Cleaning Johnson Bar Gear Handle

[TheAv8r]

The gear handle in my M20E has years-old crud caked into it. It's either oxidation from the acid of hands touching the handle over years and years and years or our best guess is it might be some kind of residue from a grip that was placed on it at some point. It doesn't come off easily.

I've spent hours with a degreaser and brass bristle brushes trying to get it off, I've made progress, but there's still some left. Since it's chrome plated, the metal is softer and I don't want to use any acid-based cleaners that could damage it. Anyone have any suggestions/ideas on what product I could use to try and soften it up and make it easier to get off?

Gear handle before:

Gear handle now:

[Rwsavory]

The chrome plating is very thin. There's not much more you can do about it. I would leave it alone at this point.

[Shadrach]

That handle is clean. It just needs to be replated. You’d have to put the plane on jacks to do it.

[Utah20Gflyer]

I addressed this issue at my last annual.  I used a brass bristle brush and maybe wd40 (can’t remember for sure, but I use wd40 for cleaning a lot). Unfortunately I did remove a fair amount of chrome plating in the effort but it did look better after than before.   So my results were similar to yours.
 

Has anyone ever powder coated the handle instead of chroming?  

[Shadrach]

7 hours ago, Utah20Gflyer said:

I addressed this issue at my last annual.  I used a brass bristle brush and maybe wd40 (can’t remember for sure, but I use wd40 for cleaning a lot). Unfortunately I did remove a fair amount of chrome plating in the effort but it did look better after than before.   So my results were similar to yours.
 

Has anyone ever powder coated the handle instead of chroming?  

I don’t think powder coating is ideal for this application. It would likely dull the effect of the knurled handle, which is nice on hot days in summer with sweaty hands.  You would have to mask it where the bar goes makes contact with the receiver block. If not, the powder coat would likely cause clearance issues. Even if it didn’t it would likely crack over time from use.

[0TreeLemur]

That is pretty rough.   After using detergents/degreasers/solvents, what's is left looks like a mixture of chrome plating and corrosion.  I'd look for a J-bar on the used market that is in better shape, and get it replaced. 

BTW: your nose wheel well cover looks like Elmo.

MS has many threads where people re-do their interiors themselves.   On google use search terms like "interior site:mooneyspace.com".  You'll find those threads.

 

 

[Don Gates]

Check your downlock  J-Block, I bet it’s pretty worn judging from it’s appearance. 

[Shadrach]

1 hour ago, Don Gates said:

Check your downlock  J-Block, I bet it’s pretty worn judging from it’s appearance. 

Good catch! That grove is significant.

[DXB]

I went through several rounds of cleaning and polishing my J bar grip also - each time, it looked good for a few weeks and then the surface corrosion rapidly returned in areas where the chrome is missing. The salty sweat on your hand accelerates the corrosion, which also comes off on your hand - I've stained a few shirts and pants in flight this way.  LASAR used to sell replated grips but I don't see on their website anymore.  I gave up on fixing mine and wrapped it in bike handlebar tape - this hides most of the ugliness and gives it a nicer feel also over the bare metal.

[TheAv8r]

Thanks all. I had the lock block inspected by a couple A&Ps when I bought the plane, it’s not as bad as the pictures make it seem and both didn’t think it was a risk but has been on the list to replace. I’ll see if LASAR still has them in stock to see if we can swap it out in the next few weeks. 

[Shadrach]

16 hours ago, Alex M said:

Thanks all. I had the lock block inspected by a couple A&Ps when I bought the plane, it’s not as bad as the pictures make it seem and both didn’t think it was a risk but has been on the list to replace. I’ll see if LASAR still has them in stock to see if we can swap it out in the next few weeks. 

Perhaps @Sabremech has a few remaining from the last group buy.

[TheAv8r]

2 hours ago, Shadrach said:

Perhaps @Sabremech has a few remaining from the last group buy.

Thanks Ross, I snagged one off of LASAR, they had them in stock, along with some new bolts & hardware from AS.

[Sabremech]

4 hours ago, Shadrach said:

Perhaps @Sabremech has a few remaining from the last group buy.

None remaining as I couldn’t make any more than for the group per the FAA to comply with the regulations.

 

[A64Pilot]

Used to be Motorcycle shops sent off parts all the time to be chromed, and of course they came back looking good.

Hard chroming is another process, wears like Iron but isn’t as pretty as the show chrome bike shops have done. Call a Harley shop and ask.

Maybe find used parts and send them off, and if it works well, a quick R&R.

[TheAv8r]

1 hour ago, A64Pilot said:

Used to be Motorcycle shops sent off parts all the time to be chromed, and of course they came back looking good.

Hard chroming is another process, wears like Iron but isn’t as pretty as the show chrome bike shops have done. Call a Harley shop and ask.

Maybe find used parts and send them off, and if it works well, a quick R&R.

Thanks for the recc. Looking at the (very poorly done) parts catalog for the J-bar gear system, it does not seem trivial to remove and re-install, esp. with needing to check all the gear preloads afterwards and make adjustments which require special tools. Not sure that's worth it to be honest just to get a clean chromey one.

[Shadrach]

3 minutes ago, Alex M said:

Thanks for the recc. Looking at the (very poorly done) parts catalog for the J-bar gear system, it does not seem trivial to remove and re-install, esp. with needing to check all the gear preloads afterwards and make adjustments which require special tools. Not sure that's worth it to be honest just to get a clean chromey one.

With the plane on jacks, checking preloads takes just a few minutes.

[carusoam]

When you get the old block out, compare to the new block…

New has a simple round cylindrical hole…

Old will have an egg shape, with a ledge that causes challenges…

The random design is caused by the nature of small motion while the plane is on the ground… constantly wearing.

Steel vs. aluminum… the softer aluminum slowly turns to a gray dust…. 
 

Best regards,

-a-

[Kelpro999]

I’ve  been nickel plating my corroded chrome parts and other rusting parts. Very easy process at home and can be polished to look like chrome and extremely corrosion resistant however part removal is required.

[takair]

12 minutes ago, Kelpro999 said:

I’ve  been nickel plating my corroded chrome parts and other rusting parts. Very easy process at home and can be polished to look like chrome and extremely corrosion resistant however part removal is required.

Can you tell us more about DIY nickel plating?  I did some plating in college, but that’s as at an industrial scale.

[Kelpro999]

1 hour ago, takair said:

Can you tell us more about DIY nickel plating?  I did some plating in college, but that’s as at an industrial scale.

Yes, purchase 99% nickel from eBay or metal supply near you and white vinegar  to make nickel acetate. It’s all over U-tube how the process works. Key is clean and oil free. So far I’ve done handles, door limit parts and heated pitot tube with great success. It’s my new satisfying thing to do while working on a complete repaint. I think it’s what others  may want also. The only part using somewhat dangerous acid would be hydrochloric acid for removing existing chrome. 

Edited October 17, 2022 by Kelpro999
Grammar

[vik]

Remove the bar from the airplane. Use soda blaster to clean the handle and strip the old paint. Repaint where it was painted before. The worn spots will not come back to shine again, but overall it will look better.