Door Skin Repair

[Cort]

Friday afternoon I stopped by the hardware store to pick up some supplies I needed for an upcoming trip. I came out of the store and went to put my bags in the back of the camper when I noticed that the back "ATC" sticker was all messed up. A closer look revealed that there was a dent, split aluminum and a hole! I couldn't believe it...I checked to see if someone left a note and could not believe that there was no note. Needless to say I just about lost it.....I can't believe the nerve of some people. Accidents do happen but to not leave a note! My Bobcat is not even a month old. Best that I can determine someone hit my back door while they were backing up. It must have been a pretty big truck, but that is not surprising in this area.
http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/uploads/1275326693/gallery_2318_221_1173059.jpg
http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/uploads/1275326693/gallery_2318_221_1321150.jpg

I further inspected the door and was happy to find out that the damage was relatively minor. The hole did not go all the way through and the damaged area was only about 3" X 3". I brainstormed several ways to fix this some of which included Bondo, epoxy, or having the door re-skinned. Finally, I realized that I could use some flashing to repair the area and that it would look just as good as new.

Here is a quick walk through on what I did.

1) I removed the ATC sticker and tried as much as possible to pull the dented material out and to plug the whole up with the piece of aluminum that was torn out.
2) I removed the aluminum bar that was 12" up from the bottom of the door
3) Cleaned the entire area with denatured alcohol and then very carefully taped the damaged area with Vinyl Tape. If you look at the picture I laid the tape starting at the bottom so that successive layers overlap each other like shingles on a house. This should help with water penetration if water were to ever get down into this area.

http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/uploads/1275326693/gallery_2318_221_1273671.jpg

4) Once I had the damage patched up I measured how much flashing I needed to cover the entire door from the bottom all the way up to were the aluminum bar was that I removed. The area turned out to be 12"H X 24.5"W. I included the distance under the trim on the door.
5) I cut the flashing using an exacto knife. This is a key(once the flashing is scored bend it back on itself and it will snap giving you a perfectly clean line)step and makes for a very clean cut. If you cut with tin snips it is hard to keep the flashing straight, which will make the final installation much more difficult.
6) Once I had the flashing cut I used a putty knife to very gently and carefully pull up the trim on the door in the area that I was working. I did not want to pull it up to much, but just enough to be able to slide the flashing underneath and still have a good snug fit.

http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/uploads/1275326693/gallery_2318_221_1524212.jpg

7) Next I worked the flashing under the trim on the sides and the bottom. I used the putty knife and some paper towels in this step. This was a slow process but worked perfectly.

http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/uploads/1275326693/gallery_2318_221_360371.jpg
http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/uploads/1275326693/gallery_2318_221_997269.jpg

8) I put a healthy bead of silicone sealer on the top edge and then re-installed the aluminum cross bar. Once the bar was on I used another bead of silicone to ensure that no water will penetrate down behind the flashing.

I am extremely happy with the way this turned out and I actually like the way it looks. You can't tell that it didn't come this way from the factory. Now all I need to do is get another sticker.

http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/uploads/1275326693/gallery_2318_221_776226.jpg

Hopefully this thread will help someone else out.

Cort

 

[ski3pin]

What a bummer to walk out and find. Nice looking fix! Thanks for walking us through it with the text and photos.

 

[BSS]

That definitely sucks, but your fix is actually better than the factory finish in my opinion.

I have the exact same dent in my rear bumper too. For a minute there, I thought I was looking at a "new" picture of my own rig!

 

[DirtyDog]

Stew will be interested in this thread. He can't put it in R without implaing his camper on a tree. In fact, I would say it's 50/50 that Stew was the one that backed into your camper

 

[craig333]

Nice fix. Looks really good. I'd have probably just slapped a big sticker over it and pretended all was well

Its possible, as light as it is, that the person never even knew they hit you. Not likely but I like to think they'd have a note if they knew.

I was coming home from the other day, car stopped suddenly in front of me, I managed to brake in time but then I hear a thump. Ah heck someone hit me. I pulled over and so did the other person. I was envisioning major damage to the camper but she'd hit my hitch my instead. Poked a nice hole in her hood but didnt' even scratch my truck. Turns out she'd been hit from behind and pushed into me, and the person that hit her fled the scene.

 

[Dughlas Stiubhart]

Stew will be interested in this thread. He can't put it in R without implaing his camper on a tree. In fact, I would say it's 50/50 that Stew was the one that backed into your camper


Hey, DD, I wasn't anywhere near NorCal over the last few weeks!

 

[Ted]

Stew will be interested in this thread. He can't put it in R without implaing his camper on a tree. In fact, I would say it's 50/50 that Stew was the one that backed into your camper

Yes! Finally I'm no longer the only member to be the butt of DD's jokes. And thank goodness he doesn't know about the tree I backed into. Or the sign post. Or the beer truck...

 

[Dughlas Stiubhart]

Yes! Finally I'm no longer the only member to be the butt of DD's jokes. And thank goodness he doesn't know about the tree I backed into. Or the sign post. Or the beer truck...


So true, even the smallest slip up and DD is on your case for life. At least I haven't suffered the ultimate humiliation of having DD put some silly name under my avitar, MAGELLAN. I can only guess what you did to deserve that.

 

[ski3pin]

sounds like Stew is asking for a new name under his avatar...........

 

[K6ON]

Ah come on...DD would never put some silly name under someone's avatar

 

[Ted]

So true, even the smallest slip up and DD is on your case for life. At least I haven't suffered the ultimate humiliation of having DD put some silly name under my avitar, MAGELLAN. I can only guess what you did to deserve that.


Not silly at all. DD gave me that name because he is so impressed with my worldly explorations. At least, that is the way I remember it. You will have to check out his trip report from Blackrock Desert in June of last year to get his version.

 

[Dughlas Stiubhart]

Ah come on...DD would never put some silly name under someone's avatar


Right, Delta Rat, how mean is that? DD needs to keep in mind that one day he too will be Old & Soft!

 

[Dughlas Stiubhart]

Not silly at all. DD gave me that name because he is so impressed with my worldly explorations. At least, that is the way I remember it. You will have to check out his trip report from Blackrock Desert in June of last year to get his version.


DD really says you can't even find your way to the outhouse, Ted.

 

[Dughlas Stiubhart]

Maybe my repair isn't as slick as Cort's, but it does keep the water out!