camper shell scratch removal

[retirednhapy]

Hi,
This is my first post in this forum so I hope I'm in the right place. My buddy drove his camper into a limited-overhead-clearance parking garage (after I told him I thought he could make it) and scratched through the plastic surface of his shell, exposing the fiberglass underneath it. I felt at least partially responsible and offered to share the cost of repairs. our local shop quoted $700 to fix it. That seems rather high for a 6-inch scratch and no dent. Is there a do-it-yourself solution available? We are both very handy with this sort of thing. Thank you for your consideration.

[Brandon1]

Welcome to the forum.

I have personally no experience with this sort of thing, but $700 does sound rather high.

I'm sure someone else will come along with more answers.

[07DCwhiteSR5]

well its likely its not a "plastic" surface...its either painted or more likely gelcoat finished. if its to the fiberglass then yes, u are going to have to reglass if its cracked or at least fill it in and hope it doesnt come back later and re gel coat over it...or paint if thats what it is...and that could be costly since theres not really any panel to tape off at, they may have to spot paint and reclear the whole thing.

now if its gelcoat, i'd reccomend you going to a boat dealer or repair place that does alot of boats as us boaters tend to scratch ours while beaching or docking and they fix it easily and relatively inexpensively.... that's the first suggestion.. second suggestion is to go a camper shell dealer and ask them what is used most of the time in their experience. but, fiberglass and gel coat repair can be done by your self if u want. tons of gelcoat how to's on youtube.

[retirednhapy]

Thanks for the help,
I knew it wasn't paint but didn't know what to call it. Thanks for steering me to boat dealers.
that should be the right place. I'll also try a little harder with camper dealers.