I met with my mechanic's preferred interior guy yesterday to discuss options to refresh Wanda's interior. The carpet is pooched and the side panels are just gross. I don't think the side panels are stock, they closely resemble berber carpet from a family that had puppies, toddlers and teenage boys. Long story short, his price was fair but his lead times are not workable. He is booking jobs for next July. He suggested just doing it myself.

I'm looking for cheap and cheerful. As much as I love the closed cell foam interiors some have done I am not willing to commit that much time to this project. I can figure out the flooring but I'm looking for suggestions for replacement side panels. He said there is a company (Plane Plastics) that sells the plastic but he cautioned they need a fair bit of trimming to fit. He said Cessna parts are possible, but literally four times the price.

Anybody have a suggestion for trim panels? Planeplastics.com?

All advice appreciated.

Allan

I made some side panels for my extended baggage a while back.
Bought some corrugated poster board at the local picture-framing shop.
Some extra fabric from an earlier similar project came with my 180 when I bought it--
I covered the panels I made with it using contact cement.
Came out pretty good.
My panels are held in with a friction fit,
but my buddy made similar side panels for his doors and held them on with itty bitty screws.

Check and see if the current ugly side panels were attached to the original metal formers. If so, get in touch with Air Tex, they can provide cloth or ??? materials that to those side panel formers. Air Tex also provides new upholstery for your seats. I've covered Cessna seats a couple times and they came out really nice with the Air Tex stuff.

MTV

Selkirk is another option, fiberglass instead of plastic. They still require trimming.


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X2 for Selkirk.

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Prosaria wrote:Selkirk is another option, fiberglass instead of plastic. They still require trimming.


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Is it a matter of removing the existing panels then replacing the with the trimmed panels or do I need to harvest attachment hardware from the existing panels and transfer them to the new panels?

Also, how much trimming? Upholstery shop kind of trimming or DIY trimming? I'm fairly handy.

/a

albravo wrote:
Is it a matter of removing the existing panels then replacing the with the trimmed panels or do I need to harvest attachment hardware from the existing panels and transfer them to the new panels?

Also, how much trimming? Upholstery shop kind of trimming or DIY trimming? I'm fairly handy.

/a

DIY trimming with a Dremel or die grinder. Being handy is helpful, patience is a requirement.

Not sure on the mounting hardware, all of mine was mounted with PKs.


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+1 on Selkirk. It took about a week with me helping to get the entire interior complete. Fastened using PK's. Selkirk is an inexpensive option, a great product and once trimmed, the final product is nice looking and durable. Here are a couple pics of it going in.

During install:

I used Kydex plastic for my 180. Used the old panels to make a template, then cut new ones with shears. I used rubber U channel around all the edges and then mostly friction-fit it in place, with a few screws where needed. It's fairly utilitarian, but a little more finished than just the Selkirk black foam, which I have behind the panels.

What are PKs?

albravo wrote:What are PKs?

PK screws. Sheet metal screws.

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Thanks all, ordered the SCS vinyl floor and the Selkirk fibreglass panels.

I have to comment that the total is around $2,000, probably the cheapest thing I've done to my plane since I bought it which feels a bit silly since the interior was bugging me a little bit each flight.

Now to find somewhere warm and dry to do the install... not much for hangar space near me.

albravo wrote:Thanks all, ordered the SCS vinyl floor and the Selkirk fibreglass panels.

I have to comment that the total is around $2,000, probably the cheapest thing I've done to my plane since I bought it which feels a bit silly since the interior was bugging me a little bit each flight.

Now to find somewhere warm and dry to do the install... not much for hangar space near me.

Bring it out here. We'll git'er done!

Jim