SILVER LINER RESTORATIONS

This vintage Clipper has had a hard life in recent years. Her prior owner rescued her from a scrap yard. She was missing an entry door and had several busted or missing windows. At some point, someone had sheared the exterior skirting around the wheel wells to force in a new set of tires, and they’d put multiple large holes near the entry tacking a sloppy padlock onto the now-missing door.

Inside, the floor and wheel wells were rotten. Paint on the walls and cabinets was peeling.  There were two gouges in the walls that looked like they had been made with a knife or can opener.

Extended exposure to rain inside the coach had caused galvanic corrosion under the floor, requiring extensive chassis work. When we removed the interior walls, we discovered evidence of rodents in the insulation. After removing the insulation, we also discovered some instances of pitting corrosion on the inside of the exterior skin, likely caused by rodent urine in these areas. (See this excellent article on the differences between galvanic and pitting corrosion.) In some places, the corrosion had caused tiny pinhole breaches in the exterior, appearing from the outside as tiny dark gray spots.   

On the left, evidence of rodents. On the right, chalky spots indicate corrosion.  Corrosion was fairly superficial in the white areas, but more severe in the greenish areas. Tiny dark green spots indicated pinhole breaches.

On the left, pitting is revealed on the inside of the exterior skin after brushing off oxidation. On the right, tiny gray spots on the outside of the camper (circled in Sharpie) indicate pinhole breaches.

Athough there was no perceptible weakness in the affected outer skin, corrosion spots like this are akin to rust, in that they are different from the base aluminum material (they are now aluminum oxide) and will not polish.  Furthermore, rain could penetrate even the tiniest of pinholes if left exposed. Ultimately, we had to decide between (1) replacing the affected panels in their entirety; (2) covering the corroded areas with aluminum patches; or (3) reinforcing the outer skin with a body repair filler and painting her exterior. Though the gray corrosion spots were tiny, they were widespread. We estimated that as much as 60% of the panels would need to be replaced if we had pursued the first option, since even just a small area of corrosion would require replacing the entirety of a panel. If we chose the second option, she would have required a number of random-looking patches. Not feeling too happy about either of these prospects and having also experienced first-hand the considerable time and labor required to maintain a good polish, we settled on the third option– and fortunately, we’re thrilled with the results!

This vintage Clipper was a complete down-to-the-studs/ rebuild-the-chassis-in-place/ shell-on restoration. Since we were unable to locate a match for the missing entry door, we also had to build a new door from scratch.  Many would question the economics of restoring her, but we’re hopeless romantics. After renovating the Arizona Clipper and falling in love with the Silver Streak Clipper, we just couldn’t bear to see her sent back to a scrap yard.

Follow these links for more detailed descriptions and before and after pictures of all or work on the Paris’s chassis and belly, exterior, interior, plumbing, and electrical systems.