Reflection nose chip

[SATA Adventures]

Took a rock to the nose (ouch) of the reflection. It does not look like it went through all the way. I can see some darker material under the white fiberglass. I think it is still water tight but not sure if it will absorb moisture during the rains of the PNW.

Any experience with repairs?

Tried to upload pics.

[Cate&Rob]

The nose cap is molded fibreglass . . . much like a boat. The divot can be filled with either epoxy or fibreglass resin. The difficulty will be matching the surface finish. Is the black in your picture within the fibreglass, or a decal, or paint?

Rob

[Country Campers]

Looks like you will need to seal that hole , gorilla tape or silicone or such until you can get fixed.

Brian

[SATA Adventures]

The nose cap is molded fibreglass . . . much like a boat. The divot can be filled with either epoxy or fibreglass resin. The difficulty will be matching the surface finish. Is the black in your picture within the fibreglass, or a decal, or paint?

Rob

I believe the black is a large decal. Base to the word Reflection and some other stripes.

[SATA Adventures]

Looks like you will need to seal that hole , gorilla tape or silicone or such until you can get fixed.

Brian

I was thinking about using some door /window silicone. Didn't know if that would interfere with a repair.

[Cate&Rob]

I was thinking about using some door /window silicone. Didn't know if that would interfere with a repair.

I would definitely stay away from silicone for a temporary repair. This will contaminate the damaged area with something that nothing will stick to . . . making the eventual permanent repair more difficult.

Rob

[Cate&Rob]

I believe the black is a large decal. Base to the word Reflection and some other stripes.

This actually makes the final repair easier. The repair does not have to be a colour match if it will be covered with a new decal.

Rob

[Jlawles2]

I think on my 303 the black is paint and the words and other striping is actually decals.

For a temp fix if you have it available, I used eternabond tape with painters tape stuck to the eternabond to cover the chip. This prevents the eternabond from getting into the fiberglass which will lead to a more difficult repair later down the road.

[Canyonlight]

Rob Cate&Rob - years ago when GDRV switched to the black nose (2018 ?) it was in response to Owners asking for a painted nose (like the Solitudes) rather than decals for all kinds of reasons as I recall. Micah Staley agreed and thus the change. There were several threads on this years ago elsewhere. Maybe black painted front caps are no longer being done.

Am I recalling this correctly, Rob......or any other owners who may recall or know ?

Dan

[Cate&Rob]

Canyonlight
Hi Dan,

Grand Design has gone back-and-forth between paint and decals on the front cap. There may even be some where the colour is within the gelcoat. That's why I was asking the OP which version he has . . . the pictures are not large enough to see. If the dark colour is a decal, this will be easy to tell because he should be able to feel the edge of the decal.

Rob

[SATA Adventures]

I could feel the edge leading me to believe this was a decal. On top of it there is the word reflection decals and some stripes. I could be wrong but there is an edge.

[SATA Adventures]

I think on my 303 the black is paint and the words and other striping is actually decals.

For a temp fix if you have it available, I used eternabond tape with painters tape stuck to the eternabond to cover the chip. This prevents the eternabond from getting into the fiberglass which will lead to a more difficult repair later down the road.

To be clear, painters tape on top of chip w eternabond on top covering hole covered by painters tape? Redundant enough in my rewording? Lol. Is this the suggestion?

[Jlawles2]

SATA Adventures Painters tape on the hole UPSIDE down. Glue on tape to glue on eternabond. For simplicity, you could stick painter tape to itself, then use painters tape to hold that over the hole, then Eternabond over the whole thing.

The goal is to keep glue out of the chip. The reverse painters tape or doubled over on itself is used to prevent the both the painters tape glue and eternabond from entering the chip.

[SATA Adventures]

SATA Adventures Painters tape on the hole UPSIDE down. Glue on tape to glue on eternabond. For simplicity, you could stick painter tape to itself, then use painters tape to hold that over the hole, then Eternabond over the whole thing.

The goal is to keep glue out of the chip. The reverse painters tape or doubled over on itself is used to prevent the both the painters tape glue and eternabond from entering the chip.

We were on same page. Thanks for the detailed explanation.

[SATA Adventures]

This is the entire front. Chip is on right side lower corner of the black before it goes vertical if that makes sense. It's pretty small about the size of a 16d nail point.