Any tips/tricks or things I shouldn't do when I try to clean up between the floor n the belly of my 57 Cessna? Not doing a complete restoration by any means, but decided it was time for an interior remodel and a diet plan. Looking into the inspection panels on the floor, it's pretty grim under there. My plan is to just pull all the covers, spray some kind of degreaser n powerwash as best I can. Yes/no?

Combination of non metalic scrapers, solvent, spray gun, shop vac, rags, and a ton of patience. I like solvent(mineral spirits) because it cuts the oils and grease that everything is stuck to and its non corrosive and easy on the paint where it seeps through the skin seams

I did that to my 57 Cessna a few years ago. Waited for a forecast of 90 deg. then pulled all the covers under the plane, and the seats, carpet, rear baggage wall etc. Sprayed 2 cans of "gunk" gel into it, let it sit an hour, then hosed it out and let it dry in the sun for a day with the windows open. last step was to spray all the seams with corrosion-X, but if you do that it will seep and drip for at least a month as all the corrosion-X leaks out thru the seams and around rivets. the amount of stuff that rinsed out was amazing, including a wrench that had been left by a previous owner.

Been using kerosene on the brown crud that held the insulation on above the floor. Works ok, fumes aren't bad n has a little lubrication properties. No sure if it would cut all the lint fuzz or whatever that stuff is underneath

I use mineral spirits and a siphon spray gun.

Than go back in with a toilet brush. to loosen the crud.

It takes quite a while to get it half way clean!

The mineral spirits will evaporate out and not smell too bad.

Dale Moul wrote:...... last step was to spray all the seams with corrosion-X, but if you do that it will seep and drip for at least a month as all the corrosion-X leaks out thru the seams and around rivets. the amount of stuff that rinsed out was amazing....

All that stuff you rinsed out was probably the corrosion-x that the last owner so painstakingly sprayed in there.

Wait for nice hot day pull all the inspection panels on top AND bottom of cabin-tail boom . Get siphon sprayer gun and hook up your compressor -couple gallons of Stoddard safety solvent and get spraying .
Old toilet bowl brush will help get the baked on crud loose . Clean until you see bright aluminum shinning up at you, A 30% mixture of Aluminum prep (use resonator and gloves) with scotch bright and water wash for really ugly spots. Let it air dry for a few days and oil up pulleys (make sure they will turn) and inspect cables with LPS 1 only. WD40 will attack Aluminum so I don't use it. Put back all the inspection plates and covers.
I've seen coffee cans full of old safety wire, wire ,screws ,cotter pins, and just old crud come out the bottom . Go allm the way from the firewall to tail .

182 STOL driver wrote:......... WD40 will attack Aluminum so I don't use it. ....

First time I've ever heard that.

hotrod180 wrote:

182 STOL driver wrote:......... WD40 will attack Aluminum so I don't use it. ....

First time I've ever heard that.

Me too.

Please elaborate?

I used Stoddard solvent on mine. Used a brush to paint it on thick then some plastic bondo spreaders to scrape most of it out. It took a few applications to get it all out but I ended up with 3 or 4 coffee cans full of muck from the belly. Final cleaning was spraying it all down with aircraft simple green and getting after it with the "hotsy" to shine it up.

hotrod180 wrote:

182 STOL driver wrote:......... WD40 will attack Aluminum so I don't use it. ....

First time I've ever heard that.

If the King himself uses it to wash the exterior of his polished 170, you know it must be okay.

Betting I can get way more than a coffee can out! Maybe a garbage can! May try renting a steam cleaner. Whatevers down there can't be as tough as the old contact cement! Thanks

Dale Moul wrote:
...... last step was to spray all the seams with corrosion-X, but if you do that it will seep and drip for at least a month as all the corrosion-X leaks out thru the seams and around rivets. the amount of stuff that rinsed out was amazing....

All that stuff you rinsed out was probably the corrosion-x that the last owner so painstakingly sprayed in there.

actually the stuff I rinsed out was screws, small bolts, nuts, washers, safety wire, beer bottle caps, fishing lures, empty .22 brass, a live .357 round, and a 3 inch long 3/8 inch wrench, all glued in place by a layer of crud that was most likely the result of 50 years of spraying oil into the control cables and pulleys at every annual inspection. while I was at it I also put a pair on inspection covers over the 3 inch holes that are on both sides of the hump down the floor. probably a lot of other owners will have an "EEEEK moment" if they take a close look under their own floors.

WD-40 is corrosive because it is hydroscopic (I hope that's spelled right, it attracts moisture out of the air). when it is sprayed into a tight area such as a seam in a plane it will stay there and hold moisture into the seam.

Interesting n great info. I'd always heard wd-40 was mostly fish oil n kerosene n that it was invented or at least perfected to stop corrosion on silo based nuclear missiles. Not many of them from the 50's n 60's are still in use so maybe it didn't work all that well! Haha, best thing out there for a quad chain though. Spray it on after a powerwash n reapply once in awhile n never any rust n doesn't pick up grit like the "good" stuff does. Has to be something better in an aircraft though. Paint isn't much to look at so never worried about corrosion x seep. Good stuff

Dale Moul wrote: ....WD-40 is corrosive because it is hydroscopic (I hope that's spelled right, it attracts moisture out of the air). when it is sprayed into a tight area such as a seam in a plane it will stay there and hold moisture into the seam.

Someone else here posted not to use WD40 as a lubricant, as it was not designed for that purpose (although it's always worked well in that role for me). They explained that the "WD" stood for "water displacing", which sounds about the opposite of hydrosorpic (water attracting). Two widely differing theories here.

This is from Wikipedia. I too had always heard it to be a water displacer.


WD-40 was developed in 1953 by Norm Larsen,[1] founder of the Rocket Chemical Company, in San Diego, California. WD-40, abbreviated from the phrase "Water Displacement, 40th formula",[2] was originally designed to repel water and prevent corrosion,[3] and later was found to have numerous household uses.

Larsen was attempting to create a formula to prevent corrosion in nuclear missiles, by displacing the standing water that causes it. He claims he arrived at a successful formula on his 40th attempt.[3] WD-40 is primarily composed of various hydrocarbons.

WD-40 was first used by Convair to protect the outer skin and, more importantly, the paper-thin balloon tanks of the Atlas missile from rust and corrosion.[3][4] These stainless steel fuel tanks were so thin that, when empty, they had to be kept inflated with nitrogen gas to prevent their collapse.

WD40 is great for removing duct tape marks! Supersize can at Newport WalMart < $6 .

I haven't found anything that cleans oil off the belly better than WD-40. The only problem is that the nozzle shoots a thin stream rather than a wide spray.

Cannon wrote:I haven't found anything that cleans oil off the belly better than WD-40. The only problem is that the nozzle shoots a thin stream rather than a wide spray.

Yeah, WD-40 is an oil, so it thins the gunky oil on the plane. When you are done you have something that looks tons better, but you've left a thin sheen of clean-ish oil behind that attracts dust and dirt, and looks filthy quickly. In the likely event that doesn't convince you to try something else, they do make wd-40 with a wider nozzle.

So what is it? Is WD-40 good or not? Makes sense that being a water displacer that it gets rid of water, not attracts it...