Interior Replacement

[Mike A]

The plane goes in for avionics next week and while its down I was going to get a jump on refurbishing some of the interior plastics on the plane.  I had a company come out and give me a quote on repairing and redying all the plastics in the plane, which came out to about $400 more than buying all new parts from planeplastics.com.  I added 20% for trimming/fitting/dying the new pieces and it still came in below the cost of having the old, disintegrating pieces repaired and redyed.

 

Has anyone done a full interior refurbishishment using planeplastic.com parts?  How difficult are they to fit and get installed.  The online pictures make them look like they don't come with screw holes, oxygen cutouts etc.  How hard is it to get all this cut in correctly?  And is the color decent or should i plan on having them redyed upon receipt? 

 

Any insight that you all have would be greatly appreciated.

[carusoam]

I bought a few pieces from plane plastics, but found I lacked the skills that were required to meet my expectations.

It really looks good when somebody with skills installs it...

Best regards,

-a-

[Steve65E-NC]

More than a decade ago I replaced essentially all my plastics (side panels, ceiling, door, baggage door) with product from Plane Plastics (predecessor).  Most of the install was pretty straight forward with the help of a little home made  prong with spike tool to move hole location to front surface.  The door required real care and first I had to establish that I had the right part there to start with and before any trimming.  They were nice about doing exchange as long as I had not started the trim process.  I have been very pleased as it has stood up well and still looks very good.   

[clh]

I used quite a few plastic parts from PP, but they fit well and needed minimal trimming.  They look very good.  Most of the original parts fit well, but tend to be warped and brittle or broken.  I would recommend them.

[Bob_Belville]

Mike, I removed all the interior components myself and had an auto body shop repair and paint the plastic parts. $500. total with me doing the r/r. I replaced everything else with new materials. A local custom auto trim shop did the leather, carpet, insulation and headliner fabric using automotive materials. I had those tested at Skandia so that my A&P could log the work, all the auto components far exceeded the flame spread specs for aircraft. I also bought a new leather Johnson Bar boot from Aerocomfort.

 

The results are fine, not as finished as Hector's work but pretty nice. (I still need to finish off the treatment around the windshield which was never done right when a 201 w'shield was installed in 1997!) 

 

total expense including testing: $3143 

[tsuttles]

I recently ordered the LH section from the panel to the cargo area. Price of plastic 468.00, price of shipping 98.00, really!!! I cancelled the order when plane plastics emailed me and ask for my credit card number so they could charge me more for shipping after the transaction was complete. I am going to try and repair with plastifix and just take my time. 

[Bob_Belville]

I recently ordered the LH section from the panel to the cargo area. Price of plastic 468.00, price of shipping 98.00, really!!! I cancelled the order when plane plastics emailed me and ask for my credit card number so they could charge me more for shipping after the transaction was complete. I am going to try and repair with plastifix and just take my time. 

Yeah, when I priced that one part of over 20 pieces of plastic, and realized the part would be oversize, needing trimming and painting, repairing and painting my old trim started looking pretty good. I redid all for less than that one piece was going to cost. 

[Mike A]

Mike, I removed all the interior components myself and had an auto body shop repair and paint the plastic parts. $500. total with me doing the r/r. I replaced everything else with new materials. A local custom auto trim shop did the leather, carpet, insulation and headliner fabric using automotive materials. I had those tested at Skandia so that my A&P could log the work, all the auto components far exceeded the flame spread specs for aircraft. I also bought a new leather Johnson Bar boot from Aerocomfort.

 

The results are fine, not as finished as Hector's work but pretty nice. (I still need to finish off the treatment around the windshield which was never done right when a 201 w'shield was installed in 1997!) 

 

total expense including testing: $3143 

 

How bad of damage can they fix?  Some of my pieces are broken into multiple sections.  How important is flexibility in these?  The repair company was concerned about strengthening sections and causing additional stresses elsewhere.  Did you use a standard auto body shop or one that had a specialty?

[Bob_Belville]

How bad of damage can they fix?  Some of my pieces are broken into multiple sections.  How important is flexibility in these?  The repair company was concerned about strengthening sections and causing additional stresses elsewhere.  Did you use a standard auto body shop or one that had a specialty?

None of the pieces are structural at all. Within reason there should be not problem reinforcing the back side of the part. The body shop I used is a small father/son friends of mine but most shops will be familiar with patching and filling and painting thermoplastics. NAPA has aerosol paints designed for bumpers that work well on our plastic parts. 

[BigTex]

Mike, Unless you want to do the work on a shoestring budget, I'd give Hector at Aero Comfort a call. He takes your broken up interior, repairs it and returns it wrapped in leatherette. He did mine and they started out like crap and turned out great.

[laytonl]

I did my plastic repairs using fiberglass cloth and PVC glue. The PVC glue melts the cloth into the plastic and it is strong. Even pieces that are broken in half can be fixed with this process. SEM paints has a good line of paint for vinyl. Automotive paint stores carry SEM and similar products.

Lee

[Bob_Belville]

I did my plastic repairs using fiberglass cloth and PVC glue. The PVC glue melts the cloth into the plastic and it is strong. Even pieces that are broken in half can be fixed with this process. SEM paints has a good line of paint for vinyl. Automotive paint stores carry SEM and similar products.

Lee

SEM from NAPA is what we used... of course surface prep is the most important part of the process. We put a clear coat over the colors. I scratched a side panel re-installing the back seat but I was easily able to touch up the paint.

[RJBrown]

I did my plastic repairs using fiberglass cloth and PVC glue. The PVC glue melts the cloth into the plastic and it is strong. Even pieces that are broken in half can be fixed with this process. SEM paints has a good line of paint for vinyl. Automotive paint stores carry SEM and similar products.

Lee

Plast aid http://www.plast-aid.com/

1/2 oz fiberglass cloth. Mine came from a R/C airplane hobby shop.

MEK

PVC glue

SEM vinyl paints

Using 1/2 oz per square foot cloth work it into the backside of the plastic to strengthen/repair it.  

Plastaid is powdered plastic and a solvent. Use it to fill where plastic is broken away kind of like a plastic bondo. Once repaired properly it will be stronger than new and can be finished by painting or covering. Heavier cloth can be used to repair areas that have more damage. PVC glue can be used instead of or in addition to the MEK. There are times a thinner solvent will work better and times when a thicker glue would work better. All I used was the MEK but I can see where PVC glue would work better in some aplications.