# Aluminum shell dent and popped rivet line on a riveted travel trailer

Contact with a gatepost put a crease across one lower side panel and popped eleven bucked rivets along two seams. Two shops quoted panel replacement, which on a riveted monocoque means drilling out a large rivet population, disturbing adjacent seams, and losing the polished original surface on that section for good.

## Vehicle

25 foot Airstream, riveted aluminum monocoque shell

## Operations performed

- Panel assessed for stretch, crease radius measured and mapped against the frame line
- Interior skin and insulation opened locally to reach the back side of the crease
- Crease worked out progressively with shrinking and planishing rather than filler
- Eleven rivets drilled out and replaced as bucked solid rivets on the original pattern
- Seam sealant renewed behind the affected rivet lines before closing the panel
- Section polished in stages to blend into the surrounding original finish
- Interior skin and insulation reinstated and the seam checked under a water test

## Outcome

The original panel stayed on the trailer, which matters on a polished aluminum shell because a replacement panel never matches decades of patina. Repair came in well under the replacement quotes, and the rivet line reads as original because it is on the original pattern with the original hardware type.

## Numbers

- Price band: $2,500 to $25,000 plus
- Calendar time: 3 to 8 weeks

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Source: https://ocrv.club/case-studies/airstream-aluminum-panel-and-rivet-line-repair
OCRV Center, 23281 La Palma Ave, Yorba Linda, CA 92887
Phone (949) 799-3387. Email info@ocrvcenter.com.
Serving Hacienda Heights and the surrounding area. 18.4 miles, 24 to 38 minutes via SR-60 west to Fullerton Rd, then south to La Palma Ave.
In shop work only. All estimates are priced and credited against an authorized repair.