Ram air door seal replacement

[Jpravi8tor]

Thanks to @Vance Harral I inspected my ram air door seal and found it to be in bad shape.

so I replaced it!

1 remove 3 screws from door (I already had the lower cowl off)

2 slide door off shaft block

3 drill out rivets 

4 replicate seal

5 reassemble with correct rivets

6 reinstall

thanks Vance!

[carusoam]

Nice pirep for Vance!

Thanks for sharing it…

Nice pics of the ram air seal!

Go MS!

Best regards,

-a-

[Vance Harral]

Great photos, @Jpravi8tor, thanks for sharing.

I regret to report that my ram air seal is already showing signs of cracking, even though it's only been a couple of years (I think) since the last replacement.  We'll need to do it again at the next annual.  Fortunately it's not too bad a job.

[Steve65E-NC]

I was visiting a shop that worked on biz-jets.  They just finished replacing some windows.  The gasket had a membrane across that was cut away and disposed of.  Seemed just right for this application.  Not to thick not to thin.    I replaced my ram-air seal with this about ten years ago and it is still going strong.  I still have a roll in my box from this same window.

[Guest]

Don’t forget to look at the seal on the alternate air door, they come loose and can be ingested.

[Vance Harral]

As mentioned above, we'll need to re-do our seal this spring.  I believe LASAR has the seal itself and plan to order from them.  Last time I did this, we were at a "big" shop that had a giant bin of rivets of all sizes, and the mechanic working on our airplane handed me appropriate ones to use.  I didn't note the actual diameter or part number.

This time, we're doing our annual with an independent mechanic who has plenty of conventional supplies, but I want to make sure we have the correct rivets.  The IPC doesn't specifically list what size rivet to use when assembling the "sandwich" of plates and the seal.  Can anyone give me a pointer to a specific rivet part number, or a kit of assorted rivets that's likely to have the correct size?

[Guest]

12 hours ago, Vance Harral said:

As mentioned above, we'll need to re-do our seal this spring.  I believe LASAR has the seal itself and plan to order from them.  Last time I did this, we were at a "big" shop that had a giant bin of rivets of all sizes, and the mechanic working on our airplane handed me appropriate ones to use.  I didn't note the actual diameter or part number.

This time, we're doing our annual with an independent mechanic who has plenty of conventional supplies, but I want to make sure we have the correct rivets.  The IPC doesn't specifically list what size rivet to use when assembling the "sandwich" of plates and the seal.  Can anyone give me a pointer to a specific rivet part number, or a kit of assorted rivets that's likely to have the correct size?

Based on the copper coloured Clecos in the pictures above, I say MS20426AD4-XX 

[Vance Harral]

23 hours ago, M20Doc said:

Based on the copper coloured Clecos in the pictures above, I say MS20426AD4-XX

Thanks very much, Clarence.  This pointed me in the right direction to buy an assortment of MS20426AD rivets, and some Cleco fasteners as well.

[Guest]

Just now, Vance Harral said:

Thanks very much, Clarence.  This pointed me in the right direction to buy an assortment of MS20426AD rivets, and some Cleco fasteners as well.

Now you need a nice rivet gun, some tungsten bucking bars, and a nice rivet squeezer to go with it.  These rivets are going to get expensive.

[Igor_U]

25 minutes ago, M20Doc said:

Now you need a nice rivet gun, some tungsten bucking bars, and a nice rivet squeezer to go with it.  These rivets are going to get expensive.

Never miss a chance to spend bunch of money on tools and other toys to "save" on maintenance.