The Silver Streak E-mail ListArchive Files[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index] [SilverStreak] Re: Silver Streak Digest V1 #524
> Silver Streak Digest Wednesday, February 27 2008 Volume 01 : Number > 524 > Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 21:50:37 -0500 > From: Tom Pierson <howdy1954@hotmail.com> > Subject: [none] > > Hello fellow streakers, > I'm writing from upper east Tennessee. My name is Tom Pierson and I own > a > 1956 Clipper. 21' single axle. I've had it for about 3 years now and am > getting ready to do some restoration work this spring. It has a dent in > the > roof just above the rear window from a tree limb falling on it back in the > 60's. All those years since it did not leak, until I attempted to push > the > dent out last year. (against everyone's advice). It still is not a huge > leak, > just a few drops when it rains really hard, but I still want to fix the > dent. > Anybody got any tips on doing a job like this? I'm thinking either > removing > the interior skin section and trying to dolly it out from the inside or > removing the window and working between the skins. I have a friend who > does > the "paintless dent removal" technique on vehicles and thought I might let > him > have a go at it. I've searched high and low for new panels but with no > luck. > Any help is greatly appreciated. > Thanks and happy trails. > tp > Hello Tom; My name is Jerry Page and I also own a '56 Silver Streak Clipper. After spending several years rebuilding it I hopefully can offer some insight into your dent problems. Your trailer is made of aluminum, not steel. The two metals work very differently. A hammer and dolly will only stretch the metal making it worse and worse. Paintless dent removal also does not work. In my experience, we can't expect auto body repair to be very useful. Your Clipper is made of aircraft aluminum and is more closely related to an airplane than a car! My trailer had a small crunch in the right front corner. I cut a hole in the interior panel, pushed the dent out to the best of my ability and then made an aluminum patch and rivited that over the hole on the inside. It looks pretty good but this metal cannot be hammered out and made to look like new. It was at that point that I decided to strip all of the paint from the interior, but that's another story! You can't find any new exterior panels because there aren't any. Fortunately, ALL of the panels are made from flat sheets, not the factory formed panels found on newer trailers. These are pretty easy to fabricate. Your trailer is made of 2024 aircraft aluminum which these days is very expensive. I have found the more commonly available and less expensive 5052 aluminum to be a good substitute. Then there is the question of what rivits to use and how to get the thing apart, back together, sealed and polished! All of the correct products are available from places like vintagetrailersupply.com and a couple of suppliers of tools and stuff for amature airplane builders. If this all sounds like a lot of work, believe me, it is! And not cheap either! But there is no reason that it should leak when the proper sealents are available. (not silicone!) Leaks just cause the plywood sub-floor to rot out. I replaced the entire floor in ours, but again, that's another story! Please feel free to contact me and I'll try my best to help. Welcome to the club! Jerry info@thefolklorecenter.com
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