No as much progress as I'd hoped this last week.

Making parts from pictures sucks...glad they are simple parts. There are the seat mounts.
Untitled by Jon Whee, on Flickr
My Tig welding still isn't great but it is getting better.
Untitled by Jon Whee, on Flickr
Really hoping to get the front seat frames mounted this week. Also hoping to get the door sills in which means we need to decide if we are going with seaplane doors or not.
Untitled by Jon Whee, on Flickr

Good going Jon,

Things will start to happen faster and faster once the steel work is wrapped up.

Another slow week. I've been dragging my feet on selecting wheels/brakes. We are waiting to get the wheels on so we can take the fuselage to my in-laws to fit the wings. I want to have the wings in place and use them as the jig to hold the wing mount fittings when I weld them.

My dad came up with a method to raise the door sill the 2" required for seaplane doors without a mouse door. It should work good. Still some fitting and trimming to do.
Untitled by whee8e, on Flickr
Untitled by whee8e, on Flickr
Welding on tabs sucks...and I'm not even half done.
Untitled by whee8e, on Flickr
Got the tailwheel on.
Untitled by whee8e, on Flickr
Front seat belts arrived. I'm gong to weld in another tube and mount the reel further back than shown in this pic. Seat mounts are all fished too.
Untitled by whee8e, on Flickr

good goin' whee!

whee wrote:

Approved! Any aircraft photo is made better simply by adding a GSD.

Whee, what are all those tabs for?

Can't go wrong with a GSD although I love all dogs some owners on the other hand...

Z, those tabs are for the door formers/sills. Think it was last year Bob came out with an engineering change which called for the sills to be made of aluminum instead of 4130. 4130 tabs are on 4" centers. Supposed to save some weight and be easer to get a good coat of paint on the tubing for better corrosion protection. I don't know if it is worth it.

whee wrote:Can't go wrong with a GSD although I love all dogs some owners on the other hand...

Z, those tabs are for the door formers/sills. Think it was last year Bob came out with an engineering change which called for the sills to be made of aluminum instead of 4130. 4130 tabs are on 4" centers. Supposed to save some weight and be easer to get a good coat of paint on the tubing for better corrosion protection. I don't know if it is worth it.

Ahh! Ok. I had to go check my plane to see WTF I was missing. My door former is a solid piece of formed 4130 sheet.

Man looks damn good Whee! that is one cool project...cant wait to see it finished!
way to go......

Not much visual progress to share.

Working on door formers.
Untitled by Jon Whee, on Flickr

Test fitting empannage and flying wires.

Untitled by Jon Whee, on Flickr

Untitled by Jon Whee, on Flickr

Untitled by Jon Whee, on Flickr

I ordered the wires from a guy in NZ. He was cheaper and faster than Steen Aero. I have no previous experience with flying wires so can judge how they compare but they look good to me.

Door sills/formers all done and clecoed in place.
IMG_1523 by Jon Whee, on Flickr

IMG_1524 by Jon Whee, on Flickr

Welding on all the tabs and bending the aluminum sucked. If I ever build another fuselage like this I'll make the formers/sills out of 4130. The slight reduction in weight just isn't worth the extra time and effort.

Started on the stringers.

IMG_1525 by Jon Whee, on Flickr

Top ones are almost done then it will be on to the sides and bottom. Once the stringers are done the we will start building the doors.

Steel boat builders do the following... But they are more exposed to the elements when building...

After a bead cools to room temperature (within [3] hours), clean and spray zinc chromate on the welds (& surrounding areas) to reduce any more oxidation. Especially if it needed any grinding.

She is looking good.

Whee, very nice
Did you ever make it out to the hangar?

Looks good Jon...hey for what its worth i have a pair of main wheels/brakes off of my old 182P if those would work for you...and to you... dirt cheap....jo

HighCountryIdaho wrote:Whee, very nice
Did you ever make it out to the hangar?

I've headed that way a couple times but keep getting diverted. Hoping to make it over there Thursday.

jomac wrote:Looks good Jon...hey for what its worth i have a pair of main wheels/brakes off of my old 182P if those would work for you...and to you... dirt cheap....jo

Thanks for the offer Jo! We put a set of ABI wheels and brakes on it already. I tried to get my dad to go with something less expensive but he liked the black wheels.

Life keeps getting in the way so we're still working on the stringers. Not much to show.

This showed up today.

whee wrote:Life keeps getting in the way so we're still working on the stringers. Not much to show.

This showed up today.

Good case number or bad case number?

I like learning things the hard way

Airmelt crank (which I knew), phase 1 case, and 24V accessories Who would have thought a 1967 172 would have a 24v system even through an STC. I was thinking even if the case was a phase 1 at least I'd have all the accessories, engine mount and the exhaust which would be worth about what I paid. And for the cherry on top, the intake manifold was damaged during shipping. Can't do anything but laugh.

Untitled by Jon Whee, on Flickr

Untitled by Jon Whee, on Flickr

Untitled by Jon Whee, on Flickr

Ahh well... at least none of those "surprise bonuses" are to do with the "expensive bit"

The damage actually looks pretty minor, considering how it was shipped. I bet you can find a spare or weld a new part into there. Homebuilt!

Is it a total loss? Are those things you mention completely unusable?

I guess it is a matter of perspective. Some believe the crank AD was Continentals way of making some money selling new crankshafts. The crankcase doesn't have an AD but does have a TCM service bulletin where they strongly recommend against using a phase one case. I don't have a use for a 24v alternator or starter.

So I could ignore the AD and get the crank overhauled, check the case to make sure it meets spec but not have it overhauled because that would be a waste of money, overhaul the cylinders and put it all back together. I don't think I want to go that route.