Paint correction on 252AD

[Niko182]

have the lights yellowed up over time?

[gsxrpilot]

I'm not sure that they have. Maybe sightly, but not noticeable.

[NJMac]

Before any work.

Any idea on how many total man hours you've invested in this process? Are there any tricks you learned that could help someone like me save some time if I was to jump into the same thing?

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[Denver98]

3 hours ago, NJMac said:

Any idea on how many total man hours you've invested in this process? Are there any tricks you learned that could help someone like me save some time if I was to jump into the same thing?

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This entire project is going to take me around 60 hours.  

-Buy enough products to do 4 SUVs.  I’ve run out a couple of times. 

-Get the good polish rags and wash them nightly, they need to be clean.  

-Have lots of light.

-Wear eye protection and face protection especially when working under the aircraft.  

So far the best system I’ve come up with is clean the area you think you can do that day, then work the clay bar, cut and polish in sections.  If your going to do the ceramic coating, apply that after you have a large section of the plane polished, if you can wait until the entire airplane is polished the do the coating.  We’ve been flying 2AD, so I’ve tried to get the areas that get the dirtiest, ie gear doors and belly ceramic coated first.  Once coated, those areas clean up MUCH easier.  

Just except the fact that you’ll end up do a section twice.  

[Denver98]

9 hours ago, LANCECASPER said:

I really think it's only fair that you spend part of the year flying Paul's airplane in Colorado and part of the year flying mine in Texas.

If you were closer to DFW, I could probably make that happen.  

[Parker_Woodruff]

Great work, @Denver98.  Looks like a huge improvement since I saw this plane at 84R.  (Still have never actually met Paul in person!)

[aaronk25]

Nice bird! Just saw the tail number I have 201AD....252AD....nice!


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[hammdo]

While not a Mooney, I can atest to Adams.

i did their paint correction in 2017, this is over 2 years later and all I do is a Gary Dean wash and Adams detail spray. This also includes 6 track days:

I’ve done no paint correction since I did the original acrylic paint sealant.

Adams have great products... yes that is a swirl free surface on a 2011 Camaro - factory paint too in most areas!

 

if your curious as to how it looks overall:

https://www.camaro5.com/forums/showpost.php?p=10611579&postcount=2590

-Don

[cliffy]

The plane looks GREAT!

Now my pet peeve-  Tell who ever us fueling your airplane to stop laying the hose and nozzle on the wing while fueling. All those paint nicks by the fuel cap indicate to me that's what has been happening. 

I started fueling airplanes in the early sixties (and went from J3s to 747s over the years) and was taught how to bring the hose over my shoulder (it NEVER gets laid on the wind) and to NEVER put the nozzle into the tank and let the handle rest on the wing. 

The main reason for doing it this way is two fold- one is that on some airplanes with bladders you can cut the bottom of the tank with the nozzle if it hits the bottom and you mark up the airplane and nick and scratch the paint by doing it. 

We always had a "waffle" rubber mat to lay over the wing with a hole for the fuel cap  opening just to keep from nicking the paint (but we never lay the nozzle on the wing).

One thing to bear in mind with any mat for this is some (maybe many) cause static electricity to spark when they get removed. You gotta find the right material for the mat so this doesn't happen. 

[gsxrpilot]

2 minutes ago, cliffy said:

Now my pet peeve-  Tell who ever us fueling your airplane to stop laying the hose and nozzle on the wing while fueling. All those paint nicks by the fuel cap indicate to me that's what has been happening. 

I can assure you the hose and nozzle hasn't touched the wing as long as I've owned the plane. But the right wing was opened up for a full strip and reseal, which ended up including a repair of the spar cap as well. Through all that process, the paint on the wing was the least of my concerns. 

It's the original 30+ year paint on those wings, so I'm sure they've seen plenty of abuse over the years. Someday, she'll get new paint, but until then...

[Denver98]

41 minutes ago, gsxrpilot said:

 It's the original 30+ year paint on those wings, so I'm sure they've seen plenty of abuse over the years. Someday, she'll get new paint, but until then...

....like David Justice with the Oakland A’s....We’re going to squeeze out the last bit of shine that paint has to offer. 

(Money Ball paraphrase intended)   I’m really starting to miss Baseball. 

[cliffy]

1 hour ago, gsxrpilot said:

I can assure you the hose and nozzle hasn't touched the wing as long as I've owned the plane. But the right wing was opened up for a full strip and reseal, which ended up including a repair of the spar cap as well. Through all that process, the paint on the wing was the least of my concerns. 

It's the original 30+ year paint on those wings, so I'm sure they've seen plenty of abuse over the years. Someday, she'll get new paint, but until then...

For 30 year old paint it looks pretty good!!!

[Denver98]

Some more before and afters.  I took the before picture on a nice day back in January.  It was another nice day here and I had just finished the tops of the wings, so I pulled it out the hangar for some pictures.  Notice in the after picture, the rudder vs the vertical stabilizer, I haven’t done that surface yet.  The results continue to be surprising.   

 

[hammdo]

Boy, that looks awesome..

-Don 

[MooneyMitch]

Man, that ship looks great!  One of my all time favorite Mooney paint schemes!!

[MooneyMitch]

The paint correction has brought out the depth of your colors.  Excellent!!

[carusoam]

It seems to have a continuous shade change of the top stripe...

Light up front to darker as it goes back....

Then includes the rudder with that...

One thing for sure... the paint correction really works some magic... 

Thanks for sharing the details.

Best regards,

-a-

[Denver98]

Ok, so I’m not sure what comes out of this vent but whatever it is, it’s not good for paint and it very hard to remove.  The good news is, it will come off with a very aggressive pad and compound.  After I washed the surface dirt away, it felt like 60 grit sandpaper.  After several hours of work, it’s now very smooth and it looks much better.  That said, it has caused pitting in the paint, almost to the tail tie down, that I can‘t correct.  So, for those of you with newer or new(ish) paint, I highly recommend cleaning this area and getting that area protected with a ceramic coating.  I will post all of the materials I’ve used here in the next couple of days.  

-Scott

[tmo]

Could this be the battery vent?

[Guest]

6 hours ago, Denver98 said:

Ok, so I’m not sure what comes out of this vent but whatever it is, it’s not good for paint and it very hard to remove.  The good news is, it will come off with a very aggressive pad and compound.  After I washed the surface dirt away, it felt like 60 grit sandpaper.  After several hours of work, it’s now very smooth and it looks much better.  That said, it has caused pitting in the paint, almost to the tail tie down, that I can‘t correct.  So, for those of you with newer or new(ish) paint, I highly recommend cleaning this area and getting that area protected with a ceramic coating.  I will post all of the materials I’ve used here in the next couple of days.  

-Scott

You might want to wash the area with baking soda and water to be sure it’s neutralized.

Clarence

[Denver98]

5 hours ago, tmo said:

Could this be the battery vent?

This seems to far forward to be the battery vent.  Here’s an expanded view.  A quick research leads me to believe that the smaller, recessed vent is the battery vent.  

 

[Denver98]

If I were to make a guess based on the staining on the paint, I would bet on it being a fuel system vent.  This stains were similar to the stains on the right gear door.  

[ArtVandelay]

This seems to far forward to be the battery vent.  Here’s an expanded view.  A quick research leads me to believe that the smaller, recessed vent is the battery vent.  

 

What is this thingy is the static drain, push it to drain the tubes.

There should be a 2nd one for the pitot tube, left underside of wing close to the fuselage .

[Guest]

The submerged vent is air into the battery box, the forward hose is exit from the battery box.

Clarence

[Guest]

My Director of Maintenance has a detailing company to look after the needs of our customers.  Here is the results on a MS member’s 201.

The side under the towel is completed, to the right is not.
Clarence