Need the left hand flap tracks replaced on my 170. It's a sheet metal project too big for me and too time consuming for the A&P who does my annual. Hoping to find a shop who is familiar and can knock it out cuz they know what they're doing. I have all the parts from McFarlane. Located in the northwest, appreicate any recommendations. Thanks

It’s not exactly PNW, but on the other hand, it’s not Florida. Whenever unusual stuff comes up, I usually think of Beegles Aircraft:

https://www.beeglesaircraft.com/

Please post if you find a good local solution, I'm in Port Townsend.
My first thought was Karl Anderson up near Skagit,
but he works out of a shop at his house so probably wouldn't be able to do it unless you pull the wing.

Thanks folks. I got another recommendation down in NorCal. They said 3 months and $10k to do the one wing. Ouchie. Really need to get this done in house.

Just one side?
Two Flap tracks?

On a 170 B?

Long range or normal tank?

Any visible corrosion?

Is this even a 16 hour job? (I’ve done a bunch of these but not a 170)

Shouldn’t have to pull the tank or any hoses, loosen straps and move fwd enough to get a thin bar back there.

Ha, takes longest to install the flap rollers etc


Rocket

rocket wrote:Just one side?
Two Flap tracks?

On a 170 B?

Long range or normal tank?

Any visible corrosion?

Is this even a 16 hour job? (I’ve done a bunch of these but not a 170)

Shouldn’t have to pull the tank or any hoses, loosen straps and move fwd enough to get a thin bar back there.

Ha, takes longest to install the flap rollers etc


Rocket

^this

10k sounds high

And 3 months is ridiculous. As already mentioned, Beegles in CO is a great shop. If you plan on flying it somewhere anyway, fly it there. There is nothing they can't do on a 170/180/185. If you can work out a schedule with them, you might be able to just leave it with them for the day while you go visit Denver. I dropped mine off and airlined home to AZ when they did my outboard landing brackets.

Wayne

Currently I’m in the middle of building a new shop just north of gig harbor with the intention of doing repairs and mods there. Unfortunately I won’t be open for business until early spring. If you’re still looking then drop me a line.

hotrod180 wrote:Please post if you find a good local solution, I'm in Port Townsend.
My first thought was Karl Anderson up near Skagit,
but he works out of a shop at his house so probably wouldn't be able to do it unless you pull the wing.

I visited Karl last year, great guy. He is really getting up there and years and doesn’t do much work anymore. Wing would have to be delivered to his shop for sure.

Wing is actually a 175 wing, normal 26 gallon tank. I have the tracks and "z" braces, new rollers, everything from McFarlane. A couple of you have reached out on PM, really appreciate the help.

Sounds like the shop that's 10k and 3 months is only actually a couple days of work in between more important (higher $$$) customers, so it'll sit outside on the ramp with an opened up wing for months, no thanks. Also they want to removed the tank too. No doubt they do high quality work but that's a bit much for me.

Wing was rebuilt from the spars up 10 years ago, though obviously they didn't touch the tracks attached to the rear spar. And to be fair they were probably within spec 10 years ago too. So everyhting is primed inside, new rivets and hardware throughout.

I've got some good local recommendations, people that have reached out, and it's still on the table to knock it out in my hangar with my mechanic. He can point to stuff and say "drill" and leave me unsupervised for days at a time.

How about rollers that are a few thousands oversized to take up the slop? I think it was on the old 180 club forum years ago someone machined oversized rollers and pressed in new bearings and worked great.

Sounds like you've got your path forward figured out,
but I just recalled a semi-local guy who specializes in 180's.
John Bentley is in the Bend OR area, he's done some FB video's on 180 repairs & seems to know his stuff.

Heck yeah! Thanks everyone!

I had Kenmore replace mine, 10 years ago. I'd have to dig for the invoice but it was essentially a week and $2K at the time. They certainly are a capable shop. Good luck -