Fiberglass Repair & Clear Coating

[mariemmoore]

After a trip to Alaska and back I recently had my 2001 Casita fiberglass repaired and a clear coat applied. The trailer looks brand new! The workmanship was excellent! I would highly recommend Armadillo RV Painting/Fiberglass Repair/Clear Coating/Striping to anyone with a fiberglass trailer who wants to restore it to its original condition. Armadillo is a husband/wife-owned company that has been in business 20 years. The owners, Randy & Valerie Myers, are starting mobile service. Give them a call if you are interested. They can be reached at (909) 336-0444. All the work was done in my own backyard.

Marie Moore
San Jose, CA

[Bigfoot Mike]

I am so happy you were able to get your fiberglass fixed and a beautiful finish back on your trailer. Do you have before photos of the trailer after your Alaska trip.

[Greg A]

Looks beautiful! Can we ask how much you paid and how much and type of repair was done?

[Gina D.]

Greg, they have a website (Which has been added to the Helpful Links)

Armadillo RV Detailing

Its new, so not much detail (Excuse the pun) but give them a call. They appear to be in the "909", which is my neck of the woods.

hmnn.. I wonder how they are with red????

[mariemmoore]

Hi Mike,

I'm still learning to use this Web site, so I hope the photo comes through. I don't have close ups to show you all the dings and the fiberglass I lost in the wheel well when I had a blowout. The front end of the trailer was pretty messed up and now it is beautiful. Thanks for your help in getting me back on FiberglassRV. What's this about a 25' Big Foot? Did you and Laurie give up your Casita?

Marie

[mariemmoore]

Looks beautiful! Can we ask how much you paid and how much and type of repair was done?

Of course. I was down at the RV Show in Pomona where I met Armadillo RV Painting, etc. in the Exhibit Hall. I had been looking for competent fiberglass repair here in the Bay Area. I was impressed with what Valerie told me. I explained that I had dings all across the front from rocks, deep scratches where the propane tank cover had rubbed against the front, and a scratch that was caused by backing up without first removing the sway control bar. There were so many dings from the Alaska trip. Unfortunately I don't have close ups of those. The back also was scratched from the spare tire rubbing against the fiberglass. Valerie quoted $600 for the fiberglass repair (sight unseen). Then I asked about clear coating. I'm glad I did for what a difference that made! She said for $400 more they would do the clear coat. While $1,000 sounds like a lot of money (and is!), I felt it was worth it since I love the trailer and have modified it with dinette chairs that swivel, valances copied from Laurie Sanders, and several other improvements. So I didn't want to spend the money for a new trailer and lose my much-loved modifications. I am so happy that I bit the bullet and spent $1,000 for the exterior work. Even the wheel wells look brand new. I didn't think that could be done. Randy has done fiberglass repair for more than 20 years and he is very good at it. So that's my story! I wanted to share it because it is risky to have someone repair fiberglass. I feel fortunate that Armadillo turned out to be so good.

[Bigfoot Mike]

Attachment 16524

Hi Mike,

I'm still learning to use this Web site, so I hope the photo comes through. I don't have close ups to show you all the dings and the fiberglass I lost in the wheel well when I had a blowout. The front end of the trailer was pretty messed up and now it is beautiful. Thanks for your help in getting me back on FiberglassRV. What's this about a 25' Big Foot? Did you and Laurie give up your Casita?

Marie

Yes, Lori and I have decided to become Full Timers. We loved our Casita, but in the end, We felt we would like a little more room. So yes, we bought a 25 foot Bigfoot and love it.

We have pulled it from Port Townsend, WA to Gila Bend, AZ to the High Sierras, to Idaho. It pulls great.

[mariemmoore]

Good for you and Lori! Nobody deserves a nice rig more than you. I wonder who got the nice generator enclosure and your Casita? They were fortunate folks! Enjoy that Bigfoot! I don't think Lori has retired yet, but when she does you will be "outta here." Hope you will still come to Fiberglass RV rallies.

Marie

[mariemmoore]

Looks beautiful! Can we ask how much you paid and how much and type of repair was done?

Hi Greg,

One more thing about price on the clear coating. Valerie said they charge $30 a foot for clear coating (Armadillo RV Painting). I didn't mention that in my last reply, and I see that you have a 13' rig, so it shouldn't cost as much as my 17' rig.

Marie

[Greg A]

That seems to be a pretty fair price for the quality of work and end results you obtained.
Good find....

[Pete Dumbleton]

Here's a couple of pix of mine during my Alaska Trip, one from the Liard Hwy and one at Ross River:





I also found gravel damage to the lower front corners. Likewise, the spare tire imprinted some of its raised lettering into the fiberglass (That's covered, so I don't care about it).

[mariemmoore]

Here's a couple of pix of mine during my Alaska Trip, one from the Liard Hwy and one at Ross River:

Wow Pete -- looks familiar! Did you travel the Dalton or Dempster Highways? There were times that my Casita looked like your rig. The gravel and road construction were very hard on the finish. One guy had the blown-on bedliner stuff applied to the lower half of the front of his trailer. It definitely kept the dings away, but it was a very permanent solution.

[Pete Dumbleton]

I did NOT do the Dalton or Dempster (because of sharp rocks and rock-throwing trucks (Knobby tires), nor did I go to Yellowknife, but I hit just about every other road in The Milepost. I put 12,000 miles on the truck and trailer from Prince George up and return! I carried spare tire/wheel for Scamp and truck, plus one spare tire (only) for truck -- Turned out I had zero flats, not even on the road to McCarthy, because once off the pavement I would lower the TPs on all my tires and go slow -- Soft balloons are hard to pop!

Did you notice you can tell the Alaskans from the EhLanders by the way they pronounce "Liard"? Alaskans incorrectly say it like 'layered' and EhLanders say 'lee-yard' -- It's French for black poplars.

Here's a photo of rental RV which got too close to the soft, Spring shoulders between Chicken and Tok -- The people must have been back in Chicken arranging for a tow.





BTW, folks -- That road was actually a major road, with its other end in Dawson City, YT -- Tour buses and tandem tanker trucks were using it constantly.

[mariemmoore]

I did NOT do the Dalton or Dempster (because of sharp rocks and rock-throwing trucks (Knobby tires), nor did I go to Yellowknife, but I hit just about every other road in The Milepost. I put 12,000 miles on the truck and trailer from Prince George up and return! I carried spare tire/wheel for Scamp and truck, plus one spare tire (only) for truck -- Turned out I had zero flats, not even on the road to McCarthy, because once off the pavement I would lower the TPs on all my tires and go slow -- Soft balloons are hard to pop!

Did you notice you can tell the Alaskans from the EhLanders by the way they pronounce "Liard"? Alaskans incorrectly say it like 'layered' and EhLanders say 'lee-yard' -- It's French for black poplars.

Here's a photo of rental RV which got too close to the soft, Spring shoulders between Chicken and Tok -- The people must have been back in Chicken arranging for a tow.


Attachment 16558


BTW, folks -- That road was actually a major road, with its other end in Dawson City, YT -- Tour buses and tandem tanker trucks were using it constantly.

That was some trip you took! I only covered 9,000 miles from door-to-door. I got as far north as the Arctic Circle but decided I could never lift the spare tire on my truck if I had a flat tire, so turned around. The Dalton was just as they say -- a haul road with virtually no shoulder in case of trouble. We went about 1/4 of the way up the Dempster Hwy., too, but in neither case did we have the trailer behind us. Those roads are just too punishing! That poor guy with the rental rig on Top of the World Hwy. I'll bet he was nervous when he couldn't get out -- it's a long way to help and not very much traffic comes by. My only flat tire was on the Casita -- curbside -- on the Cassiar Hwy. coming home. Since I'm a 67 yr. old woman and was traveling with another woman in her 60's -- we were fortunate that an Asian family from Canada stopped and insisted on changing the tire for us. I think I could have accomplished it on the trailer since the tires are smaller, but I was so grateful for the family who helped us. We traveled the next 100 miles on a terrible road without a mounted spare for the trailer -- figured we would unhook and take the truck into Dease Lake, BC if we had to in order to get a new tire. We had two trailer spares, but at that point neither one was mounted on a wheel. But all's well that ends well. It was a trip I'll never forget, and I bet you won't either. Congratulations on making it home safely!

[Pete Dumbleton]

I learned from the Bulgemobile crowd that, even if one can't handle the tire, having it handy means that someone else can! Same goes for other common repairs like fan, timing and accessory belts for whatever you may be driving.

I blew a tire near Silverton CO and tried to buy a replacement there -- They had to send off for one... Since I was staying for a while near there, it wasn't an imposition, but it would have been under other circumstances.

For those who don't know, the Road to McCarthy is reportedly the worst in Alaska -- It's forty miles long and was originally a rail bed -- The mines pulled up the rails and gave the rail bed to the state to make a road -- In some cases they just filled in over the ties without removing them and it resembles a corduroy road -- In many cases, they didn't remove the spikes, so jouncing over the ties may put a tire on a spike!

The road also has **four** tire repair places along it -- When I got to the parking lot by the footbridge into McCarthy (can't drive there except in winter when the river is frozen), there were several vehicles with flat tires -- Again, driving slow on soft tires was the right thing to do.

[BobB]

Hi Marie,

Glad you were able to do Alaska and to restore your Casita to better than new condition. Sounds like quite an adventure!