I'm starting this thread on my airplane's recover/rebuild/update which is being done by Kim Kovach. I'm doing some supporting work but it's is mainly Kim's show. Hopefully Kim will be able to jump in occasionally to answer questions and make comments.
My goals for this project are to enhance to ownership experience and make the airplane more maintenance friendly. Here's a section of my wishlist for the project;
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My first goal for this project is to gain access to the structure in order to evaluate its condition and do repairs. A close second is to return the airplane to, as close as is practical, new cosmetic condition. I think to use the same paint scheme with a few minor modifications and maybe slightly different color for the blue and maybe also the red paint. The third main goal is to make the airplane better than was originally produced by the factory by incorporating common enhancements done by either the factory or by individual owners. The idea is to make it more user and owner friendly. And then there are the pet peeves that tend to drive the current owner a bit crazy.
The enhancements and updates are;
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On the subject of colors, we recently got cards and spray-outs from Consolidated Coatings and choose stock colors closely matching the original exterior colors the factory used. They are Pontiac Red, Miami Blue and New Insignia White. The blue is a touch darker than the original which suits me since the blue looked a bit faded to my eyes. The red is a near-perfect match. The factory light gray epoxy paint/primer for the steel parts will be used for all parts, unlike the factory parts which were sometimes painted black. Kim researched this paint and bought it directly from the manufacturer. The instrument panels will be flat black as per the original paint. The interior of the cockpit sheet metal panels and bulkheads will be clear coated since the bare aluminum starts getting dingy fairly quickly in service. We're not sure how well this will hold up, we can always repaint them later. The inside of the T-deck was looking a bit shabby so that got a coat of the light gray epoxy with a flattening additive.
Kim actually started with the wings but he's working on getting the fuselage ready for cover now, so that will be my first point of discussion. I'll post some of his latest photos first;
These first four are of the freshly sandblasted fuselage in the paint booth.
Notice the rear shoulder harness attach and new, taller lugs for the elevator idler.
The fabric will now be attached at the rear seat back station with sheet metal panels forward.
The doublers for the rear lower wing fittings (SB25) are apparent here.
Here's Kim shooting the paint before parts have a chance to start rusting. Four hours to get the epoxy paint on, I don't envy him having to do this chore.
Painted, with a few parts fitted.
Wing fitting doublers show well here.
Some of the belly stringer supports were found to be inaccurately located at the factory. Three of them were replaced such that the new belly panels would not have to be asymmetrically made in order to fit. Other things, like the lower wing root fairings would have also been affected by this error.
Much more to come...........
My goals for this project are to enhance to ownership experience and make the airplane more maintenance friendly. Here's a section of my wishlist for the project;
========================
My first goal for this project is to gain access to the structure in order to evaluate its condition and do repairs. A close second is to return the airplane to, as close as is practical, new cosmetic condition. I think to use the same paint scheme with a few minor modifications and maybe slightly different color for the blue and maybe also the red paint. The third main goal is to make the airplane better than was originally produced by the factory by incorporating common enhancements done by either the factory or by individual owners. The idea is to make it more user and owner friendly. And then there are the pet peeves that tend to drive the current owner a bit crazy.
The enhancements and updates are;
- Plywood leading edges.
- Sheet metal panels extending back to the rear cockpit, just as the most recent factory airplanes have.
- Raising the shoulder harness systems for both cockpits, including the new attach point for the rear harness in the aft fuselage.
- Replacing the nose bowl with a split nose bowl (first choice is a new unit from Devon York, second choice is to repair and modify the existing part).
- Replacing the original avionics with new Trig remote units for comm, X-ponder, ADS-B and intercom. Requires modifications to the rear instrument panel.
- Relocating the brake calipers to the forward mount position and modifying the wheel pants to accommodate the change.
- Applying doublers to the lower rear wing fittings.
=============================
On the subject of colors, we recently got cards and spray-outs from Consolidated Coatings and choose stock colors closely matching the original exterior colors the factory used. They are Pontiac Red, Miami Blue and New Insignia White. The blue is a touch darker than the original which suits me since the blue looked a bit faded to my eyes. The red is a near-perfect match. The factory light gray epoxy paint/primer for the steel parts will be used for all parts, unlike the factory parts which were sometimes painted black. Kim researched this paint and bought it directly from the manufacturer. The instrument panels will be flat black as per the original paint. The interior of the cockpit sheet metal panels and bulkheads will be clear coated since the bare aluminum starts getting dingy fairly quickly in service. We're not sure how well this will hold up, we can always repaint them later. The inside of the T-deck was looking a bit shabby so that got a coat of the light gray epoxy with a flattening additive.
Kim actually started with the wings but he's working on getting the fuselage ready for cover now, so that will be my first point of discussion. I'll post some of his latest photos first;
These first four are of the freshly sandblasted fuselage in the paint booth.
Notice the rear shoulder harness attach and new, taller lugs for the elevator idler.
The fabric will now be attached at the rear seat back station with sheet metal panels forward.
The doublers for the rear lower wing fittings (SB25) are apparent here.
Here's Kim shooting the paint before parts have a chance to start rusting. Four hours to get the epoxy paint on, I don't envy him having to do this chore.
Painted, with a few parts fitted.
Wing fitting doublers show well here.
Some of the belly stringer supports were found to be inaccurately located at the factory. Three of them were replaced such that the new belly panels would not have to be asymmetrically made in order to fit. Other things, like the lower wing root fairings would have also been affected by this error.
Much more to come...........
