has anyone replaced or rechromed their johnson bar?

[rbridges]

I did a little rattle can repair in my plane.  Looks a lot better, but I couldn't help noticing how bad the johnson bar looks.  The flap lever is also starting to show some pitting.  Just live with it?

[RLCarter]

I replaced the chrome gear handle on my E, LASAR has them. Has to be on jack, but easy to replace

[rbridges]

1 hour ago, RLCarter said:

I replaced the chrome gear handle on my E, LASAR has them. Has to be on jack, but easy to replace

Thanks!

[Raptor05121]

I like that covering on your nose wheel well.

[rbridges]

1 hour ago, Raptor05121 said:

I like that covering on your nose wheel well.

is it much different than yours?  I figured it was pretty much the same for the vintage planes.

[RLCarter]

Alex, it's four pieces of plastic that are available from Plane Plastic. I installed them on mine cause I like the way it hides all the control rods and braces there. 

[Andy95W]

They started putting those on in 66 or 67 (my 67 C had them).

Makes for a nice, clean appearance, but it makes things difficult to work on back there.  I am VERY happy my current 64 doesn't have them, plus it gives me a place to put my GDL-39 and checklists.

[DXB]

18 hours ago, rbridges said:

I did a little rattle can repair in my plane.  Looks a lot better, but I couldn't help noticing how bad the johnson bar looks.  The flap lever is also starting to show some pitting.  Just live with it?

My J-bar hand grip looked pretty much like the rusted mess that yours is - these two products cleaned it up very nicely:

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/cspages/alumd.php?clickkey=82115       http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/cspages/purple.php?clickkey=82115

Of course it's been a year and the rust is starting to appear again - I'll have to repeat.  Replacing might be a more durable fix.

BTW - the flimsly painted black plastic that comprises the center console behind the J-bar was scuffed up even worse than yours is.  This stuff restored it beautifully:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FIU54BW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Very simple to apply to the scuffed areas with minimal prep, and that plastic looks like new now after a couple of coats - highly recommended!  Btw I applied the same to the areas of missing paint my J-bar - this won't be durable as it's not meant to bond to metal, but it's super easy to do at the same time and sure does make it look better than it did.  I'm not removing the thing just to get it properly prepped and painted.  Some kind of matte black vinyl wrap might be a viable option some time when it's up on jacks.

[rbridges]

32 minutes ago, DXB said:

My J-bar hand grip looked pretty much like the rusted mess that yours is - these two products cleaned it up very nicely:

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/cspages/alumd.php?clickkey=82115       http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/cspages/purple.php?clickkey=82115

Of course it's been a year and the rust is starting to appear again - I'll have to repeat.  Replacing might be a more durable fix.

BTW - the flimsly painted black plastic that comprises the center console behind the J-bar was scuffed up even worse than yours is.  This stuff restored it beautifully:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FIU54BW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Very simple to apply to the scuffed areas with minimal prep, and that plastic looks like new now after a couple of coats - highly recommended!  Btw I applied the same to the areas of missing paint my J-bar - this won't be durable as it's not meant to bond to metal, but it's super easy to do at the same time and sure does make it look better than it did.  I'm not removing the thing just to get it properly prepped and painted.  Some kind of matte black vinyl wrap might be a viable option some time when it's up on jacks.

thanks for that.  The second picture is blurry, but the plastic looks really good with the new paint.  It was a PITA getting it taped off with newspaper.  Now the J bar, flap handle and trim cover look like crap by comparison.

[Hank]

Sorry, Rob! I hate to hear of anyone having problems with their Johnson . . . . .   

[rbridges]

Just now, Hank said:

Sorry, Rob! I hate to hear of anyone having problems with their Johnson . . . . .   

Yeah, mine's rusty and oxidized.  

[cctsurf]

5 hours ago, Hank said:

Sorry, Rob! I hate to hear of anyone having problems with their Johnson . . . . .   

I saw the title and I wondered how long it was going to be until this thread went off course.

[Andy95W]

15 minutes ago, cctsurf said:

I saw the title and I wondered how long it was going to be until this thread went off course.

There's a theory that addresses this exact question.  

There is a corollary that determines when Chris posts a picture of one of his "ladies".

[rbridges]

49 minutes ago, cctsurf said:

I saw the title and I wondered how long it was going to be until this thread went off course.

My question was answered, so it's fair game after that.  

[Browncbr1]

There are a lot of chromium shops all over that service hot rod, juke box, and other restoration projects.   Here in Knoxville, there are two or three.  They will acid bath the parts, and rechrome them to look like new.    I had thought about doing that for various projects.  

[bonal]

On November 28, 2016 at 5:17 PM, rbridges said:

My question was answered, so it's fair game after that.  

Good sportsmanship but hope no B26 chicks show up. As for the cover behind the bar I like the small carpeted shelf behind makes for a nice place to put small items and never had anything fall off. Our bar is a bit rough but stuff like that never bothers me.

[FloridaMan]

I came here to post something about a girl I once knew who had an effective way of removing said chrome. 

[Bob_Belville]

On 11/30/2016 at 10:01 AM, bonal said:

Good sportsmanship but hope no B26 chicks show up. As for the cover behind the bar I like the small carpeted shelf behind makes for a nice place to put small items and never had anything fall off. Our bar is a bit rough but stuff like that never bothers me.

Good spot to keep the old man's fuel selector stick. 

[Jerry 5TJ]

Don't worry about the chrome on the handle, replace that worn down lock block!

[Hank]

1 hour ago, Antares said:

I came here to post something about a girl I once knew who had an effective way of removing said chrome. 

You have a trailer hitch in your Mooney???  

[MyNameIsNobody]

I grab my Johnson at least 150 times a year, but paint it?  That is some kind of kinky.  Chrome it?  It is still stiff and locks up/performs like it did 50 years ago.  Nope it is just fine...

 

[rbridges]

12 hours ago, Jerry 5TJ said:

Don't worry about the chrome on the handle, replace that worn down lock block!

Good point. Previous owner took care of that for me!

[lamont337]

On 11/27/2016 at 7:45 PM, RLCarter said:

I replaced the chrome gear handle on my E, LASAR has them. Has to be on jack, but easy to replace

@RLCarter How do you actually remove the handle? Is it just the nut in the little hole or is there more to it? Mine doesn't move as freely as I think it should so I want remove/clean/lube. On jacks of course.

Edited October 26, 2019 by lamont337

[RLCarter]

2 hours ago, lamont337 said:

@RLCarter How do you actually remove the handle? Is it just the nut in the little hole or is there more to it? Mine doesn't move as freely as I think it should so I want remove/clean/lube. On jacks of course.

Yes, it's the nylon lock nut and there might be a washer as well. I bought a cheap wrench and ground it down to fit then turned the chrome handle to unscrew it. There is very little clearance between the handle and bar, a think cost of paint had mine sticking

[Andy95W]

On 11/27/2016 at 7:45 PM, RLCarter said:

I replaced the chrome gear handle on my E, LASAR has them. Has to be on jack, but easy to replace

I will never replace or rechrome my Johnson Bar handle.  Somewhere on there a little bit of Bill Wheat's DNA was left behind after he test flew my airplane in January, 1964.