pmaz621
New Member
Posts: 10
1964 Shasta Airflyte
Currently Offline
|
Post by pmaz621 on May 21, 2014 7:42:33 GMT -8
So I have a friend who very graciously stored my '64 Shasta Airflyte over the winter (for free!) in his very large garage. I mentioned to him that after I got back from vacation, I would come and pick her up. Well, while I was on vacation last week, he wanted to do me a favor and deliver her to me. So he brought her over and backed her into my driveway while I was gone. Sadly, he backed up too far and ran the camper into my house. Oops. A nice gesture which ended very badly. (What's the saying . . . "No good deed goes unpunished"?). By the way, we are still friends. He feels really bad and I told him that I forgive him. Here are some pictures of the damage. It's not terrible, but still needs to be fixed. I am wondering if I will be able to salvage the wing which got smashed pretty good. I have ordered a new tail light from VTS but I'm not sure if I can straighten out the metal (I realize that it will never be perfect apart from new skin. I am open to experienced advice. Smashed up wing
|
|
SusieQ
Global Moderator
Posts: 4,781
Likes: 1,197
'62 Shasta Compact
Currently Offline
|
Post by SusieQ on May 21, 2014 7:50:44 GMT -8
OUCH! Oh, I know that friend must have felt awful! Glad you are still friends. It really isn't that terrible. I've seen a lot worse that turned out great. The real damage is probably underneath the metal, well, not say that that the skins aren't a little damaged, too. Poor broken winged Shasta!
|
|
shastajeff
Active Member
Posts: 140
Likes: 63
1965 Shasta Compact - "Stu"
Currently Offline
|
Post by shastajeff on May 21, 2014 8:59:51 GMT -8
Accidents happen... . Suppose you can be thankful that it wasn't worse. Your friend should be thankful you have such a forgiving nature.
|
|
pathfinder3081
Active Member
Posts: 457
Likes: 138
1971 Shasta Loflyte
Currently Offline
|
Post by pathfinder3081 on May 21, 2014 9:32:27 GMT -8
Ouch! What are friends for.. I know that they felt like crap.. But yes it can be fixed. I don't know how far you were going in your Restoration or Rebuild, but you might have to take it a little further now. The wing is going to show some love bumps, (if I reworked it and hammered it out) but others might not even notice it, less you show them. The exterior skin? If you worked from the inside? Or with it completely removed? I think that you are going to be alright here. I think that it will work out (pop out) fairly uniform and even once you get into it. Good luck and don’t' forget.. "its' just a trailer". If you remind yourself of that every now and then, the little things stay little and the big things look smaller. It works for me
|
|
ladywendolyn
2K Member
Posts: 2,315
Likes: 928
1964 Golden Falcon
Currently Offline
|
Post by ladywendolyn on May 21, 2014 10:05:01 GMT -8
AAAAHHHH! I feel your pain! This sounds so much like something that would happen to me and my husband! It brings to mind the whole issue of even lending out our tailer for people to stay in.. there are just so many things with a trailer that you have to know, and even the best intentioned borrowers have repeatedly broken stuff, I now have a new issue for my list... Tell people not to move the trailer for me even if its a big surprise.
|
|
pmaz621
New Member
Posts: 10
1964 Shasta Airflyte
Currently Offline
|
Post by pmaz621 on May 21, 2014 12:15:29 GMT -8
Thanks for the encouragement guys! I am going to try to open it up probably over the weekend, and I'll try and post pictures as I go along.
|
|
Ten
3K Member
Posts: 3,432
Likes: 1,467
70 Shasta 16SC + 1964 Airflyte
Currently Offline
|
Post by Ten on May 21, 2014 12:47:18 GMT -8
Kudos for not being upset to an irreparable state with your friend, because as has always been shown here, 98% of everything can be repaired. Friendship is just tougher.
It looks to me like it "sprung" something in the rear corner, and if it were me, I would start by buying some putty tape and start removing screws. If there are no splintered panels inside, I'd peel that corner open to check there isn't any damage to the framework. This would not be a small job. But it would seem, to me, to be worth it. The fact is that the dynamics of this construction i make the frame and shape flexible. You may find no damage to the wood framing, but the aluminum bent like it is can be holding the shape. In that case the aluminum can be fairly well straightened, then the shape should return. Putting it all back together then would be a simple process, the likelihood of leaks from that corner would be minimized, a little touch-up of the paint, and a little touch-up of the wing, new lens......
|
|
soup
1K Member
"I hate cold Soup"
Posts: 1,237
Likes: 204
Currently Offline
|
Post by soup on May 21, 2014 15:41:34 GMT -8
It happens... Now we know first hand what happened to a lot of the wings in the past. Living the past in the present. It's all fixable. Some of the wood corner framing may need replacing though. Good Luck, soup.
|
|
|
Post by vikx on May 21, 2014 21:19:18 GMT -8
I agree with all of you. Ten pinpointed the steps needed.
Anything can be FIXED!! Isn't that why we are here?
|
|