[hharney]

Plastic panels? Are you referring to the interior? Those wonderful, high quality, decorative, fashionable luxury interior parts from Cessna? Stay tuned because we did not source any new plastic for this job, details coming.

Here is a start on the windshield. It was removed last night and actually was very easy to come out. Now if it just goes back in with a minimal amount of frustration I will be very pleased. I ordered all the glass yesterday and the company talked me into the grey tinted windshield. I know, several of you said not to go with the tint and stay with clear but my original was tinted and was just fine. This company sells all the glass to Cirrus, Mooney and Champion and all windshields are grey tint with solar control. Along with Piper and Cessna. I hope I am not disappointed but that's just what I did. The pilot and co-pilot windows are also grey tint and solar control and the rear are just grey tint because under the wing the solar control is not needed. I will probably drive to Flint Friday and pick up the whole window kit. They have the Cessna u-channel also.

Last night was another beautiful drive to Kzoo. 32 degrees and rain all the way down and then about 2 hours later it changed to snow with 29 degrees. The trip home at 11 PM was white knuckle. Well it's back down tonight to meet with the AI again. We'll start prepping the hull for the windows. Most everything is ready but around the windshield will still require some clean up. I have to remove the door window yet too. Trying to remove those little pins in the hinges has been a challenge. Once those items are finished we are ready for new glass all the way around.

After the windshield is out, the interior tech's will work on the glare shield to match the new interior. A lot easier to access this glare shield with the windshield out. The glare shield will be wrapped in leather or ultra suede to match the new components in re-upholstery process. I have seen some of the glare shields that Bill has done and they are really nice. Should be a big improvement.

I ordered the certified foam sound control insulation to go on the rear bulkhead and ceiling. I don't want to try to deal with the fiberglass garbage that Cessna used up in the headliner. It's going to be tedious to install but it's only time. (well money too, that stuff is expensive) I will use Pliobond (thanks GMAS for this) for adhering the foam to the interior skin. The patches that we have been discussing with the corrosion behind them, once removed and the corrosion treated with Alumaprep, Alodine and Chromate paint, a piece of the foam will be placed in that area to substitute for the linoleum patches that were there. They are not lead like some thought them to be but just a cheap linoleum (thanks Cessna) that contains salts and when the adhesive comes loose allows moisture to sneak in and ............. yep corrosion. The patches are there to keep the vibration down on the skin of the hull. Too much vibration and you could start to see fractures or cracks. The foam will absorb that vibration. So if you remove the patches make sure you replace it with something like the foam.

***Thanks to gmas for all the great ideas and tips***

Well that's about it for now, my second project is a Twinco with a gear motor issue. Love this unemployment stuff :-)