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Can it be done? Can an owner make their own interior sidewalls on a home sewing machine,

make it look reasonably good and keep it legal using commercially available materials?

We'll see as I'm embarking on that project right now.

I'll try to keep up with the postings and pictures as it progresses. Right now I have the door panel off and sewing up its

covering to check for materials color/texture comparability.  

More later.

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Funny this topic has come up. I'm in the process of buying an upholstery sewing machine and looking for fabric. What I've seen so far for aircraft grade fabric on line seems to be trapped in the 70's. I like the material in our 2016 Honda CRV and am thinking about having it treated and burn tested if I can locate the fabric. Good luck Cliff and keep us posted!

David

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Well, number 11 is only partly accurate.  As far as the FARs go, there are two we have to deal with as specified in AC 43.13 Chapter 9, Section 3, paragraph 9-61 and 9-62. These directly relate to Pt 23 or CAR 3 airplanes. This being the "vintage" forum I am dealing with a CAR 3 airframe (64 M20D) . Therefore, the burn requirements are different than newer airframes under Pt 23. BUT, both can use any fabric IF it is treated or burn tested. This missive will deal with CAR-3 airplanes and their particular requirements as stated in 43.13.

I'm using material from a local upholstery suppler that I will treat when ready.  

Sabermech- most current auto upholstery fabrics meet a US standard for fire resistance that can be used as reference in the sign off for CAR-3 airframes per 43.13. Honda fabrics are available but it will be a search on google. I've seen them.  Burn tests, if wanted, as we all know, are easy to come by and most fabrics will meet the standard. Most, if not all, vinyls used today also meet a national standard for fire "resistance". It can usually be found on the manufactures website.

The thread title was only partially directed at the "legal" aspect of the job. Other, if not more important considerations were, can an owner learn enough about how to do it without previous experience in interior sewing? Can a decent "home" sewing machine do the job or does it really require a commercial walking foot machine (you'll learn about this stuff as you get into the project)? 

There is a learning curve here, Fabrics, threads, stitch length, stitch style, seam styles, stitch line straightness. All can be learned but make no mistake about it, it's probably easier to get an Airtex kit and put it in. Its still work but a whole lot less. Rolling your own is not for the faint of heart or lazy to learn. Some of us as A&P candidates had to learn some sewing to do fabric wing coverings in A&P school but for me that was 50 years ago! Do A&P schools even teach fabric any more? 

 

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The lower sidewall or upper panels?

For bonus points stich up your own seats.

Since doing this I have picked up a Singer 404 slant needle.  The nice thing about it is it gear drive.   Have not played with it on several layers of leather.  I learned that there is thick leather and not so thick.   I should redo the foam in the seat to see if I can help it out a bit.

 

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Here are the first few pics of what is happening

The first is of course the door as it appears now-yuk.

The 2nd is one of the many test pieces I made up just getting into practice. The fabric is a tweed with a 1/4" foam backing glued and sewn to together then sewn onto the vinyl topping piece with a half fell seam.

The 3rd is the completed covering before gluing onto the backing plate and folding the edges around to the back

I'll post again as I don't know what the meg count is for transfer.

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Now we  move on. Here is the machine I'm using It's a 60s Singer. Very basic, fwd and back and some zig zag

I found some "upholstery thread" at Wally World all nylon and strong in the right color. I use a #16 needle but they do make a "leather" needle with a triangular point (mine is a ball point) that should cut better through the vinyl. But this one is OK on 2 thicknesses of vinyl and one of tweed. Biggest issue is getting the longest stitch spacing (6/inch) as without a walking foot you have to help the material through the foot or it can sometimes slow down going through and bunch the stitches together. I did use scotch tape on the foot bottom to help slide the vinyl through. With practice the problem is minimized. Some swear by using talcum powder on the vinyl but I haven't tried that yet. 

The last picture is the finished door panel. Not the best background but zoom in and it shows better. 

I'll get it mounted and see how it all looks before I go hog wild and do the rest of the side panels.

Some observations-

Practice is needed to keep long seams running even. It's harder than you think

A walking foot machine would really do a better job of stitch spacing if you have one or want to put the money out for one. Sailrite makes a real good one but there area couple of Chinese knockoffs that might work for small jobs like this at @ $250. Make sure you get the models that have fwd/rev AND zig zag if you want to make plane covers from Sunbrella. You need zig zag for that. But, with practice a reasonable job can be had with a standard sewing machine. 

You Tube some upholstery videos for cars and get a book or 2 on auto upholstery to get acquainted with seam styles and such while you practice with your material. It doesn't look like side panels will be that big of a deal in the long run and it's quite a challenge to learn to do it right and make it look professional. 

 

 

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Great work Cliffy!

the plane I am trying to buy is cosmetically excellent in every way except the interior is probably a 7 or 8.  It was done in 1974 and generally looks good, but could stand to be replaced.  I had wondered if maybe there are upholstery kits available as they are for classic cars.

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Bayern-

There are differences in what is allowed for fabrics between CAR-3 airplanes and Pt 23 airplanes. Qualifying material can take several different avenues. Most Pt 23 fabric comes treated and approved. Other fabrics can be treated and be made to meet approvals.  All fabrics can submit to a burn test and may or may not qualify. Most do. CAR-3 fabric has a much lesser design requirement than Pt 23 fabrics.  "Most" fabrics for automotive use actually meet a USA national standard.  It only requires a statement in the log entry that the manufacturer says the fabric meets "some national standard" for burn, 43.13-1B Chapter 9 sec. 3 Acceptable Methods, to qualify for CAR-3 airplanes. 

I direct you to my second post in this thread for some more information. 

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There are several threads on MS re interiors. Here's my log entry from 2012"

"Replaced interior fabrics (headliner, carpet, leather) with materials tested by Skandia Inc. under w/o # 249481 dated 12-10-2012 and certified 14 CFR Part 23.853 and 23-49 app F (e) and certified by FAA DER on 12-12-2012. Said documents attached. Work was performed by Dave's Trim and Robert Belville, owner."

Skandia charged $135 for 5 flame spread tests. The leather, headliner fabric, and carpet passed the part 23 standard very easily. (5 test because both the carpet and the headliner were tested in both the warp and weft.) 

It took two hides of leather to do seats, luggage area surround, rear seat kick plate, and side panels. Plus arm rests and small trim accent pieces.

Including repairing and painting the plastic parts, I think I spent a little over $3000.  

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1 minute ago, Hank said:

Love that headliner, Bob! Can you share how it was done? Mine is little pieces of vinyl glued to the ceiling that fall down after a couple of years, I'd love to have a large, single piece.

Hank, the shop that did much of the work on my interior project is one man custom auto trim shop. He does a lot of pretty restores - plush velvets, soft leathers, piping - of 55 Chevys, step side pickups, etc. He also replaces a lot of car headliners. Heat and age break down the foam backing which delaminates causing the headliner to sag. (I have a '98 Dakota and a 2004 Crossfire that are parked outside. Dave put new headliners in both, drop the vehicle off for 1/2 day and he cleans down to bare metal and replaces with foam backed fabric using contact adhesive.)

Long story to suggest everyone should be able to find a similar shop not too far away from the airport. Dave cut foam backing to size, mounted the fabric using contact adhesive with the fabric extending an inch or two all around for fitting.  He brought the panels to my hangar, cranked of my compressor to spray the back of the foam and the metal surface of the plane with contact adhesive and after 15 minutes or so presses in place. If your trim shop can't come to the plane it would not be too difficult a DIY project.  

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Interesting point BCBR...

It would be better to have the flame retardant additive as part of the fiber itself, in place of a treatment that would wear or wash away over time.  These additives can be expensive and make fiber making or part making a bit of a challenge.

The objective is to actually be flame resistant during the life of the product while it is in the plane.  Not just pass the initial hurdle so it can be sold in a public market...

Fair warning to keep one's eyes open while looking to purchase these materials...

As far as the user review... he put out a cigarette in his sheets without leaving a mark... that would leave a dirty ash mark that nobody would be happy with.  Chemicals typically used for flame retardants are often not very skin contact or inhalation friendly.  Read the bottle that you receive for guidance...

Are they saying... the product will allow a smoker to comfortably smoke in bed?  Because an actual user said so?

I would rather see some kind of ASTM standard test being passed than a happy review by a bedtime smoker... :)

Best regards,

-a-

Edited by carusoam
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There is a product http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/appages/inspectashield.php  That one of my friends used to pass the test.

Read the AC.   The flame test is much more than a cigarette it is Bunsen burner with direct contact.  leather will pass easily unless some weird die was used.   The same piece of thicker leather was used on all three tests and it still did not burn through or continue to flame after the source was removed.  It is easy to build a burn box as described in the AC.

 

 

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