Door hinge/frame damage

[Dennis Fahlstrom]

I recently damaged the door frame by catching the lower hinge on a fence post as I parked my 76 Argosy. The hinge caused the frame to twist slightly and now the door won't close properly.

I presume that I can reverse engineer my way to a repair by somehow grabbing the hinge and pushing it in the opposite direction until I achieve original position. Is this the wrong way to make this kind of repair? If so, what is the proper way of doing it and is this beyond the ability of an average tinkerer? It looks like I'll have to remove the refridgerator and the interior cover to get access to the frame if that's where the repair needs to be made. I've never tried a repair like this but have plenty of time on my hands. I don't know how much something like this would cost if I took it to a certified Airstream repair place but that wouldn't be very easy either. The closest one is about 190 miles away.

[74Argosy24MH]

The hinge actually bolts through the skin. If you try to push it back into position you might tear or distort the skin. If the frame(s) are severly bent you are going to have to remove some rivets as the skin is a substantial part of the structure and will resist straightening.

John