carusoam Posted June 17, 2019 Report Posted June 17, 2019 I briefly considered stripping tanks of my M20C... but without MS, my chances of success were tiny. MS came about a few years later... So... aside from that. What type of schooling keeps The Coyote so busy? Best regards, -a- Quote
MikeOH Posted June 17, 2019 Report Posted June 17, 2019 8 minutes ago, carusoam said: Snip... . What type of schooling keeps The Coyote so busy? Best regards, -a- How to catch roadrunners? 3 1 Quote
cliffy Posted June 18, 2019 Report Posted June 18, 2019 In the airline business we had to physically crawl into the tanks to clean and reseal them. We used the same material called it dogs&*t because that's what it smelled like. I'm going to start another thread with a question I have on tank seal repairs. "What ever happened to-" Quote
Raptor05121 Posted June 19, 2019 Report Posted June 19, 2019 (edited) How did I miss this. Amazing job. Reminds me of my own misadventures several years ago. I think between three A&Ps , myself, and 8 scratched elbows, we had 40+ hours into scraping, cleaning, alodining and resealing the tanks. They are still good 3 years later. I think I spent $2,500-$3,000 for parts and labor, so the deal is there if you can do it. Keep posting pictures! I'm glad to see another willing to do the labor to revive another D model! Subscribed! Edited June 19, 2019 by Raptor05121 1 Quote
Raptor05121 Posted June 19, 2019 Report Posted June 19, 2019 On 2/17/2019 at 6:02 PM, PilotCoyote said: Flap up stop bolt sheared off..... I'm going to call LASAR on Tuesday, but has anyone dealt with this before? There might not be enough material in the threaded block to install a heli-coil. I'm thinking that the easiest solution (if heli-coil will not work) will be to remove the 3 rivets holding the block and fabricate a new block or source a good used one... Check to see if this isnt the proper part:https://lasar.com/flight-controls/flap-stop-block-210114-009?rq=flap block orhttps://lasar.com/flight-controls/hinge-block-240005-501?rq=block 1 Quote
Guest Posted June 20, 2019 Report Posted June 20, 2019 7 hours ago, PilotCoyote said: This was the first tank that we stripped with Polygone. The one tank bay is nearly ready- just need to get a few more tiny bits cleaned out before wiping with MEK. Posting this because I just realized that I didn’t have Pics of the stripped tank in my thread. I’ll post pics of the one I’m working on when it’s ready for sealant. 49D1D86D-E232-419E-AA47-F09F31EBBED8.mov Nice work on the tank stripping Clarence Quote
cliffy Posted June 21, 2019 Report Posted June 21, 2019 This is why God made tank repair specialists! 1 Quote
RLCarter Posted June 21, 2019 Report Posted June 21, 2019 6 minutes ago, cliffy said: This is why God made tank repair specialists! I think the specialist are those of us not willing to put in the sweat equity like @PilotCoyote has. Prep plays a huge role in the outcome of the job and like Clarence said, Nice Work. Judging be the work so far his tanks will last as long as any 2 Quote
cliffy Posted June 21, 2019 Report Posted June 21, 2019 In no way am I knocking HIS work only THE work involved. Done it on big jets don't want to do it on my small popcorn maker. 1 Quote
RLCarter Posted June 21, 2019 Report Posted June 21, 2019 20 minutes ago, cliffy said: In no way am I knocking HIS work only THE work involved. Done it on big jets don't want to do it on my small popcorn maker. I did 2 top inspection plates on mine, not sure I would want to do the whole job either.....lol Quote
amillet Posted June 24, 2019 Report Posted June 24, 2019 Just dropped off plane in Troutdale to fix leak. Hopefully won't require complete strip and reseal. Greg said he thought that wouldn't be necessary Quote
Prior owner Posted June 24, 2019 Author Report Posted June 24, 2019 5 minutes ago, amillet said: Just dropped off plane in Troutdale to fix leak. Hopefully won't require complete strip and reseal. Greg said he thought that wouldn't be necessary Hopefully it’ll be an easy fix. Quote
carusoam Posted June 28, 2019 Report Posted June 28, 2019 97’s sealants were as modern as they get... If Alan’s bird needs a reseal, there are going to be a lot of disappointed people. I’ll keep my fingers crossed. Best regards, -a- Quote
amillet Posted June 28, 2019 Report Posted June 28, 2019 Kudos to Greg at Advanced Aircraft in Troutdale. I’m very pleased with this result. 1 Quote
cliffy Posted June 28, 2019 Report Posted June 28, 2019 I think they needed a proof reader :-) 1 Quote
Prior owner Posted June 29, 2019 Author Report Posted June 29, 2019 The scraper made from an old aircraft window worked very well, but needed to be re-sharpened often. Quote
Prior owner Posted June 29, 2019 Author Report Posted June 29, 2019 2. I got a pail of expired poly wipes from work, so I tried them as well- they weren’t very effective so I was glad that I got them for free. They are typically used to remove pro seal when installing new windows, and I think that they are easier on the paint. Quote
Prior owner Posted June 29, 2019 Author Report Posted June 29, 2019 (edited) 3. MEK was not very effective at removing tiny areas of sealant or the Buna-N coating. I also got a gallon of Expired liquid Polygone from work- it has been sitting in a hazmat trailer through two hot summers and I found it to be just as effective as the new gallon of Polygone that I got from Spruce. The liquid was more effective than the gel, but only the gel will adhere to the vertical surfaces. 4. The eOx cleaner, also made by RPM Technology (they make Polygone), was used to flush the tank when I was finished. RPM recommends using eOx cleaner after Polygone. It is an excellent cleaner for bare aluminum and won’t hurt painted surfaces. Edited June 29, 2019 by PilotCoyote 1 Quote
cliffy Posted June 29, 2019 Report Posted June 29, 2019 "You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din" 2 Quote
carusoam Posted June 30, 2019 Report Posted June 30, 2019 Great details, Coyote! Thanks for sharing them. Extra environmental points for getting value out of the old can of polygone. Best regards, -a- 1 Quote
Raptor05121 Posted June 30, 2019 Report Posted June 30, 2019 (edited) That is extremely clean. Good job. I think my mechanic and I alodined my tanks prior to sealing. Any plans for that or reason for/against? Edited June 30, 2019 by Raptor05121 1 Quote
Prior owner Posted June 30, 2019 Author Report Posted June 30, 2019 (edited) 5 hours ago, Raptor05121 said: That is extremely clean. Good job. I think my mechanic and I alodined my tanks prior to sealing. Any plans for that or reason for/against? There are some arguments for and against Alodining the tank... FlameMaster, who makes the sealants I am using (3204 A&B, 3300, 3600), encourages the use of Alodine due to its ability to create an excellent surface for adhesion of its products. The ceiling of my tank shows some very mild surface corrosion (more of a discoloration that is the natural change of state of aluminum exposed to the elements) due mostly to the cycle of condensation in the tank, I believe. It is a no-no to Alodine assembled structures, due to the potential for the Bonderite/Alodine to become entrapped in the faying surfaces, under river heads, etc.. So what to do? How much damage will occur and how long will the progression take between the faying surfaces if there is some entrapped, dry acid? Will it take longer to decay than it will take for my steel roll cage to corrode from the inside out? Nobody seems to know. It begs the question- how much longer will these planes last regardless of what we do/don’t do? My take on all this: The Alodine chemicals can be applied, removed and “rinsed” very carefully with sponges to certain areas. I will certainly apply it to the roof of the tank where it was previously exposed to air/moisture without a buna-N coating. I probably won’t apply it liberally in this tank. But this could change by next week, as I am really on the fence about coating the entire tank. I did coat the whole inside of the last tank, but I did it with access to unlimited high pressure water (not that that guarantees anything). I pressure rinsed it for nearly 30 minutes between each step. This time I’ve only got a bug sprayer to rinse with- no more rinsing fuel tanks at the airport wash area! Considering that some owners are using corrosive paint stripping chemicals on their tanks which can ooze into areas and gel up/harden quickly, and will be more of a challenge to rinse out than Alodine, we are probably way ahead of the game if we go in with Polygone ($115 a gal, but will not attack aluminum), and then Alodine our tanks. Perhaps there is a method to managing the application and removal of regular paint stripper that will make it less of a future corrosive concern, but I haven’t been in this game long enough to know what that method is and to be confident that I’m not hurting this plane down the road. Someday I’ll be old enough to know these things..... Who knows- this will probably be a never ending debate, just like which oil to use. Edited June 30, 2019 by PilotCoyote 2 Quote
Hank Posted June 30, 2019 Report Posted June 30, 2019 That tank is absolutely gorgeous!!! Best wishes for the reseal. Like many things, it's all about surface prep, and you definitely have done that very well. 1 Quote
carusoam Posted July 1, 2019 Report Posted July 1, 2019 For the alodyne discussion... we have two types of aluminum in the tanks to consider... the spars and the sheet metal... Spars are known for the tendency to acquire inter-granular type corrosion... once it starts, it proceeds somewhat quickly... Spars are incredibly expensive to replace, compared to sheet metal... focus on that for a bit... If it is easy to protect the spar... that would be great... once it gets coated with sealant, it is even hard to inspect... Best regards, -a- 1 Quote
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