Re: [A/S] Looking for some experienced advice..

Steve,
During my tenure as a very hands-on manager of an Airstream exclusive dealership, we replaced quite a lot of aluminum. It is NEVER as easy as it first seems, even with experience. Every job presents new challenges.

FYI, this is NOT a one man process. You are going to need at least one pair of additional hands and maybe two pair. Enlist some buddies that you trust. Not that you will need them all the time, but when you need a extra pair of hands, nothing else will suffice.

The first decision is whether to remove the damaged segment or overlay it. Airstream typically recommends overlay for lower segments. When overlaying, you first cut away ALL the damaged portion of the skin to release any deformation stress that it is applying. Tin snips will work, but a pneumatic sheet metal cutter that nips rather than cuts is safer. Remember that there is wiring behind that panel. Then you drill out all the rivets. As mentioned, you simply use a very sharp punch to make a dimple in each rivet head center and then drill it out (if memory serves me, it is a 1/8" bit). Plan on going through several drill bits in the process and use a variable speed drill so that you can start slow until the drill bit catches into the dimple. In some cases, we did remove the section of damaged skin where it lapped under the adjacent segment to reduce thickness, but in most cases you can easily add the thickness of another layer of aluminum with no visible difference.

If the segment is SO badly damaged that cutting away the damaged section would leave little aluminum left, then removing it is the better choice, but even then cutting away some of the damage area before removal will many times make removal easier (relieves the stress caused by the damage). ALWAYS cover the immediately area on the adjacent segments with several layers of WIDE blue painter's masking tape to protect them.

As already mentioned, you will NEED to invest in a Cleco tool and enough Cleco rivets to insert one in each rivet hole. I know that this sounds like a lot of Clecos, but these compound curved segments really can fight you and being able to ease the panel into place with clecos makes the job a LOT easier, plus you can remove them during the process as necessary.

You will need to purchase seam tape which is a thin rubbery tape that seals the seam. You coat the seam tape with baby powder and ease it into the seam once you have the segment aligned and ready to be riveted. During the riveting process, some of the tape will ooze out and will continue to do so in hot weather, but this is normal and you simply use a thin plastic edge to cut away the excess. You will install this tape AFTER you have the alignment of the panel completed. Just remove all but a few strategic Clecos and then gently ease the tape into the seam. Once the tape is in place, start replacing the removed clecos as you work your way around the segment.

Olympic rivets are the best approach. I would order at least 20% more than you need as you will need some for practice and occasionally you have to start over on a rivet (mainly when the rivet nail pops BELOW the head of the rivet, AND it WILL happen). Do be careful with the rivet tool as when the rivet nail pops, the tool can easily bounce over and ding your new panel. Covering both sides near the rivet line with several layers of blue painters masking tape is highly recommended.

Remove only a few Clecos at a time when installing the permanent rivets. We typically would install the initial rivets skipping 3-4 as we worked our way around the segment until the entire segment was secured by those initial Olympic rivets, then backfilling. You don't want the panel to creep and result in misalignment of the factory predrilled holes.

Forget attempting to shave the Olympic rivet heads with a dremel or any other way that some may have tried. You are simply going to have WAY TOO MANY rivets to shave. Borrow or buy a rivet shaver and then PRACTICE on some scrap aluminum. Usually you can get the shave depth set and a technique developed within a half dozen or so attempts. There is NO substitute for PRACTICE. Also, if you borrow a shaver, understand that depending on how much it has been used, the shaver blade may be too dull to give a good appearance. The shaver depth always has to be adjusted along with the right technique in order to get the appearance you want. PRACTICE. Remember that you are going to be looking at those shaved rivet heads from here on. I know that Olympic rivets are not cheap, but messing up shaving a rivet means drilling it out and replacing and every time you get near that new segment with a drill bit there is a chance that the drill will slip off and make a nice scratch in the new segment. Our experience was that the while it takes a bit more practice, running the shaver at a high RPM resulted in the best appearance. Not too high as that can burn the rivet head and it dulls the shaver, but as you will see as you practice, there is a speed that gives an almost perfect shave. FYI, you will need a really good pair of end nipper cutters to snip off the end of the rivet nail that extends slightly above the rivet head after being popped. You really want that nailhead as close to the rivet as possible before attempting to shave the head. Some Olympics pop off close to the head others just a bit above it. It is a judgement call on each rivet.

Be prepared to invent and conjugate entirely new utterances (better known as cussing) during the process. Those compound curved segments can be mean. Take your time. If frustrated, walk AWAY. Remember that the reason that it costs SO much to have this done professionally is NOT the actual cost of the replacement aluminum, it is the labor and as such, expect to invest WAY more time than you anticipated. This is NOT a typical DIY project.

David T.
On Aug 21, 2012, at 7:03 AM, Stephen Davis <sedavis51@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Greetings all, unfortunately for me I damaged panel #3 on my 81 Excella
> II beyond any suction, pulling efforts or approaching it from the
> interior (rear bath with tub & shower on the damaged side. I'm looking
> at doing an external replacing of the panel. Hopefully someone out here
> has experience in doing such a DIY project. Would appreciate some hints
> & tips on removing damaged panel and resetting the new panel.
>
> The below link will take you to a diagram on Inlandrv's web page:
>
> http://www.inlandrv.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=76&osCsid=b3209b5b09fc6ea2c304790591330566
>
>
> #3 Curb side rear lower window segment, located just to the side of the rear window, part 47144.
>
> Thanks
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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