Looking for fiberglass panels in San Antonio

[Caguama12]

Howdy Y’all

I am looking for fiberglass corragated type panels to fix a little accident someone had with my 32 year old MH. Its a 1986 and you can see what type of exterior siding I am talking about in the attached picture. I am currently in the San Antonio TX area, but do travel every weekend to the Houston area. Please let me know if you have seen or nor of a place to buy some replacement panels similar to the one in the pics.

Thank you in advance and happy and safe travels y’all

Josh

[Dav L]

Your picture didn't post. If the panel you are looking for is just flat fiberglass, then it may be what's called Filon. You can find it online.
If it's an older motorhome and not critical that the material is exactly the same texture, Home Depot sells Fiberglass 4'x8' panels in the lumber area that can be glued to an RV Luan as well.

When you say "corragated"...will need to see your pic to understand what you mean.

If the damage isn't large, then more often fiberglass matt with resin is used to make the repair, most especially if the area is not flat.

[MSHappyCampers]

Hi Josh! Welcome to IRV2! We're sure glad you joined the gang!

Wish I could help!

Good luck, happy trails, and God bless!

[Caguama12]

Sure do appreciate the welcome!

[Caguama12]

Not certain why the pic didnt post. But its about 14” x 20” in size. I called hemetvalleyrv in Hemet CA. And they said it would be close to $200 for a 3’x4’ panel of a 1” mesa filon type panel. Great folks but I really dont want to spend that much on a piece that small. I think I will try to fiberglass as you suggest and discover my non-bodyman skill set. I am patient so maybe thats the cheapest route to go. Thanks for the feedback.

[Dav L]

Ok, now I see what you mean corrugated. That is going to make the repair quite a bit more difficult to look good when done.
It's a more advanced DIY project.

I would clean the RV and get some release wax for fiberglass moulding. Apply that to the good area. Then, put masking paper over all areas that should not get fiberglass resin. Apply a few layers of glass cloth and resin. Wait to dry. Peel the panel you made, off. That is now a negative mold. You then apply release wax to the mold, layer on fiberglass mat, wait to dry and now you have your part.

Clean the bad area and scuff up the edges so they have some bite. Glass on the new part over the bad, clean area.

Use body plastic to meld the new part into the lines of the original.

Paint.

After all is said and done, the $200 will seem cheap.
This is a few days of work, waiting for things to dry, and the body work to make it look good.

It's going to be some work to blend in the fix into the existing body. You will spend the $200 in materials and tools that I assume you don't already have.

It will be far easier to buy the right panel pre-made. Clean the RV, cut the new panel to fit, trim / sand the edges, apply the panel with structural adhesive, and paint to match. You might not even need to do body work to blend in, depending on what level of finish you are after. The RV looks like it has some time on it so any paint work is going to look a lot different than the existing.

[Caguama12]

Yeah, now thats my kinda thinking....I have the material and fiberglass. Sounds like a great plan! I will post pics once I am done with it. You reinforced the idea I had with making a mould out of the good panels as the guy at the rv shop said they didnt make that paneling anymore. So, I thought of making it myself. Really, thank you for including the release product as I was gonna use cooking spray! Be safe over the labor day weekend. You know what I’ll be doing!

[Dav L]

And you know I was generalizing and over simplifying!
Look at Youtube for videos on fiberglass mold making.
thankfully yours is the simplest "one part" mold since it's pretty much two dimensional. The key will be making the mold smooth so the final part doesn't adhere and need much finish work.
Multipart molds are artwork of appreciation.

BTW, you might spray some spray foam to the mold while it is still adhered to the body to give it stiffness so it doesn't bend when you remove it and lay up the part in it. Put some sticks in the foam too.

I would make the mold right next to the damaged area since both areas might end up needing paint.

[Rkesselus]

Look on line for fibreglass roofing. You will find a pattern that very closely resembles your pattern. Add a layer of glass cloth and polyester resin to the back side for extra strength. Metal building suppliers will have different patterns. Muller, Metal Mart, maybe Lowes or HD. Good luck Richard

[Caguama12]

Sounds like you have done this sort of thing before. YT is a great learning tool. Thanks Dav L

[Caguama12]

Thanks Richard. Good suggestion.