What Would You Do Now ?
The owner of this 2001 Abbey Aventura was understandably upset when faced with this little dilemma. Having turned a little too tight on a petrol station forecourt while on holiday in France, he made contact with the rear of a HGV vehicle. The driver of the lorry had no idea this had happened, felt no impact and continued on his way regardless. The owner patched it up as best he could and tried to make the most of his “holiday”. Now there’s a better man then me!
Once he arrived back in the UK – Guess who he contacted?
Let us give you an insight into just a small part of our day.

Firstly, the sides on the Abbey are GRP (Glass Reinforced Plastic) not aluminium like the majority of British caravans. The only way forward for a perfect repair and to keep the highest re-sale value for the owner is a new side framework complete. By that we mean the whole side assembly. The GRP skin used here is a massive 3mm thick, but when pressed on the timber framework and insulation becomes very strong. It will withstand impact that a conventional side would not but the down side is, it’s very difficult to repair when the skin is punctured. Interested in how it’s done – please read on.

Here most repairers would insist on removing the front grp panel, rear grp panel and the exterior roof. They would then require renewal, as they are bonded in place and would certainly become damaged during removal. We do not believe this is necessary and have proven on numerous occasions this is not required. Just the rear lower panel is removed to allow removal of three fixings into the side frame and to ensure they are refitted.

Once everything is done the exterior fixings are removed, these hold the side to the front, back and roof frames, the adhesive sealant is cut and the whole side framework is removed – CAREFULLY. The only area of concern here is the exterior roof panel, as it's bonded down onto the side and will mark very easily.

The next stage is very important – Preparation. Like every good job it’s only as good as the preparation done before hand. Our technicians now will spend a great deal of time cleaning away all the old sealants, adhesives from all the joint faces and edges. This is to ensure the new side and original seams all fit perfectly, any old residues will show through as lumps and bulges. This will give the finished work a “ repair look” and not an “as new look” which is what we strive for. This cleaning stage of the repair would take 3-4 hours.

The caravan, new framework and the sealants are prepared and ready to hand. It is also absolutely critical to have the caravan level and square, as too much pressure on one corner steady will throw the whole "opening" out of line and the new side would not fit.

When all is perfect the new side is dry fitted to make sure its fits well. Then removed and the adhesive sealant is applied where required and in goes the new side.