So it looks like I'm moving ahead with the 185F amphib, she flew great, looks very straight and I have Paul from NH doing the annual pending sale.

One side thought I had, the floats are Edos painted white with a stripe. They look great however the bottoms have some paint damage (not the easiest place to be for paint). The seller is going to re shoot the bottom of the floats for the sale, though I was thinking of a better long term solution.

I've used POR15 in the past on car and truck undercoating, suspension, tanks, etc. The stuff is a corrosion killer and super tuff, any thought on using it on the bottom of the floats?

www.por15.com/WhiteCote_p_44.html

NineThreeKilo wrote:So it looks like I'm moving ahead with the 185F amphib, she flew great, looks very straight and I have Paul from NH doing the annual pending sale.

One side thought I had, the floats are Edos painted white with a stripe. They look great however the bottoms have some paint damage (not the easiest place to be for paint). The seller is going to re shoot the bottom of the floats for the sale, though I was thinking of a better long term solution.

I've used POR15 in the past on car and truck undercoating, suspension, tanks, etc. The stuff is a corrosion killer and super tuff, any thought on using it on the bottom of the floats?

http://www.por15.com/WhiteCote_p_44.html

Don't even think about it! I've seen float bottoms coated with several flavors of "miracle coatings" like that one. The biggest issue is that float bottoms flex and at some point, some water WILL get under that coating. That's the start of serious corrosion, but that's not the worst.....the worst part is (assuming you were lucky enough to find it before you have no more bottoms) having to try and REMOVE that shit, cause SOME of it will be really well stuck.

I know this because I got "good deals" on two different sets of floats, with two different, but similar to the stuff you linked. On the first, I spent much of a winter trying to get that crap off, and finally after stripping, realized that the bottoms were too badly corroded, so bought new bottoms. Second set, I just bought new bottoms, drilled the old ones off and replaced....lots easier.

Don't do it, stick with a good quality primer and paint, or just don't worry about it. Amphibs typically don't spend much time in water anyway.

MTV

From my personal experience and from working at PK Floats, the best prep and paint goes like this. Strip, acid etch, alodine, epoxy prime, seal the seams, epoxy prime again, automotive base coat/clear coat, done.

We have had the best luck with the base coat/clear coat automotive finishes for floats. Every other finish will bubble after it sits in a lake long enough. This has worked out well for me.

I'm with MTV 100%, don't even think about it!

EDO themselves only recommend silver lacquer for finishing their floats. This has been proven again and again for better than 80 years to be really the best finish for aluminum aircraft floats, especially if you're actually going to use them.

Floats tend to get scratched very easily, like around docks. You can touch up silver lacquer with a bomb can and a few days later never see the repair, blends right in.

I've seen so may beautiful Imron paint jobs on a set of floats with a big ugly scratch down the side, sad.

Polyurethane paints tend to hide minor corrosion until it gets to the point where the paint starts to bubble loose and a potentially bigger repair will be necessary.

Thicker coatings are worse for this. I've seen large sections of surface corrosion hidden by thick coatings, not a fun surprise.

If you're going to get your feet wet very occasionally and ONLY in fresh water then maybe you could get away with it, but why reinvent the wheel?

The floats are already white to match the plane, and in great shape.

I'll buy some fenders and see how my luck goes keeping them scratch free. Growing up I lived on a boat for a good many years and have spent a decent amount of time sailing, so hopefully that'll help with dock rash.

For the most part she won't be left in the water, being a amphib the hangar will be the planes primary home when not in the air, and I won't be taking it into salt, more than enough to do in my area with the lakes and rivers.

Thanks for the input on the POR15, you guys are right no need to try to reinvent the wheel