[SilverStreak] Re: 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
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tom Pierson" <howdy1954@hotmail.com>
To: "silver streak" <sslist@tompatterson.com>
Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2008 8:50 PM


> 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.