Need to Repair Stainless Panel

[dale farley]

The panel under the front of my bus needs some straigntening. Each end is bent rather badly. Can I do this with a piece of wood and rubber mallet? I prefer it looks better when I finish than when I start.

Of course, I know I have a couple other options: I could fly Harry out and get him to show me how to do this, or I could buy a new panel that says "Liberty Coach".

[jonnie]

Dale,

You could send it to Harry with a little consideration.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Dale,

The metal is stretched. Using backing and some dent removal tools you can minimize what you see, but will have to sand it with progressively finer grits prior to repolishing the metal. It will take a while but it can be made to look almost perfect.

As an alternative you can seek a metal shop near you that has a press brake and some flatening dies. They will help flatten the piece leaving only a minimal amount of refinishing.

You are almost a shoe-in for the Wide Turn award if you keep this up.

[dale farley]

Jon, Most of this was done before I bought the bus. I just made it a little worse. The door piece and the white post are a different story.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

I think this year's recipients tried to tell us that also, but they still won the award.

[garyde]

I have had good luck with the Dent repair people, paintlss repair dentxpert

[dale farley]

This is the poor man's way of doing it. Since I already had my trailer hooked up to the truck for a hay ride tomorrow night, I decided to use it as a staging area for the repair. I had to use a come-a-long to prevent pushing the sides of the trailer outward when extending the hydraulic ram.

It's certainly not perfect, but it looks so much better than before. Harry probably wouldn't approve, but it was the best I could do with what little knowledge I have. The last picture is the end result.

[Joe Cannarozzi]

Dale a blind man on a galloping horse would be glad to see it;)

Well done!

[dalej]

Dale, it looks great, but you know we will look closely next time there's a get together. :)

[dale farley]

Maybe I'll take it off and put it in the bay the next time we get together. If Joe brings his blind man, I'll let him see. Unfortunately, it probably does not look as good as the picture, but it still looks a whole lot better than before.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Don't feel bad Dale F.

I'll show you a repair I made to a dent that was on the bus when I got it. It is visible, but I think a person needs to know where it is to easily find it.

Roger has seen it, but he said it looked OK. He may be reporting me to the Wide Turn police however.

[dale farley]

The reason I am not concerned about getting the stainless panel professionally repaired is that I am afraid I might do the same thing again if I decided to experiment with my leveling system while going out my very steep driveway.

[rfoster]

Jon: As I recall you threw me under the bus at Spearfish on the dent award. I will continue to inspect your Liberty for any new experiences that might qualify you for the award.

It is a pleasure to be presented this award in front of a group of bus owners!!!NOT.

Your Pal,
Roger

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Roger old pal....You should realize by now that it is not only a right, but an obligation for POG members to rat on other members who fail to immediately acknowledge their bus customizing efforts.

Even Don and Bonnie now know that and I am sure that before OK city we will have others who are modestly keeping their exploits to themselves. We need to shine a light on these folks. Unlike you not all folks are in a position to repair damage by buying a new coach.

Do you think I was unaware of this when I publicly posted my efforts to drag an H2 Hummer all the way to Lexington with the wheels locked? Hell no....I posted it instantly to steal the joy of posting from the squealers on this forum.

[tdelorme]

"I'll show you a repair I made to a dent that was on the bus when I got it."

Why is it that we're supposed to believe that load of crap????

[Gary & Peggy Stevens]

Do you think I was unaware of this when I publicly posted my efforts to drag an H2 Hummer all the way to Lexington with the wheels locked?


Jon, Since you are being so Open, did you get better or worse gas mileage on the bus, DRAGGING the H2 to Lexington? Inquiring minds want to know. :D

Gary S.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Gary,

Let's just say I did not check the mileage, but the cost to tow with the brakes on is substantially greater than when they are released.



Smart ass.

[Gary & Peggy Stevens]

Gary,

Let's just say I did not check the mileage, but the cost to tow with the brakes on is substantially greater than when they are released.

Smart ass.


Nice Jon, real nice...:( I am almost offended.. :D

Gary S.

[Jeff Bayley]

I've got a few wrinkles on door panels over my past new years. While this example that was posted needed attention and was obvious, my philosophy is this. If a bay door panel, bumper or anything else get's a little road rash or "wrinkle" in it (from high center, curbing, etc), I leave it alone if it's not that noticeable. Why ? Becuase when I go to make it perfect again, Murphy sneaks up on me and makes an even worse wrinkle in it. So I just wait until it really needs a nip and tuck and get's the really bad wrinkel in it to replace it. I also think it's bad luck to have your bus (strike that......my bus) perfect on the outside. When I leave that minor lower bay door wrinkle unattended to, I go years without another wrinkle. As soon as I try to fix it and make it perfect, along comes Murphy with an even bigger "I got you".

Reminds me of a Corvette I had when I was 18. I spent 4 hours polishing it before taking it out to look cool and a block from the house, someone runs a light and creams it. If I had left it dirty, I would have been out 4 hours earlier and that nuckle head would have missed me.

Murphy.

[hhoppe]

Dale: Sorry I'm getting in on your project late in the game. You have proven what I have been preaching. On the heavier parts, bumpers and rub rails etch. can usually be straightened and re-finished. Your ingenuity using hydraulic porta powers paid off for you. Most auto shops have bearing presses that work well also. You need to have dollies ( heavy chunks of plate) to push with and backup. Big hammers work well when all else fails or is not available. As Jon pointed out a press brake with flatening dies works best. Lighter metal is more of a challenge but the material cost is less when replacing with new. Good job well done Dale.

[lewpopp]

Well I guess it's fair that I mention that I was honored with a visit from Eric Faires today.

I told him that it was the understanding at this end, when he was at Jon's, that he did not get a bit of dirt, grease, or any foreign object on him during the operation. That it was Debbie who did all of the dirty work and all he did was run for coffee.

Now I was told this to be true by Jon and asked his what he has to say about it. I have never seen Eric's eyes blink, his ears jump, or his stuttering get out of control as it did today. He denied all of the above but at this time I believe it to be true because of the way he was acting.

He even rewarded Debbie with a big compressor and a giant ompact tool for her anniversary or birthday. Con't remember which.

Jon would you please give us the truth. I understand the Debbie was covered with crap from head to toe. We all what to know the truth.

I can picture Eric sitting back with his guitar singing sweet sounds to you guys whilst you worked.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

It would be accurate to say that both Deb and Eric were up to their armpits in grease.

Both did their share of work on the underside of the bus, and I could not say if cleaning the grease resulting from a leaky hub seal which Deb did was any more or less important than the air bag replacements Eric did.

However, at Mobile Di and I were shocked. SHOCKED! While Deb and Jay (the hose man) cleaned a few thousand miles of grease, grit, and grime from the finish of their coach Eric took a nap. And he didn't feel even a little bad about Deb doing all that work when he woke up. It was as though he expected the coach would be washed AND DRIED.

[rfoster]

And then Deb made the best Blue Berry Pancakes imaginable the next morning. Yum. They were great. Then she asked Eric to pick her up a few tools for the bus from the tool store.

[mikedee]

I just took some dents out of a piece of non-bus stainless and it came out prefect. Took my time with a shrinking hammer and a little heat, sanded with 600, 1000, 2000, and polished

I am considering taking this course in Pasadena CA.

http://www.sunchasertools.com/