originally Posted by Skatiero

Really fantastic repair job! Looks great! What thickness aluminum is the patch?

The sheet metal we found was not the correct stuff, but is much stiffer. 2024-T4 at 0.040. I was trying to match thickness over material.

[mefly2]

Nicely done!

[TouringDan]

Alsupp

Great repair job, especially for someone that had never completed this type of repair on an Airstream before. Your friend indeed has some special skills.

Dan

[Globie64]

Thanks for the story. The repair looks good, I'm impressed with the curves, but also thanks for the warning: we have tons of deer here and I've managed to miss (closely) them so far. I forget that the trailer is behind me and that even if the TV missed the deer, the TT may not!