Airtex Interior Pirep

[Comet]

Although I don’t post much, I find the information on Mooneyspace invaluable.  In the interest in providing content, I’m posting my experience with putting in an Airtex interior (a common question).  Some overarching suggestions, take more pictures than you think are necessary.  Especially of screw patterns and how things go together.  I kept wishing for more pictures than I had.  Also, take time to do each step.  The way my brain works is it helps to take a break (even for a few days) and think about a problem to figure out the solution.  Things I bought to complete the process are: an awl, 3M 1357 contact adhesive, and some disposable paint brushes.   Here are the obligatory “before” pictures.

[Comet]

 

Overall, the process is pretty simple, but it does take time.  I did mine when my airplane was in for avionics work (which took much longer than expected...a tale for another time).  The prices on the Airtex website are accurate.  I decided to install leather seats, which added $1k to the price.  I also decided to do carpets and the sidewalls at the same time.   The carpets and sidewalls were completed pretty quickly (1-2 weeks).  The seats themselves took 7-8 weeks (possibly due to them being leather).  I chose tan because I’ll be getting the plane painted, and I didn’t want to limit my color choices.  The seats are actually two different shades, but I probably should have chosen shades that weren’t so close to one another.  The front seat bottoms have foam glued to them already.  For the seat backs, the foam is separate and the back is basically a slip cover.  The back seat bottom is a complete unit and can be installed as it.  Here are pics of what is in the box(es).

[Comet]

Taking out the seats is relatively easy.  Take the cotter pins out for the front seats and forward/back to get them off the rails.  As an aside, if you don’t already have 3-pt seat belts, this is a good time to install them.  For the back seat, I have a ‘74 M20F.  The seats are designed to be removed.  A pin in the lower-inboard side is pulled out and the seat can be removed.  The best discussion of the process is here:

http://flying-geek.blogspot.com/2018/07/seat-back-removal-1969-mooney-m20f.html

The seat back bottom is held in place by a couple of short metal rods; simply pull the rod out of the bracket holding it and the seat will come out.

 

Once the seats are removed, the removal of the side panels and carpets is straightforward.  This is a good opportunity to vacuum, clean out old foam, etc.  most disgusting part of the process...when I took out the right side panel, I noticed a bunch of insulation.  When I took it out, there was a mummified mouse head.  After that, I did a close inspection behind all the panels; luckily no other sign of mice (and the one I saw was small and old.  

 

Of course, here are some pictures of the process.

[Comet]

Now for the fun part!  Removal of the old foam and installation of the new.  The front seat back is removed by a couple of screws (picture is useful to remember the sequence of washers and spacers.  The seat back in my vintage of Mooney had a solid plastic piece held by a bunch of screws.  Once this is off, there are a bunch of plastic rivets.  Some of these will be needed on the reinstallation, but not all (so you don’t need to be too careful removing them.  Once the rivets are off the seat back and bottom, the foam can be ripped off.  This leaves a fair amount of foam that still needs to be removed.  I experimented with a range of methods to remove the excess foam and glue (including heat gun, mechanical and chemical).  The best method I found was chemical, with the best chemical being MEK (I also tried IPA, acetone, and xylenes).  I’m a chemist, so I’m comfortable with all of these, but be sure to have proper gloves, safety glasses and ventilation.  The process can be repeated for the back seats backs.  Once the foam is off of the seat bottoms, take a look at the surface.  I had 3 cracks in the aluminum (2 on one, 1 on the other) at the front corner of the seat.  I decided to stop-drill these, although, on a 44 year old airplane, I don’t know if it would have gotten worse.  The back seat bottom is a stand-alone piece so there is no need to salvage the old one.

 

 

Once the foam and glue has been removed, it’s time to put the new seats on.  For the seat backs, the foam will need to be trimmed.  I tried a few different ways of doing it and felt that trimming it to cover the tops and sides was best.  If you want the foam to extend to th back, it will work as well.  I felt it was best to glue the foam on.  I used a 3M 1357 neoprene contact adhesive (available from Aircraft Spruce, among others).  Since I took a few sessions to do all 6 seats (4 seat backs and 2 seat bottoms),  I just used a disposable brush.  Good ventilation, gloves and eye protection required (again).  Slather the adhesive on the metal seat and the foam (the foam will suck up the adhesive, use liberally).  Take th foam piece and carefully align it to the seat. Once, it’s aligned, place the foam.  The working time for this adhesive is pretty short, so you may not be able to reposition it afterwards.  

 

Once the glue on the foam has cured, you can put on the covers.  For the seat bottoms, it’s a matter of folding the leather over and using those plastic rivets to put it into place.  I used an awl to position the leather, but a small screwdriver would work as well.  The seat backs are a little trickier. I tried to fold the cover inside-out and fold it over the seat.  This didn’t work as well as placing it over the foam and “massaging” it down the seat.  This took some time (10-20 min), but it  worked well.  At the bottom, the seat cover is velcroed into place.

 

Reinstallation of the pieces.  The pilot side panel has a pocket.  I thought this would be nice, but it has to go behind the gear extension panel, so is less useful than I thought.  Installation of the panels is tricky; this is where the awl is most useful...as are the pictures for the specific screws and pattern that you’ll need to reinstall everything.  Front seats are relatively easy to install, just a reverse of the original process.  I chose to put in new cotter pins (the old ones looked pretty beat up).  The back seat bottom is pretty easy to put in.  The hardest is the back seat backs.  I found it easiest to sit in the cargo area while installing them.

[Comet]

x

 

Overall, I’m pretty happy with the final result.  I did make some errors in the process, but once I’ve started flying with it, it’s become less noticeable.  I only wish I had done it a few years ago!  I did get extra vinyl to redo the armrests and trim, but I haven't gotten to them yet.

[Ragsf15e]

It looks awesome!

[Igor_U]

You've done a great job and it really looks nice.

I just installed carpet set (side and floor) in my '67F and might go with leather seats next; I was told seats are not coming with memory foam.

How comfortable do you find new cushions? They seem to provide more lateral support then original...

[Comet]

No the seats are not memory foam.  The front seats are actually 2 pieces of foam glued together and then glued to the covering.  I took the plane to TX las week for the Mooney caravan. Clinic..4+ hrs each way.  I found them much better than the old seats (previously, I would have gotten pretty uncomfortable with this length of flight).  When I did the co-pilot seat, I compared it to the pilot seat (not done yet) and I felt the new seat was much better.  I had my kids and wife try them as well and the consensus was that the new seat was better.  The new seat is much firmer and overall more comfortable.  As an aside, I have a friend who is a “type P” pilot.  His complaint with Mooneys is that it’s hard to cross your legs.   I never had a problem...until last week....the new seats do put you a little closer to the panel (and make it a little harder to cross your legs...I’m 6’1”).  

A few other additions....I found that the new carpet between the seats didn’t fit in my plane; possibly somewhat different than the model they made the template from.   I also took the opportunity to replace the fire extinguisher with a better model.  I did make a mistake on the pilot side seat; but once it was installed in the.plane, I haven’t been able to see the error (unless I look closely)...so I think the process is pretty tolerant to minor issues.

[Gary0747]

I see you have what appears to be foam rubber or insulation on the front side of the spar below the back seat. Mine has always had this too and I have always wondered if it came from the factory this way or was added later?  I have thought about removing and replacing it just to give the spar a good inspection. 

[LANCECASPER]

On 5/4/2019 at 8:54 PM, Dspeterson said:

A few other additions....I found that the new carpet between the seats didn’t fit in my plane; possibly somewhat different than the model they made the template from.   

Let them know and they will make you a new piece to fit.

[carusoam]

Nice, no... Fantastic! Pirep DSP!

Great tech detail, and PICs!

Quantity of posts doesn’t matter... it’s the quality that counts. 

Thanks for sharing.

Best regards,

-a-

[Toothdok50]

Sure looks sweet in the pixs...  Nice job!

[carusoam]

Welcome aboard, Td.

Best regards,

-a-

[David Lloyd]

This thread has me looking at the Airtex site.  Gonna do something but what?  13 Or 14 years ago I had Airtex install an interior in my old Bonanza.  They used the same stuff they sell for owner installs.  It was a terrific value in an 8000 hour airplane.  Same for my 44 year old Mooney.

[Mark M20B]

I'm in the process of installing a complete interior from Airtex in my 1961 Mooney M20B.  I finished the seats a week ago and hope to get the headliner in this weekend.  Cleaning the interior has taken much longer than expected.  I also spent a fair amount of time trying to find stronger springs for the seats to support the average pilot in 2019 when compared to 1961.  So far I could not be happier with the kit. 

Attached is a picture of my new and old seat.  The new seats are much more comfortable.
 

[Joni]

Do you know where to find the interior plastic panels for sale?

[Prior owner]

46 minutes ago, Joni said:

Do you know where to find the interior plastic panels for sale?

Vintage plane plastics

[carusoam]

Welcome aboard Joni...

Plane Plastics is one place... the link our coyote friend posted is for Vantage...

But there are others including used parts...  of rehabbing old parts...

And one resource that replaces all the panels in a premium modern way.

Depends on what you are trying to do.

Best regards,

-a-

[Prior owner]

You can refurb old parts if they aren’t too far gone. Vantage plastics sells a plastic glue kit and they have a YouTube video. As Curusoam noted, there are a few other places to get plastic.

He has his own method in the video- I have seen repairs by others that add some reinforcements and they looked pretty good, too. It sure can’t hurt to try to repair them....

 

How to repair old plane plastics

[Oldguy]

22 hours ago, Joni said:

Do you know where to find the interior plastic panels for sale?

 

1 hour ago, PilotCoyote said:

You can refurb old parts if they aren’t too far gone. Vantage plastics sells a plastic glue kit and they have a YouTube video. As Curusoam noted, there are a few other places to get plastic.

He has his own method in the video- I have seen repairs by others that add some reinforcements and they looked pretty good, too. It sure can’t hurt to try to repair them....

 

How to repair old plane plastics

Bruce Jaeger ( @Jaeger ) has a kit with instructions to repair your damaged pieces. I am in the midst of doing it myself and installing the Airtex interior in my J (side walls, carpet, and seats). Look for it here. https://www.jaegeraviation.com/installation

Or, depending on which panels you want to replace, Bruce has kits for updating your plastic pieces for certain Mooney models. Same website.

[Prior owner]

45 minutes ago, Oldguy said:

 

Bruce Jaeger ( @Jaeger ) has a kit with instructions to repair your damaged pieces. I am in the midst of doing it myself and installing the Airtex interior in my J (side walls, carpet, and seats). Look for it here. https://www.jaegeraviation.com/installation

Or, depending on which panels you want to replace, Bruce has kits for updating your plastic pieces for certain Mooney models. Same website.

Yeah, that looks like a way better method. 

[Danb]

Seats in my 201 before I put in the headrests, also did the rugs and plastic which was done in woolen fabric. Turned out great done by Airtex.

[toto]

3 hours ago, Danb said:

Seats in my 201 before I put in the headrests, also did the rugs and plastic which was done in woolen fabric. Turned out great done by Airtex.

Did you do all of the work yourself (with Airtex materials)? Or did you have Airtex do the install?

I keep thinking about doing this, but yours looks far better than I can imagine mine would look if I did it myself :)

[Danb]

Toto airtex did the work, I dropped off the plane for a couple weeks presto 

[toto]

6 hours ago, Danb said:

Toto airtex did the work, I dropped off the plane for a couple weeks presto 

Thanks - it looks fantastic.