Complete interior re-furbish - Page 4

hharney · #46 01-11-09, 04:20 PM

Now that I just spent 2 days cleaning the window frame from the door of 2JF, I am ready to move on to other important tasks. These days with the snow falling and wonderful high temps in the 20's, making the 45 mile drive to Larry's hanger has been all but fun. Only because the excitement of again hugging 2JF each day keeps me coming back. OK, Larry and Kathryn's hospitality is a very, very close second. In fact, I must say that Larry and Kathryn are truly wonderful people. They continually want to feed me, make coffee, Larry is over in the hanger helping wrench on the plane and just all around great people. Many thanks to the Bowdish's for their allow me to take on this project in their hanger.

This project is a lot more than I had ever anticipated. It is wonderful and have really enjoyed it, but it's to the point now where I would like to see more progress. We seem to be finally making some progress in the last couple of days. Just little things being totally completed helps in the therapy. Like yesterday we finished the pulse light system. Also, I have always had a problem with the dimmer rheostat for the instrument lights, has anyone else had this issue? It would never function as a true dimmer, just turn it all the way clockwise to reach the end and finally the lights would work at full power. I had bought a new dimmer from Cessna years ago and it worked initially but then would quit except for full on. I have talked with other Skymaster owners and they too have had problems with this. Well while researching for a pulse light system and purchasing the unit from Seaton Enginering Corp. http://seatoneng.com/MaxPulse.htm I found that this company also made a solid state dimmer rheostat that is rated for 12.5 Amps or 350 Watts at 28 VDC. It is called MaxDim http://seatoneng.com/MaxDim.htm I have installed this unit and I will report the performance when all this project finishes enough put the aircraft in the air. The pulse light unit is really a nice compact switch for all the features that it has. The new Stobe power supply is mounted and wired. I will have new wing tip strobes and a tail strobe that flashes alternately with the wing tips. I still have the belly strobe too. Lots of new lighting additions along with interior lights to match the new eyeball vents for each passenger. Photos of those once the interior starts installing. I removed the 8 day wind up clock and opted for an electric, direct replacement. 2JF came off the show room floor with the fuse and power wires for an electric clock but got the 8 day wind up, at least that is what I thought. After removing the 8 day I read on the back "1979" so someone has messed with this before. Well if there was an electric there originally it's back to original now. Now trying to feed the strobe cable from the power supply on the rear firewall to the tail has posed a challenge. There is no access to the boom from the wing aft to the first panel where the autopilot control is. We are working on trying to find the best access, if anyone has done this let me know if there are any tricks to accessing this on the left side of the aircraft. As previous post's have indicated, we have been inspecting the right wing fuel tanks. Yesterday, after draining all the fuel through the sump quick drain valve, we removed the inboard main tank to inspect all fittings and interconnects on that specific tank. It appears that the leak culprit is the sending unit (fuel transmitting unit) gasket. When the tanks are full to the top that point where the sender unit is located is actually lower than the service filler neck. I notice this summer that I had signs of fuel on the underside of the right wing and now that we have this tank out it looks like the only place that the fuel was coming from was the sender gasket. It would trail quite a distance and would only leak when the mains were full. After there was 10 gals burned off it wouldn't leak. We will be cleaning up the tank and checking some of the areas that are really stained but by first inspection after the tank is out it looks like all is ok. We will replace all the cork on that tank because the small amount of fuel that leaked has compromised it's purpose. We also installed the Knots 2 U exterior LED light on the underside of the right wing. 2JF never had an exterior light and with this unit you don't have to even turn on the master switch. It operates on a 9 volt battery and automatically turns off after either 3 minutes or 15 minutes. Just a cool little addition. Well all the new insulation is 90% done and we are just about ready to start the window install next. We need to make sure all interior tasks are completed first so that the new interior can be installed and then we can start to work on the other items, main tires, rear engine mounts, oil filters for both engines, oil lead on front engine, etc., while the interior is being completed. Then once 2JF is deemed airworthy again it's off to the paint shop.

BTW, I finally broke down and decided to remove the ADF and related items. I have a good ADF sense antenna if anyone needs one.

hharney · #47 01-11-09, 04:31 PM

Fuel tank photos

Well, last night we determined that the inboard main fuel tank indeed has a crack near the weld of the fitting that is pictured in the first photo. Just a very hair line crack but enough to make a mess as pictured in the third photo. We are debating the best method of repair. I don't like the idea of glues or chemical fixes but would prefer having it welded. Any thoughts? Any experiences out there with fuel tanks?

skymstr02 · #48 01-11-09, 08:31 PM

Thanks for the update. Keep up the good work.

WebMaster · #49 01-13-09, 10:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hharney

Now that I just spent 2 days cleaning the window frame from the door of 2JF, I am ready to move on to other important tasks. These days with the snow falling and wonderful high temps in the 20's, making the 45 mile drive to Larry's hanger has been all but fun. Only because the excitement of again hugging 2JF each day keeps me coming back. OK, Larry and Kathryn's hospitality is a very, very close second. In fact, I must say that Larry and Kathryn are truly wonderful people. They continually want to feed me, make coffee, Larry is over in the hanger helping wrench on the plane and just all around great people. Many thanks to the Bowdish's for their allow me to take on this project in their hanger.

.

Thank you. You are always welcome at our house.
In fact you are also welcome to spend the night.

stackj · #50 01-13-09, 11:08 PM

Herb,

I have not had problems with the main tanks, but have repaired my right Aux tank. After draining the fuel and removing the tank, I flushed out the tank with soapy water several times.

I did this by putting about a half gallon of soapy water in the tank and shaking it to assure the water covered the entire inside of the tank. This was done several times until I could no longer smell fuel on the tank. I then flushed it out with clean water. Again with soapy water, then again with clean water. I then sealed up all known orfices (drain, vents - thin aluminum tape works pretty well) pressurized the tank with low pressure air (just a couple of pounds... be careful here... too much pressure will render your tank useless. you might want to make sure at least one of your orfices is sealed with something which is definately weaker than the tank.) I used my hand to seal over the cap opening and held an air hose with very low flow, sealed between my thumb and my palm.

I pressurized the tank until it just started to change shape on the flatter surfaces. Then a friend sprayed the entire outer surface with soapy water looking for bubbles. He marked the leaky areas and I took the tank to a local welding shop for repair. I told them that it was a fuel tank and how I had made it inert. I left it totally up to them to decide to repair it. Make sure your welding shop knows how to weld thin aluminum. Be sure there are no high welds directly over or under a rib.

Be sure to inspect the entire tank. Mine had two leaks and I quit looking after finding the first one. The first time I returned it to the airplane and filled it with fuel, I found there was a second leak... I hate doing the same job twice... but I did.

After the repair, I again sealed up the orfices, pressurized the tank and sprayed with soapy water to assure the leaks had been repaired.

I then flushed the tank inside and outside with clean water, assured that ALL water had been removed from the tank and allowed it to dry for a couple of days. I inspected it for residual soap or water and was ready to return it to service when absolutely clean.

I replaced the cork tape on the ribs (Bought an entire roll from a fishing shop somewhere in Florida. They use it for wrapping fishing pole handles. I have plenty left and can send you some if you want to email Larry's address to me. Tell me about how many feet you need (don't forget the ribs on the cover panel.) I have two sizes and I forget which I used, but can send both for you to choose from. my email is jim.stack@comcast.net .

After reconnecting the lines, I filled the tank with fuel, a couple of gallons at a time, until I was sure there were no leaks.

Good luck. The job is not too hard after you have removed the tanks. Hopefully you read the manual and placed a supporting structure under the wing before you removed the upper covers.

skymstr02 · #51 01-14-09, 05:23 AM

For the air pressure, I use the pressure side of a shop vac, high volume, low pressure. Duct tape the hose to the filler hole, and go.

WebMaster · #52 01-14-09, 02:31 PM

Jim,

Larry Bowdish
10292 Skyview Dr
Kalamazoo, MI 49009

Pete Somers · #53 01-14-09, 04:07 PM

Hey Larry maybe I should make a reservation at your house sounds a lot better than any hotel!

Just kidding
Cheers
Pete

hharney · #54 01-15-09, 11:01 AM

Jim / Skymstr 02

Thanks for the input, much appreciated. Wing and boom is supported, we will double check the tank for any other possible leaks. I ordered some silicon strips from Cessna which replaces the cork. But after talking to GMAS he said to just clean up the cork strips and re-use them using Pliobond to secure them. The original cork is still in really good shape. It had just moved around quite a bit. I may just return the silicon. Thanks for the offer on the cork if you have sent it and we don't use it I can return it or wait for the next victim and offer it to them.

stackj · #55 01-16-09, 12:46 AM

Hey Herb! --- I'm an old man. I have not yet shipped the cork. I will hold it for now. Let me know if you need some. I'd rather give it away than let it go to waste.

Jim

hharney · #56 01-23-09, 09:25 AM

Jim, I was able to use the original material. It worked really good. Thanks for the offer.

Has anyone ever removed the original radio air vent system? I have a powered cooling system and do not see any reason to keep the original. With the aircraft going to paint soon I could eliminate these and patch them before paint.

Here is a photo of the fuel tank bay prior to re-install. Also a photo of the radio cooling intake and the patch that repaired the removed ADF sense antenna. This is how we would patch the radio cooling intakes. Make it smooth!

hharney · #57 01-23-09, 09:31 AM

We started to install the windshield last night. Within about 2 hours we had it trimmed and ready to mount. Amazing, I was really fearing this process but it went slick. I owe a big thanks to the guys at Great Lakes Aero for fitting this new windshield while I was there at their factory. I was able to take my old windshield to them when I picked up my new units. They took my old windshield and fitted the new unit to my old one. I can only think that this may have helped in the fitting process last night. If fact the first time we tried to fit the w/s last night we actually pushed it right into place with minimal effort. We had to trim a little on the starboard lower side and that was about it.

More to come...................

skymstr02 · #58 01-23-09, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hharney

Here is a photo of the fuel tank bay prior to re-install. !

Herb,
You may want to consider priming the interior of the fuel tank bay while you have the tanks removed. Anything to keep the moisture from the bare aluminum would be an improvement.
Dave

stackj · #59 01-23-09, 11:24 PM

Herb,

The fuel tank bays look good. Glad it worked out! I do like Dave's idea of priming them though.

hharney · #60 01-25-09, 09:21 PM

Well it has been a busy week with the aircraft re-furb. My interior technician has started the fitting and design process. Back in October I picked out all the materials, colors, and had some ideas on the design but now that we can bring in the panels bare and set them in the fuselage to start the final design phase. It is moving along fine. Interior is being fabricated as I write this so I had better get the interior needs finished before I am in the way of the new upholstery coming in.

We have a new windshield in place and mounted. Still need the center post (would be nice to leave this out but I know I can't) mounted, that will come next week. After hearing all the horror stories of installing these Skymaster windows I was really waiting to see how things would go. As stated in the above message it took about 2 hours to fit and trim the W/S and the next day we installed it. We spent a good 4 - 5 hours getting all the goods fastened back down and a big part of that was clean up. The PRC (ProSeal) is a little tedious to clean up but it's done. I actually spent another 2 or 3 hours the next day doing a final clean up of all the adhesive. It really looks nice. Because of the cold weather the PRC is slow setting so it provides plenty of time to work it. Started on the side windows and had to make some decisions on those. Because the model I have (337C) there are rubber channels that wrap around the fixed outer side windows (all except the entry door window). Re-installing these in the channel on the fuselage was a bugger. The new channel may have been a little thicker but the windows were super tight in place. I will leave them dry with just the rubber channel and after the new paint is applied a bead of ProSeal will be applied to the outside of each window to seal them from the elements. This was confirmed with the paint shop and will be the best option because the aircraft is being painted directly after the interior is completed. I finished the entry door window and all I can say is that it is a good thing this is my aircraft. You couldn't pay me enough to do this for a living. Wow, that was a pain. Anyone changed the glass on one of those lately? It is a split frame (see picture below) and there are like 6 rivets that hold it together. Well I spent 4 hours removing the old window, 4 or 5 hours cleaning up the frame from all the old putty and whatever else Cessna used on it. Then Larry and I worked together installing the new window. That was about another 3 hours after cleaning up the PRC. I still need to do a little more fill and clean on it. Major time for this stuff. Driving back and forth every night is getting the best of me but hanging in there. Today we changed the main gear hoses and the springs. Bought the stuff from Cessna through Yingling. Ouch that stuff is spendy. We will be changing the nose gear hosed too but that won't hold up the interior work so it can wait. The right wing fuel tank bays are all closed back up and the wing support has been moved to the port side for fuel bay inspection before paint. I figured that now is the best time to look. I don't want to have to remove all those screws after the new paint is on. Had five screws on the aux tank that stripped on me while trying to remove them. First time these screws have been exercised since 1968. Get the drill and drill off the heads, remove the panel and then use an easy out on the screws to remove them. Aux tank looks good. I will change the level sending unit gasket and be done. Still have to take off the main fuel bay. Still have engine mounts on the rear, spin on oil filter adaptors, main tires, wing tip strobes, tail strobe, oil leak front engine, but this is all non-hold up the interior stuff. Still it takes time and lots of it. Talk to you soon.