How long before they started to wear?
I was thinking about painting them and baking them in the oven for a few hours to get them rock hard but I really hate the look of paint worn pedals.

Probably only 100 hours or so before the wear was noticeable.

The nice thing about a rattelecan finish is that when they start showing some wear, just hit them with another coat. You don't even have to remove them-- just crawl down under the panel, spread out some newspaper behind & under them, and let 'em have it.

I have had good success with rattlecan baked in the oven. My log scribers look good after 25 years banging around in a toolbox.

Haven't posted on this thread in quite a while due to the perceived difficulty of sharing photos.
I keep all my photos in Google Photos and just figured out how to share a single image from there vs uploading.

Floor(s) came out to replace a belly skin and install a float kit and ...every_other_possible_thing I could think of as I will never have access like this again. Can't wait to see how fun it will be to buck the floor back on.

Bagarre wrote:

This picture really tickles my fancy, seeing the renovation go really deep and do it right. Would love to see more posts since you've got the pictures figured out.

-Asa

-- EDIT: I moved the photos to BCP to fix the viewing issue.

I had a busy year.
The hail damage down the back was too much to bear so, this happened:


A ground loop sometime in her past wrinkled and cracked a belly skin so I learned how to do this:



...but not before I got really good at making these


We then decided to let the professional manage the gun


Blew some bubbles to keep it fun


Installed a back door to make better use of the extended back porch.


Greg Hren knocked it out of the park with some awesome tush cush.
I can't wait until I have a floor to set these on.


Still a long way to go but the floors will be back down in a few weeks. That will mark the last of the repairs/alterations and we begin to figure out where how all the boxes of parts go back in.

Oh, and the whole engine thing. Still need to unbox this bad boy and get some wires connected.

Man you're lucky to have a rivet gun operator like her. I don't like cherry rivets and wonder if you were able to do under the door like the factory with solid? Your project looks mighty fine to me.

180Marty wrote:Man you're lucky to have a rivet gun operator like her. I don't like cherry rivets and wonder if you were able to do under the door like the factory with solid? Your project looks mighty fine to me.

We were able to get all but one with solid rivets. We shot the top row of rivets with the top plate that makes the door sill a D-box removed.
It took a bit of effort and five hands to get that plate back in place but it went in.
A small tungsten bar taped to your fingers helps.
The -5 rivets going up the door post were the worst and is where all the feet came from.
I ended up using a long bar with a bent section to keep from pushing the heads over. I think we had a day doing just those four.... quite a few times each.

Bagarre wrote:I had a busy year.
The hail damage down the back was too much to bear so, this happened:

Did you add any sealant or material between the laps? I saw a 180 fuselage that had been reconstructed to this same degree, and they added this rubber stuff between laps, I assume to prevent corrosion from wicking moisture.

Delete

Zzz wrote:

Bagarre wrote:I had a busy year.
The hail damage down the back was too much to bear so, this happened:

Did you add any sealant or material between the laps? I saw a 180 fuselage that had been reconstructed to this same degree, and they added this rubber stuff between laps, I assume to prevent corrosion from wicking moisture.

No, just primer. I didn't think about it at the time but it would have been a smart move specially on the lap joints that are open upward.
I'm polishing her so Im not sure if it would have worked out anyway.

Have you sorted out your instrument panel with the G5 yet, I've been toying with doing something but still retain the basic look as well.

Mapleflt

Mapleflt wrote:Have you sorted out your instrument panel with the G5 yet, I've been toying with doing something but still retain the basic look as well.

Mapleflt

I've played around with it but the panel will be one of the last things I do.
I really like the '52 panel and refuse to give up my piano keys.
My mission is day time VFR so I doubt it will fill all the holes. It will probably be ASI, G5, ALT, EDM900, T&B and the rest blank.
None of the 2" holes are needed so I'l cover those with something.
A decent com radio and a hand held GPS will be there too,.

Look'in good, can I poach off ya skipper !!!!! I feel so small in your presence I was happy just to get my cargo door installed

Mapleflt wrote:Look'in good, can I poach off ya skipper !!!!! I feel so small in your presence I was happy just to get my cargo door installed

Poach all you want. Most of my ideas were poached from others on this site anyway

This has been one incredible learning experience so far and I can honestly say I've drilled out more rivtets than I've put back in at this point. There are some seriously talented people out there. Compared to them, I just play one on TV.
But, she's straight, she's shinny and she's safe and thats what I was going for.

Can a G5 function as a "stand alone" instrument or does it require a supporting cast !!!

Lookin really good!

Metal work looks great and the project is coming along nicely David!

Bagarre wrote:...I really like the '52 panel and refuse to give up my piano keys.....

I really like the piano key switches too.
Dunno why Cessna changed them in 53 and later 170's.
If there weren't enough switches, they could have just added a sub-panel like a lot of 170 owners have done.