MAGGIOLINA EXTREME RTT crack question

[Ryflyer11/11]

Hi all,

I have the opportunity to buy a MAGGIOLINA EXTREME at a great price (around 1500 USD) but there is one hiccup: The RTT has a big ol crack in the front of the fiberglass from being shut repeatedly with too much gear in it. Do you any of you have any experience fixing these? would this damage the structural integrity of the thing? Also a question, but unrelated: do these things need to be garaged?

Thanks in advance!

 

[kraqus]

I am not sure if it is the angle at which you took the picture but the top shell does look bent. You can still fix that, the best method is to do it from underneath the shell and reinforce the hell out of it with fiberglass, then gelcoat the exterior for cosmetics. Grind the area underneath, clean it well and expose the crack(s) in the fiberglass, follow the crack(s) and drill a hole at the very end of it so it stops from spreading. The next steps are Fiberglass repair 101, a few layers of glass and epoxy, and let it cure then sand and apply gelcoat on the outside.

This is a video of how it's done (annoying music)



p.s: the guy does not drill a hole at the end of the crack, I would.



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[Ryflyer11/11]

@kraqus thanks for the tips. Obviously this would involve taking the tent fabric off the shell? Here is a less close up shot, do you think that would all be necessary? Do you think the price is right for the camper?

 

[Ryflyer11/11]

I am a little bit of a noob in this world, and I don't want to get myself into something that won't last for a couple years.

 

[Ryflyer11/11]

i.e., does the top shell look bent enough to do that kind of a repair to you?

 

[ArnieC]

Considering brandy brand new is only $3500 or so I think you are overspending at $1500. A local shop that fixes boats or semi truck fiberglass would be able to get it looking awesome, but its going to cost $1k or more to get it repaired and at that point you are two-thirds of the way to a new tent without underlying issues and with a warranty. If it was an easy and cheap fix the current owner would have already done it. Unless your time is free, materials are free, and you are OK with it looking like a bodge, I would just buy new. Or lowball the dude at like $250 since thats realistically what its worth.

 

[kraqus]

@Ryflyer11/11 It is bent which means it is a big crack(s), but you can still repair it and yes it would last a long time if done right. Yes, you will need to remove the fabric underneath and expose the fiberglass, that is where you will do the structural repair. You will need to remove the entire top shell to do the repair, you see, it is bent so you will have to apply pressure somehow to rectify the bend while you apply the layers of fiberglass, once cured it will be rock solid and will not bend anymore, but you need to get it straight either by applying opposite pressure or, I hate to say it, push it hard enough in the opposite direction to straighten it up which may make it worse but is all good because you will be repairing that entire area anyways.
This is a nice garage project if you have space and time to do it, if it wasn't bent it would be super easy to fix but that bend definitely adds more complexity to the project. It all comes down to what is your time worth to you because materials to fix this will be cheap. I would definitely try to negotiate a better price though.



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[Ryflyer11/11]

@kraqus , thanks for the help. If I end up going through with it, i might pm you for a little more guidance. Being a noob at fiberglass repair, I can estimate maybe 25 hours of labor into the thing. With that estimate, what do you think would be a fair offering price? I was thinking somewhere between 500 and 750.

 

[kraqus]

$500 is a good starting point... ;-)


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