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Hi All,

Recent Fiesta owner here. I've just noticed that the RHS rear panel has gone very soft at the bottom and needs replacing.

I have seen on here that someone replaced their side panels by sanding the wood down to leave the Al cladding and sticking that onto a new bit of ply. I will do that if needs be, but I was wondering if anyone had any joy in getting replacement panels from Pennine or Tent Valeting Services.

Even a offcut would do, and I'll cut to size and drill it. I could make a new door at the same time, as that's looking a bot iffy as well.

Any advice appreciated, thanks.

Simon

Quote: Originally posted by SiHa on 01/8/2011

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Hi All,

Recent Fiesta owner here. I've just noticed that the RHS rear panel has gone very soft at the bottom and needs replacing.

I have seen on here that someone replaced their side panels by sanding the wood down to leave the Al cladding and sticking that onto a new bit of ply. I will do that if needs be, but I was wondering if anyone had any joy in getting replacement panels from Pennine or Tent Valeting Services.

Even a offcut would do, and I'll cut to size and drill it. I could make a new door at the same time, as that's looking a bot iffy as well.

Any advice appreciated, thanks.

Simon

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There is one under:

 Help!"!!! side panals rotten on pennine  29.3.2011

Scroll down on that page and a member Frederico has changed a panal even if it is not the same the basics are. So you maybe could get through to him and ask for help I am sure if he knows how & what to do he will as he offered help to another member who had to replace panels.

Hope it goes okay.

Quote: Originally posted by beanpark on 01/8/2011

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There is one under:

 Help!"!!! side panals rotten on pennine  29.3.2011

Scroll down on that page and a member Frederico has changed a panal even if it is not the same the basics are. So you maybe could get through to him and ask for help I am sure if he knows how & what to do he will as he offered help to another member who had to replace panels.

Hope it goes okay.

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Thanks, I'd seen that one, I was after taking the easy route of getting the composite panels already bonded, and just cutting to shape. I'll go Frederico's route if I have to, but I'd rather not - it's a bit of a faff.

Anyway, I'm thinking about a third option. There are a composite panels available out there that use a synthetic core, rather than ply. It would be lighter and will never rot again - might give that a go.

Quote: Originally posted by DaveWr on 02/8/2011

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The ply wouldn't rot if they used real marine ply.

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Quote: Originally posted by SiHa

Anyway, I'm thinking about a third option. There are a composite panels available out there that use a synthetic core, rather than ply. It would be lighter and will never rot again - might give that a go.

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Hi

You would need to consider that the back panel takes the weight and stresses & strains of the folding beds. With the cut out section for the door it's not the strongest of panels as it is. If you use a composite panel it would need to be stronger than the original ply if possible.

What age is your Fiesta ?

Any chance of photos following the course of the job when you replace it. It helps others doing a similar job.  We all love photos.

Good luck with it

pieface

Quote: Originally posted by pie*face on 02/8/2011Hi

You would need to consider that the back panel takes the weight and stresses & strains of the folding beds. With the cut out section for the door it's not the strongest of panels as it is. If you use a composite panel it would need to be stronger than the original ply if possible.

What age is your Fiesta ?

Any chance of photos following the course of the job when you replace it. It helps others doing a similar job.  We all love photos.

Good luck with it

pieface

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Thanks, valid points. When I finally get round to it, I will take plenty of snaps and post them here.

It's a 1996 Model.

Cheers,

SiHa

Hi Simon,

What year is your Pennine Fiesta?

Quote: Originally posted by howard at pennine on 05/8/2011

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Hi Simon,

What year is your Pennine Fiesta?

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Hi Howard, it's a 1996, thanks.

Off to Wales in it tomorrow - first proper outing, and we're dead excited!

Hi Simon,

Sorry for asking the obvious, I never looked at the previous post !!

Since your unit is 15 years old  it may not be a viable option to have it repaired  professionally, however you could return your unit back to the factory in Accrington and let the the experts have a look at it for you. At least they would be able to advise you what was the best course of action to repair it. Also you may be able to pick up some aluminium cladding and a piece of pre-clad 15mm plywood so that you could carry out the repair yourself. Failing that if you could email some photos to the After Sales Dept. I'm sure you would receive some feedback.

Best of luck, hope you have some good weather in Wales.

Howard

Hi Howard,

Sorry for the delay, we were using the aforementioned FC in Windy Wet Wales.

Thanks, for your advice, but it was never my intention to ha ve it professionally repaired, I was just interested to know if anyone had managed to get replacement panels from Pennine. I am more than capable of doing the work myself, I just need the materials.

Anyway, I've had no joy out of Pennine, so I'm going to get some 3mm Al/PE composite 3mm, and glue to 18mm exterior ply with Fibreglass resin, which can also be used to waterproof the edges. Will post back with piccies when it's done.

Quote: Originally posted by DaveWr on 02/8/2011

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The ply wouldn't rot if they used real marine ply.

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