[SilverStreak] Tree Dent

["Eddie" <EddieHuffstetter@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Tom Pierson,
I have some experience. You can and must do it as you describe from the 
inside. Forget anything but removing an interior skin or skins panels as 
needed. Forget the painless guy if he is just going drill holes and pound 
on it.

Usually a rib is involved so your straightening sheet metal and structure. 
I don't know about the clipper, but it could be like a Streamline and have 
a full continuous one piece rib depending on the rib. Streamline ribs are 
a one piece horse shoe across the top and down each side. Spartan is not 
like that and a lot of Silver Streaks are also like that. The rib must be 
slowly straightened with the skin if involved. Do everything a little at a 
time from the inside. If you are careful, you do not have to remove 
anything on the outside. Don't beat on it direct with a beater. Take the 
time to find blocks of wood to hit on and not the skin as it will dink 
everywhere you hit it. Just take the time and don't directly hit it.

Just get out your skill saw and cut up a bunch of 2x4 pieces and political 
or tomato stake pieces into little sized pieces and shapes, Keep them 
small. As you use them they will form into sort of rounded pieces that 
will help in shaping. Use pieces cut to nicely fit a straight section of 
rib, then use that piece, C clamps, vise grips, whatever, as inside and 
backing to straighten the rib as you straighten the skin panel. Go slow, 
little gains at a time then go back and gain more. Don't attempt to 
straighten one area and then on to the next as you will only stretch the 
metal and make a new problem.

If you wind up with a stretch wrinkling, use a heat gun with instant cold 
to shrink back the metal. This too takes a lot of patience, slow process, 
and trial and experience to make the metal smaller, pull tight, and draw 
out the wrinkle or wave in the metal. You cannot create a dent without 
stretching metal, so the metal of a dent straightened is ultimately too 
big when finished. Your pain relief guy should know and be experienced in 
the technique.

Clippers were made by Airstream, Silver Streak, and Streamline. You did 
not say which yours is, but you wrote the SS list so I presume SS. SS and 
Streamline were a separating of one into two. The construction of both is 
superb and often by the same persons switching companies. I have never 
worked on a Clipper, so my experiences are limited to Vagabond, Spartan, 
Silver Streak, Streamline, Boles Aero, Schult, Curtis Flagship, Holiday 
Rambler aluminum rib, GMC, Argosy, and Glider Albatross. I don't like 
Airstream so I hate to admit working on those.

I for one would like a description of the rib piece-meal like Spartan or 
solid rib construction of your Clipper so please let us know what you 
experience with yours and we will all learn. If you have to remove 
exterior rivets, there are Olympic rivets and a shaver to replace those 
rivets back to original look. Just use pop rivets for now and then later 
it is easy to drill them out and replace with the Olympics. Hope any of 
this helps you.
-Eddie-
Houston, TX