Finishing the Repairs on the RV…

I am behind on the blog (once again) but I will continue the thread with more details about the remaining repair of the damage we encountered after hitting a tree limb (and simultaneously damaging our back end on a rock pile) in Florida. After installing the new satellite dish and the new radio antenna I needed to waterproof these items. I had removed some brackets that were drilled into the roof from the old satellite dish and had to drill new holes to mount the new satellite dish.

Those new and old holes in the roof must be waterproofed and the best product to do just that, according to Tiffin Motorhomes, is a CSL515 Self-leveling Form-in Place Gasketing Silicone Sealant/Adhesive. Specifically designed for fiberglass and for self leveling this flexible adhesive was perfect for the job.  I ordered mine from Tiffin’s parts store in Red Bay Alabama. Using a caulk gun I was able to apply what was needed to keep the water away from the inside of my roof!

We also had to deal with a small dent and long scratch on the driver’s side rear two bay doors. All the damage was confined to the lower one inch wide panel at the bottom of each bay. First, I used 80 grit sandpaper on a sanding block to get down to the bare metal. Once I was satisfied with the sanding job I mixed up some Bondo and applied it with a flat scraper to the body to fill in the scratches and begin repairing the dent.  I purchased the Bondo Body Repair Kit from Amazon and it had everything I needed for this small job.

After each application of Bondo I would sand with 180 grit and reapply more Bondo until I got the desired result. The deeper the dent the more applications of Bondo are needed. When I was happy with the results I used some 300 grit sandpaper to smooth it out before painting some grey primer paint on the door edge. I was able to get matching finish paint from Automotive Touchup by sending in my paint codes.

However, before I finished the painting I still had to repair about a foot long crack in the fiberglass near the damaged bay doors. I bought the 3M 420 Fiberglass Resin & Repair Kit from Amazon and after watching some YouTube videos I was ready to tackle the job. After cutting out the damaged fiberglass I sanded it to a rough finish (using 80 grit) and then applied the new fiberglass onto the damaged section.

After sanding and then filling the small remaining pockets with some Bondo and some more finish sanding I was ready for the final painting. First I used masking tape and old newspaper to mask off the area I wanted to paint and applied the grey primer to it all. Some light sanding with 300 grit paper and I was ready to apply the finish coats. After each coat dried I used some 1000 grit wet/dry sandpaper with water to make the layer smooth. After three layers I then fished it off with some 2000 grit sandpaper.

Although I have never done this kind of work I decided after watching YouTube videos I could do these seemingly more complex repairs. I thought why not try as I figured if I could make it look nice enough then we could later have it professionally finished at our leisure. We will have someone apply the clear coat later as we are both satisfied with the end result of my efforts. It isn’t perfect but you really have to look at it carefully to detect where exactly the damage once was. Now I am ready to get back on the road and have some fun!

Replacing our AM/FM antenna and some running lights…

We had our tree limb accident in Florida and damaged a few items on our roof along with a little body damage.  We decided to call our insurance company to receive a check for the damage and soon thereafter schedule the repairs. Well, insurance claims are not so simple when you are a nomadic full-timer and actually live in your RV. We notified our insurance company shortly after the accident since we were on our way to Louisiana where we had reserved a month-long stay. After their call back we agreed to have an insurance representative come there to assess our damage.

After a bit of miscommunication, it took about two weeks for the guy to arrive for the inspection. He was a nice, efficient fellow but since he was a contractor for the insurance company he could not give me any information about how long it would take to hear back from the company. He explained he would submit his report and then the company should contact us.

A few more weeks passed and by then we were in Texas for our current month-long stay here in College Station. I kept calling the insurance company discovering there were delays in acquiring estimates as RV parts and repairs are a bit more difficult to get bids for. We finally received our settlement which we felt was pretty fair and even after our $1000 deductible we felt we would have enough money to do all of the repairs especially since I planned to do most, if not all of them,thus saving the labor costs.

Some relatively easy items to repair and/or replace would be the radio antenna which sheared off the roof and the running lights that were broken by the tree branch. Also I figured I could replace the satellite dish without too much effort. The body damage I would read about later and see if I could repair it as well or at least determine if we needed to have someone else repair it on down the road.

I had to order the running lights from the Tiffin store in Red Bay and while I was at it I ordered some side lights (that were disintegrating – see top left photo) as well. The AM/FM radio antenna I ordered from Amazon since it matched the other one I had on the other side of the rig. The only challenge I had installing the items was with the antenna. The antenna on the RV had a unique connector (called a Shakespeare Connector) and since I couldn’t find any adaptors locally to connect the Shakespeare Connector to the radio antenna’s connector I simply cut both ends off, stripped the wires back and soldered the two together. A little black electrical tape and I was almost done.

The lights were simple to install as there were only a few screws to remove and then I cut the wires from the old lights. Using wire strippers I cut back the insulation and then used heat shrink wire connectors and electrical tape to replace the old lights with the new ones. I was happy it looked good as new and was done with no labor costs!

The damaged satellite dome was a King Dome Model 9702 stationary roof mounted one. After speaking with King Dome the recommended replacement for me was the King Quest Model VQ4100 which is a  Portable/Roof Mountable Satellite TV Antenna. I ordered that and will install it next.

I will pen a follow-up blog to detail the remaining repair/replacement process and although there were quite a few delays in the beginning, the timing actually was perfect since this spacious site here at Holiday RV park along with its proximity to all the supply stores I might need has made this an easier process.