Monday 1
I gave the top a good wash down with prep wash and started sanding the surface down in preparation for coating with smooth prime. I decided to give the surface a pretty solid cut back with 150 grit paper in an attempt to get to some of the high spots dwon before putting on Smooth Prime
Tuesday 2
I finished off the top using my jitterbug and 150 grit paper.
Wednesday 3
Thursday 4
I don't think I had mentioned this earlier, but I discovered that my stabilizers had go distorted when I had baked them in my oven. Both stabilizers had both surfaces on the rear end of the root damaged. I pondered this for quite some time wondering if I could reheat them an smooth them back down, but it really didn't seem to be workable.
My friend Graham Singleton was staying with me en route to the Sun 'n Fun air show and between us we decided that it was best to sand back the affected area and lay. them up again. It seemed a shame to cut back a completed piece of work, but after a few hours we had the 4 surfaces cut back ready to be laid up with some uni cloth.
Friday 5
We laid up the stabilizers today and already it was stating to look good as new.
Saturday 6 ~ Thursday 11
I loaded up the Comanche with Graham and Marty and we headed down to the Sun 'n Fun air show for a few days
Friday 12
We peeled back the peel ply and the lay up turned out to be really nice. All that was left was to put some bid back in the root and the whole thing was as good as new.
Saturday 13
One thing that I saw was a modification to the gas strut where the attach points were moved. The new arrangement removed all of the stress away from the top corner of the door and it looked like a pretty good idea and I decided to modify mine the same way. The last task for the day was to sand back the doors and the frame ready for filling. I you want to do this modification you might like to use these measurements as stating points.
250 millimeters
31 millimeters 22 Millimeters
Sunday 14
I was having problems with the smell of the West Systems epoxy and the dust from mixing up the Expand Cell filler so I took the plunge and purchased a 3 gallon kit of smooth prime. This stuff seems to cut back slightly easier, but it has a couple of other advantages. Firstly you can mix exactly the amount you need, secondly it does not seem to get as many air bubbles in when you mix it up, and lastly, the mixture is pretty consistent from batch to batch.
I filled around the top of the doors and around the frame, and I also did the stabilizers where Graham and I had done the repairs. The SuperFil doesn't seem spread any easier, but using a heat gun to gently heat it gets it moving quite nicely.
Monday 15
I sanded back around the doors with 60 grit paper and added more filler into the low spots.
Tuesday 16
I sanded back the two stabilizers and added more filler in the low spots
Saturday 20
I did a final final stand back on stabilizers & trim tab and it seems like its ready for coating with smooth prime. I did some more sanding around the doors and added some filler in a few spots.
Sunday 21
I sanded back around doors and windows and it was ready for coating with Smooth Prime. Despite my care I seem to be having trouble around the edge of windows damaging the surface. Some how or other it looks like I am going to be very busy with my Micro Mesh kit latter on. I think the trick would have been to put masking tape right up against the critical area.
I pretty well spent the whole day laying on smooth prime around the doors, and on the stabilizers. By the time you put it on and wait for two hours to dry you are lucky to get more that 4 or 5 coats of this stuff on in one day.
Monday 22 ~ Friday 26
No building, too busy at work.
Saturday 27
Sunday 28 ~ May 11
Traveling in Asia on business