Back at it

I've been getting back to the plastic work over the last few weeks. I got the plastic panels exchanged with Plane Plastics and have gotten the passenger-side panel fitted. I found the old CAT tubing used to connect the airbox to the lower panel vents had deteriorated badly so I ordered new SCEET tubing to replace it. I used SCEET instead of SCAT because SCEET has an internal lining that covers the interior wires with another layer so they're not exposed to moisture. Being that these vents scoop in air directly from outside that some form of moisture protection is required. I also found that the air ducts were installed on the wrong sides the last time they were removed/replaced AND the pilot-side air manifold mounting tab was broken which I'm working repairing. No wonder those panels never seem to fit right and the plastic was all broken up. I've got the tubing as well as some other parts on order from Aircraft Spruce. Being that our headphone jacks are simple angled-aluminum pieces, I'm considering whether or not to replace those with some more stable and aesthetically pleasing.
Also, I found that the insulation behind the pilot's side kick-panel was saturated with brake fluid. It looks like the brake cylinder is leaking and dripping down behind that panel. I'll be having the mechanic check it out this week.

Uh oh

For all of the panels so far it takes a bit of fitting through cutting, sanding, or warping but they eventually fit. Not so with the outermost panels under the panel, next to the rudder pedals. The air duct shapes are all wrong on the new panels and there's no way the metal duct covers are going to fit. I'm going to have to call Plane Plastics to see what's up. I'm almost thinking that they're for a different year/model Cardinal. You can see a part of the replaced pilot-side door sill which has to be painted yet. The plan is to paint that black rather than try to match the previous red. It sure would have been nice if the plastic could be obtained in any other colors other than white.

Interior Panels

Once again it's been way too long since I posted. I've been spending lots of time at the airport in the evenings for the last number of weeks working on getting the interior plastic replaced. It's really a very slow, tedious process. All the plastic parts come oversized and require trimming for a proper fit. That wouldn't be so bad if that's all it took but the angles and overlaps of the pieces are such that liberal use of a heat gun is necessary for almost every piece. The easiest piece to fit so far: the pilot's side door sill.
Still haven't found a matching red paint to use for painting those parts that are supposed to be red.
As it turns out almost every plastic part is already a Plane Plastics (formerly Kinze) replacement but is brittle to the point of nearly shattering in some cases. How did the plastic get this way? I've seen comments on various web sites that this may have been caused by the type of paint used but what type of paint would that be? The research will continue.

Fuel drain cover complete!

Well, it's been a while since I last updated this post. I decided to start small and work on the fuel drain cover first. I took the same approach as the fuel valve and used the red Coverite paint followed by the Coverite clear coat. Like I mentioned before it's a bit too glossy but this part is under the seat and isn't normally visible anyway. Below are some side by side images of the before and after parts. I needed to build up the underside of the new part to prevent the pulling of the lower hole like the old cover was. I built it up using cut off pieces of scrap held with epoxy. One down, many to go. The day before yesterday I also trimmed and placed the piece below the rear window, but more on that later.

Placard decals

Today I looked through all the photos of the dash and compared with the set of decals from Plane Plastics to verify we have all the necessary decals. It looks like we do but there may be some variation in the wording and we may have to to some trimming to get them all to fit. The flap settings decal looks all wrong and I may have to cut and paste from some other stickers. Of course, I don't have enough pictures of the fuse panel to be 100% sure but from what I do see, it looks like the decal set will work fine.

I did some research on the internet and sent an email to Plane Plastics about how to keep the decals from shriveling when being top coated. Haven't found or heard anything yet.

Ordering the rest of the interior plastics

We finally got fed up with the rest of the broken plastic inside the airplane. I took dozens upon dozens of pictures of the parts inside the airplane needing replacing, see http://www.webfam.org/Album/phil/Airplane/To%20be%20fixed/index.html to see some of the picts. After looking up the parts on planeplastics.com I had to go back to the airport a few more times to verify what it was I was actually looking at. Finally placed the order on 2/15/09. All parts arrived in a single large box via FedEx. They wouldn’t leave at the door without a signature so I had to go pick it up. Brought the box home, unpacked it, and inventoried and inspected everything. All the parts were molded in white except the dash parts and floor drain cover which were molded in black. All parts seem to be in great shape and well formed except one instrument panel section, the pilot side lower instrument panel that the fuel gauges are in and the yoke passes through. The holes were very roughly trimmed out and it looks like there’s been too much plastic taken off. I’m worried about it not fitting right and having to return it. At the very least it’s going to take some serious sanding on a large, flat belt sander to get it leveled out. All the parts are definitely much thicker than the original plastics which I’m sure is going to cause a fair amount of trimming and fiddling to get it to fit right. I layed out all parts on the carpet and took some pictures. I’m excited to get started on getting the project started.

Introduction

This blog details the interior rework project for N1989Q, a 1973 Cessna 177 RG. 4 people share membership in this airplane along with the work and costs.
We originally started the project a number of years ago. First was the recovering of the seats and panels. The automotive shop did a pretty good job except for the carpet, which really should be replaced now.
After that is was on to our plastics. Our overhead console was breaking apart and so was the fuel valve cover. I ordered those from Plane Plastics (www.planeplastics.com). The overhead console was quite a bit of work as you would expect but it really wasn’t too bad and was formed relatively well. I still haven’t found a way to hold the speaker grill in place that won’t shake loose after a few months. I used the dremel tool quite a bit to form the various holes and cutouts for the air vents, overhead light, switch, and shade brackets. It’s held up quite well.
I used Rustoleum Paint for Plastic in Shell White (211364) for the overhead console and plan to use it on the rest of the interior parts if the other partners agree. It seems to have held up well in the last couple of years. I bought a set of placard stickers also from Plane Plastics for the new parts. I used some scrap pieces of plastic and scraps of the placard stickers to test the combinations and thought I had it all right. However when it came time to clear coat the fuel valve, the stickers shriveled. I applied many more coats to ensure even the shriveled stickers stayed stuck but I'm going to have to figure out how to clear coat without shriveling the stickers. I used Coverite 21st Century dark red paint to paint the fuel valve with a top coat of Coverite 21st Century gloss clear coat. Because I also build and fly radio control aircraft, I went with Coverite because of it’s known extreme durability and solvent resistance. After all, it stands up well to hot nitromethane fuel from model airplanes without signs of dissolving or cracking.

Lessons learned from this stage:

1. The Coverite dark red on the fuel valve is a little off from the rest of the interior plastic red. This could be partly due to the part being molded in black, which tends to darken the color despite numerous coates.
2. We've got to find a way to clear coat the stickers without making them shrivel.
3. Satin clear coat might be better for the airplane than the gloss. It looks too shiny.