Well, I've gone and done it now. We had to replace the pilots side door on our 170 (an old repair on the lower back edge was falling apart) with a "new" door, and then paint it to match. After stripping the door and putting fresh paint on it, I just couldn't put the old, nasty brown vinyl and carpet-over-aluminum door panel back in. I called Selkirk and ordered enough 1/4" insulation to do the door like Rob, Matt, Big Renna,and others have done. We went a slightly different route, and so far I like it. I present you with Selkirk Insulation Door Install variation 2:





Originally we planned to cut out the four holes and put insulation rubber behind, but after cutting the outside dimensions on the rubber we laid it over the door to check for fit, and I liked it. We'll see how the rubber over the holes holds up - we can always cut the holes out later if we decide to. I also replaced the door handle with a brand new one for a 40-48' Chevy for $20.

So now we're getting more paint mixed up and we'll do the passenger door next. Then on down the rabbit hole. I didn't have anything to do after work for the next 6 months anyway.

Sweet! now all you have left is the rest of the airplane!

That looks good.

Thanks, I really like it. I'll have to see how it holds up over time on the door. It going to get bumped and have things rub up against it a lot, which is why I think Big Renna and others have gone with the insulation on the inside of the door. We painted the inside of the door the same color as the base color on the outside of the airplane. The rest of the inside is a much more yellowish white, and I don't like it. As soon as we get more paint mixed up to match the "new" door, I'll repaint the passenger door and put the Selkirk rubber on it too. Then I'll only have 95% of the interior left to do!

You poor soul, this is how it starts!

Looks great Allen, let us know how it holds up over time.

Yes, this is how it starts, hope you have the next 6 months clear.

It all started with a little chip of paint..........

Looks good Allen!

Well, I've done it now. I finally had some free time yesterday, so I started pulling out the interior of the 170. I only got the back half out (side panels and headliner from the back seats to the baggage compartment), but it was a lot of nasty stuff. The carpet that was up the walls I'm sure was leftover from a previous owners house in the 70's. The headliner was in decent shape, but it's going away, and the fiberglass insulation behind it was a mess. The last time someone re-did the interior, they used that silver reflective insulation that feels like bubble wrap. There were three layers of it between the side panel and the skin of the airplane next to the rear seats! Here are a few before shots:

The back area - BAS folding seats covered in luxurious faux fur will get recovered. I will be installing an extended baggage kit (I talked to the guys at Airglas, Inc.and they say their carbon fiber kit will have the STC for the 170 "soon", so hopefully...)


Here is the front before shot. The seats will be recovered - I really like what Rob and Greg did with theirs. I won't be re-doing the panel at this time, but it's next in line.


After ripping out the interior. The carpet on the floor will also be replaced, but it was easier on my knees to leave it in for now.


Here is the pile of junk so far:

Awesome! Another project to follow now that Greg and Matt are done and I'm just about finished!

robw56 wrote:Awesome! Another project to follow now that Greg and Matt are done and I'm just about finished!

Done... who says I'm done. It will NEVER be done....

Great job man. I hope you enjoy not flying your airplane for 1.5 years. (and so it begins)

Im rooting for you! Call or PM for support/help.

bigrenna wrote:

robw56 wrote:Awesome! Another project to follow now that Greg and Matt are done and I'm just about finished!

Done... who says I'm done. It will NEVER be done....

Great job man. I hope you enjoy not flying your airplane for 1.5 years. (and so it begins)

Im rooting for you! Call or PM for support/help.

What? Is there a twelve steps program?

MTV

I hope there is a support group! It will need a lot more than 12 steps, though. This is going to be a lot of work - looks like I'm going to have to rewire pretty much everything. They routed most of the wires in places that won't work for the type of interior I want. I spent about 2 hours today chasing old wires and removing the ones that weren't connected to anything. There will be a lot of aluminum coming out that was there for the headliner, it's going to be a lot of rivet drilling. So far the aluminum looks ok underneath. There is not a lot of glue that will have to come off, except on the flap tunnel. It looks like they spread the adhesive on with a butter knife. We'll be moving the battery from where the extended baggage will go back up to the firewall so I'll loose a lot of wiring there. Also, our ELT and the control box for the strobes is back there. The ELT will be easy to move, we haven't figured out what to do with the strobes yet. I'd love to replace it with LEDs, I'll look into it. It's only money, right?

Here is what was underneath the headliner and the fiberglass insulation:


This is a horrible photo, but most of the interior is out up front. I pulled the carpet under the pedals after this shot. That is all glue on the flap tunnel.


Here is todays pile of junk, including the overhead speaker. You can see the silver bubble wrap insulation. It was stuffed everywhere.

I forgot to bring my scale to the hangar, I'll do it tomorrow. I don't know how much weight I've pulled out so far, but that speaker was a good chunk of it.

Greg, I'll probably take you up on the support calls. There are a lot of little details that I couldn't see until we pulled out the interior.

It's funny you mention your heavy speaker. I was expecting that when I removed mine but I was surprised at how light mine was. I've heard claims of ten lbs, which I'm sure are exaggerated. I'd be surprised if mine was more than 2lbs.

I'm always here if you have questions also. I'll be part of the support group

Yeah... speaker was nuthin... I kept it in both the 170 and 180 project. I liked the look... (and its fun sometimes to blast the AWOS)

I don't think my speaker was the normal Cessna variety, looks like someone wanted to enjoy a little Zeppelin back in the 70's. It was not real heavy, but I'm guessing 4 lbs. Pretty good sized magnet on the back.

amacbean wrote:I don't think my speaker was the normal Cessna variety, looks like someone wanted to enjoy a little Zeppelin back in the 70's. It was not real heavy, but I'm guessing 4 lbs. Pretty good sized magnet on the back.

Based on all the shag carpet you pulled out of your plane, you're probably right! I'm guessing Hendrix and Clapton, too... You didn't happen to find an 8-track out did you?

Way to pull the trigger Allen. You won't regret it.

Nice work Allen! I am a little sad to see the old interior go though. It's famous, after all!



Never get tired of that clip of your plane on Walker, Texas Ranger.

I wonder how that clip got into Spanish? It was English when I uploaded it...

Weight Update:

I weighed all the interior parts that we've pulled out so far that aren't going back in. That's everything but the floor carpet, the firewall carpet and the old aluminum access panels that opened to where the extended baggage will be going. So far we've pulled out 50lbs! That included the speaker, which was lighter than I thought at 3.5lbs. I guess I need to start weight lifting more seriously...

I'll update the total after pulling the rest of the interior. We'll also be moving the battery from the back and going to the smaller sealed battery, so there will be more weight loss there. I don't know how much we'll be putting back in, but I'll weigh it all before hand. So far so good!