Door Seal--Repair or Replace

[Mark Hislop]

The door seal on my aircraft (73 P337, sn 127) is original, and has some small holes in it. These are not the factory holes, they are small cuts caused by people getting in and out of the aircraft. My mechanic has a special die and repair kit to repair the holes. However, I'm wondering if I should just replace the whole thing...it is almost 30 years old. Does anybody know about how long it takes to replace, and the approximate cost of the replacement part? Is it something I could do myself and get a sign-off?

Thanks

Mark

[GMAs]

mark... the reason your mechanic uses the die and repair kit... is.... because he is trying to save you the time and work... in replaceing it....

I have done one... and don't care to do another... its not that big of a job but, its time consuming to get everything lined up correctly and back in place....

Nope I would say its not something that you could do yourself... unless you want to do it and then pay to have the mechanic do it again... too many little details and problems.... and you goof.. and your out the bucks for the new one... as y ou won't be making that pressure... at alt.... better to take it to a shop and have them do it... then tell who ever is poking holes in it... to quit or else find another plane to fly in... most of the time its the dirt that the door closes on... that does it... so we have found... keeping this area clean is job 1... smile... GMAs

[Kevin McDole]

Mark,

I'm in the middle of having my inflatable door seal replaced (parts come from Riley). I don't know the costs yet, but the shop estimated something like 12 to 16 hours. Most of that time is budgeted for removing and cleaning out the old door seal. Due to the replacement parts being the wrong lengths, I'm already way over that time estimate.

[Bob Cook]

kevinmcdo
email me

bob