Complete interior re-furbish

[hharney]

Well after spending 10 days in Idaho on assignment and then Thanksgiving week distracted me to the point of not making it to the hanger, I finally made the trip to 4N0 to check on the progress of 2JF. Flew the Twinco down on a beautiful Saturday morning.

The interior is completely gutted. It is really interesting to see all the framework that goes together in this aircraft. I have never been through a complete refirb before so bear with my amazement and report. I found the entire hull in very good shape. No corrosion (could be that spending most of it's life in the southern Idaho dessert helped) except one spot on the main door. Not sure what that's all about? Any way a little treatment of some kind should remedy that issue. I had to remove most of the insulation because my interior tech's left it in place. I pulled it out so that I could inspect what's under that wonderful stuff. All the insulation is Fiberglass (urgh) not my favorite product. I am thinking about removing it all and replacing it with a certified foam product. Anyone use the foam panels before? It looks positive, anything is better than filterglass. The insulation in the headliner was really ratty. It has been dug through so many times that it is to the point of lots of small pieces that really don't work anymore. I will need to do something different here. Maybe the foam.

I have decided to replace all the glass. Once I got into the window panel areas it looks like on the rear windows that it is a combination of screws and rivets that attach the aluminum angle to hold the glass in place. After removing the holding devices that are screwed in, I should be able to remove just some of the riveted holding brackets to release the glass. Shouldn't be too bad but going back in might be another story. We will see, stay tuned. I talked with Great Lakes today about replacement windows and they can ship within about 3 days of order. They are located in Flint, MI so I may just drive over and pick them up and take a tour. I think I will go with the grey tint on all exterior side windows, clear on the windscreen and pilot and co-pilot sides and may look at using grey on the inside and outside of the rear. I will see how dark that is before a final decision is made.

I have ordered the Rosen visors, new style air vents that might require a field approval, FM oil filters to replace the factory screen system, Max Pulse light system for the landing lights (has anyone used this?) it's STC'd, new electric clock (still had the original wind up) because the old one is getting really tired, LED exterior light for under the wing that is battery operated so that you don't have to turn on the master to load up.

I have attached these photos to keep you from getting board of reading my report. Some close ups of the window holding devices and general shots of the hull stripped out.

[JeffAxel]

Herb
I noticed on the shot of the ceiling of your plane these big black rectangles glued to the aluminum. I think this is the lead stuff Cessna used for soundproofing. If so, it has resulted in corrosion in some planes. I would rip any of it you see out, and look for corrosion underneath. I bet you will find these in the belly as well, and corrosion is more likely down there. As to the foam insulation, my P337 had it when I got it and I think it helps on the noise front. It really helps with temperature insulation as well. Nice panel!! Hope your interior goes in well....keep us in the loop......we all love seeing other guys spend money!!

[WebMaster]

Nice pictures
The panel picture shows the King PFD, actually, a full size cardboard version, in place. It is substantially larger than the Aspen PFD.

[hharney]

Thanks Jeff I will take a look at the black units up there. What is the best method of treating the corrosion under those units? I wondered what those were. I think the unit on the door came off and that is where I saw the corrosion. What type of foam do you have, any idea? Here is the stuff I was looking at.

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalo...oofinstall.php

I figured while the interior is gutted now is the time to do this. I will take a look under the spots and let everyone know what there is.

BTW, thanks for the encouragement (spending the money)

[JeffAxel]

Herb,
That looks like the foam I have. When we removed that lead soundproofing and found corrosion, we cleaned up the surface with Scotchbrite, did an acid etch and Alodyne, then applied a coat of Zinc Chromate primer. That was the recommendation of my mechanic, and he suggested we remove all that stuff in the belly of the plane as well.
The foam was cut to match the location it was placed very meticulously, it must have taken a few hours to get all the inside walls and ceiling of the cabin covered. I am glad the plane came to me that way!!

[Guy Paris]

Herb,
Last year at Sun N Fun I talked to this company. http://www.soundexproducts.com/

Guy....

[hharney]

Another day in paradise, snow paradise that is. Winter has officially arrived in Michigan and driving to Kalamazoo this morning to remove more windows from the hull was just about all I could do for excitement. Earlier on the road to Kzoo a pickup crossed over the median and created a head on situation for the on coming traffic. I fatality, not a comforting thought as I proceeded to Larry’s hanger at 50 MPH. Nice thing is, I am not in a hurry. No set time schedule. Makes things a lot easier when the stress is gone. Well because I am now writing this it is evident that I made the trip there and back safely and uneventful.

Enough about that let’s talk aircraft, removal of windows, not too bad. Installing windows, yet to find out. I have all windows out except the windscreen up front. Again it has really been a learning experience. Sorry to bore you if you have been through this already but it’s just plain exciting stuff for me. The AI that is working with me prepped me on removing the rivets and said “have at it”. Well I got them all out and started to clean up the frames. Left side center has a fuel line right along the frame that I was drilling rivets from. That made things a little more exciting but no leaking fuel yet. Larry had some toluene that really make the clean up easy around the frames where the sealant has been for the last 40 years. After scraping the big stuff off with a putty knife I used the toluene to make it look new again. It is really amazing that the sealant was still soft and sticky. 40 years is a long time. The photos below show the before and after and the fuel line.

How do you work comfortably in the cabin of a Skymaster with the interior gutted? Well on a bumper of course. While on my knees working in this wonderful aluminum cave, I decided it would be a lot nicer to have something to sit on. First thing I thought about was a bucket or something and started snooping around Larry’s hanger to see what type of throne I could come up with. All of a sudden I saw several boat bumpers over in the corner. Now when I have used boat bumpers they would make a good seat for a 4 year old but not my fat ____. The bumpers Larry has were for some kind of yacht or something because they are biggies. Just right for a growing boy working on his toy. Anyway I soon learned that using this bumper was just about the best idea that I have had since I installed the 530. I showed my AI and he said WOW that works great. Nice cushy seat and won’t even scratch the floor. With all the irregularities in the floor a bucket is all but stable but with the bumper it just doesn’t matter. It’s stable no matter where on the floor it is. OK enough about my new invention. Anyway next you’re in the plane without seats you gotta try it.

I decided were changing the windscreen too. That will have to be removed next but I will wait for Craig my AI for that one. I did receive the new air vents and looks like they will retro to the existing vents really easy. They should really bring things up to date inside aesthetically. I also bought the battery operated LED under wing light from Knots2U. It will be a nice addition and easy install. Really a cool item. It has a built in timer so that if you turn it on it goes out automatically in 5 minutes. If you need light longer then a different sequence of the power button keeps it on for 15 minutes and then turns off. You can use the provided access panel or use the original under the wing and modify it to mount the light in it.

Seat belts will be shipping next week. The BAS system up front and all new matching lap belts for the other 3 seats. I will be writing more on this with some detail and photos because there have been a lot of questions about these lately. I have never had the 5th seat, not sure what happened to the original. I don’t think we ever got the 5th seat when we bought the plane in 1976. I had used a Cessna 206 rear seat in the past but it really didn’t fit right and not legal. I purchased a seat from Don at Commodore Aero. I will now have that seat re-upholstered to match the new interior. I also found the luggage tray (parcel shelf as Larry calls it) and will have it trimmed to match too. Haven’t used this much but thought I should include it in the redo. Anyone else use this unit? It is hinged to the rear firewall and has spring loaded pins that keep it in position when used or release it and allow it to lay flat against the rear firewall.

Well that’s about enough today, more to come.

[hharney]

Looking at the Hydraulic lines on the main gear and wondering if I should change them while I have this all torn apart. When running my fingers along the braided lines I notice it feels a little like there is hair protruding out of the braiding. Is this rubber? Is this normal or could this be an indication of something?

Also Jeff indicated that I should remove the black patches that are glued to the skin of the interior of the cabin. There were a couple already missing and some corrosion was apparent on the skin where the lead patch was. I removed a couple more but did not find corrosion under them. Some of them seem to be really attached strong and I had a hard time even forcing the putty knife under them. Should I still remove them all? Even if there is no corrosion?

I haven't looked under the floor yet. I assume there are some of these down there too?