Pulling out the heavy 70s era interior, keep the headliner or no? Also, know its been posted b4, but what is a good interior replacement product? 1/4" neoprene? Or? N where did you get it? Still confused about the burn certificate, can always send a sample in but seems like overkill to me. What was in there will burn. Prob 60yrs of contact cement

Rip out that headliner and put in 1/4" closed cell foam from Selkirk Aviation. It comes with the burn certificate.

That was the answer I was looking for. Thank you.

robw56 wrote:Rip out that headliner and put in 1/4" closed cell foam from Selkirk Aviation. It comes with the burn certificate.

Nice!

Did you make templates?

I used some thick construction type paper to make templates for each piece of foam. Then I marked the foam with a silver sharpie and cut them out with a razor blade and straight edge.

I recently completed the "seat weight loss mod" that has been discussed here on several occasions. Mine, however, was a poor man's version. I had a local custom auto upholstery shop carefully remove the existing Airtex covering and aluminum skirts so I could strip and prepare the frame. I then glued Ceconite on to both sections, followed by heat shrinking to fit with a gun. I then had the upholstery shop trim and fit the Airtex covering to shape and, voila, I ended up seats that went from 15lbs each to 9.5lbs each, a savings of 11lbs. The seats are slightly lower (good for me), less springy and more comfortable. Total cost: $300.

robw56 wrote:

Great photo Rob, and nice workmanship on that insulation job!

After all the "diet plan" get airplane weighed on set of good digital ,calibrated scales. Old straight tails will run in in mid to low 1500's total (empty weight). Selkirk foam is good but I used the stuff from Aircraft Spruce myself -cost much less by the foot and cuts with carpet knife . I Use C77 contact cement to adhere to inside of cabin. Old wiring (which is dangerous and unreliable) can cut into your useful load 20-40 lbs. Painted airplanes seem to go up 40-50 lbs over stripped with a stripe and numbers. Back seat (factory) add a additional 28-30 lbs. Get a light weight /firewall mounted battery and dump the 3 blade props. My 1956 with paint', Sportsman Kit ,2 seats ,firewall mounted battery , big gear and brakes, tips the scales at 1504 lbs. empty-giving me a useful of about 1050.

Mine started out at 1811lbs. Monarch main n flint tip tanks that will stay, heavy but nice air metal fab extended baggage and not as nice as a 8.50 but a lot lighter Cessna nose fork w a 7.00. Still, hoping to get it under 1700lbs. 1650 would be even better but that's a lot to loose. Really want the sportsman but it will drag the tail landing now so not really sure if it helps slowing it down or not. Moving the battery to the firewall would be great but its pretty nose heavy once the rear seat is removed. Thanks for all the help, that is one great looking interior btw!

Down the rabbit hole we go [emoji12]

Gosh Skaly, 31s, MT prop, FA Dodge seats, Sportsman STOL, stripped interior (wingX?)... you'll have one heck of a 180/2 when you're finished. Can't wait to see it!

mountainmatt wrote:Gosh Skaly, 31s, MT prop, FA Dodge seats, Sportsman STOL, stripped interior (wingX?)... you'll have one heck of a 180/2 when you're finished. Can't wait to see it!

I agree! Gonna be sweet Luke!!

Thanks guys, got a lot of work ahead still on the interior. My goal is lightweight as possible, without Titanium gear anyways [emoji13] Trying to decide what to do with front seats, want em as light as possible, any ideas?

The only reason I'd ever do a Wing X would be to use it commercially.

182 STOL driver wrote:.... Old straight tails will run in in mid to low 1500's total (empty weight).
.....My 1956 with paint', Sportsman Kit ,2 seats ,firewall mounted battery , big gear and brakes, tips the scales at 1504 lbs. empty-giving me a useful of about 1050.

That 1504 figure is really impressive. I own a 53 C180, one of the early so-called "light ones". The factory W&B sheet from 1953 says 1490 empty with no fuel or oil. Wow-- that is light! However, fast-forward 62 years to 2015 and it now weighs 1641. There's been a number of mods done to it over the years-- full paint job, K engine, 82" Mac, firewall-mounted Odyssey, 185 gear legs, double-pucks, 850's, radio & transponder, v-brace, BAS jumpseats harnesses & pull-handles, aluminum extended baggage, 1" stinger & XP Mods 10" t/w.

From the old W&B sheets, it looks like the engine & prop ungrade (from an A) added about 26 pounds. And like Bill says, the full paint adds maybe another 40. Hard to believe the other stuff adds up to 85 pounds but I guess it does. Of course, there's always the chance that the factory may have fudged a little on the empty weight too.

Skalywag wrote:Trying to decide what to do with front seats, want em as light as possible, any ideas?

You can ditch the springs (and aluminum skirt if you have it) and wrap the frames in a nylon bladder like many of us have done. This will save you a few pounds per seat.

I still have the standard springs on the front seats but since I like the bare-bones functional look I ditched the skirts anyway. That leaves room to clamp a fire extinguisher to the front of the seat frame-- handy place to keep it, just reach down between your legs & grab. (the fire extinguisher, that is -- get your mind out of the gutter, boys!) I also used to keep an inflatable life vest in a plastic wrapper tie-wrapped to the front of the RH seat in my old 170-- might have to do that again now with the 180.

Good looking interiors! Does that foam come in different colors or paintable? Does it ship in sheets or rolls? I ripped out my c-140 interior a while back and after seeing the foam inlays on your plane and how nicely it looks I'm thinking of doing the same thing but with 1/8 foam.

Thanks for the tips on the front seats guys. I'll probly go the route u mentioned Rob. The fire extinguisher location under the seat is a good idea too Hotrod.

Finally got the newish fuel selector n got my plane outta annual yesterday. Now more fun stuff [emoji33]

Watchin Skalywag. Looking good.

Removing all that old spun glass insulation sure is nice. Wish I knew how to post picks. I think I have literally tried every know chemical removing that old brown contact cement. If It's bare aluminum citristrip seams to work well but will also remove paint. Seat frames are about ready to go off to the powder coater and going to try the seat spring removal mod. Having never done any fabric, any tips? Have some 3.4oz hvy duty ceconite. Is that strong enough? One layer or wrapped top and bottom? Wouldnt be good in a crash for your butt to go through although that early frame doesn't appear all that strong either. Fyi, although the supper sound proofing foam aircraft spruce sells and advertises as FAA approved, seams nice it doesn't come with any burn certificate so in retrospect, I wish I would have kept looking. Thanks for all the help