Yet another interior refurbishment report

[terbang]

We've completed the interior refurbishment project on our 252 just before Christmas and here is how it went.

We had found a local upholsterer that works mainly on classic cars but had experience with aircraft as well, even N registered ones (we're in Germany). He told us, he would only use materials conforming with 14 CFR Part 25.853 and could provide a certification package for it. Moreover he was capable of fixing damages to the plastic panels and respray them. I asked my A&P if it was OK for him that I do the work under Appendix A to part 43 (c) privileges and he said no problem. We decided to do it together with this year's annual inspection and replace all windows at the same time. So I removed all the interior panels, carpets and the seats before the annual, and then, together with my A&P removed the old windows and he later reinstalled the new ones. In the meantime the upholsterer worked on the interior.

After three weeks everything was finished and we could collect the parts at the upholsterer's shop. He had fixed damages to the plastic panels with small glass fibre patches and the paint looked really nice. We had the windlaces redone as well and when we collected the parts, he gave me a box with all the old material. In there I found the old windlaces cut open, so I asked if he reused the foam. He said he had to, as he couldn't find certified foam of that round shape. I thought to myself, let's hope that the factory was that anal 30 or forty years ago 

The dark brown parts are leather while the lighter is Alcantara. The carpet is actually surplus material usually used on airliners - the upholsterer had contacts where to obtain it including certificate.

Reinstalling the panels was quite a chore, especially the headliners but in the end all went well and here is the result:

Frontal view

New windlace

Pilot's seat

The new carpet

Rear seats

RH rear seat

Baggage compartment

Rear seats removed

 

 

Edited December 26, 2022 by terbang

[Fly Boomer]

5 minutes ago, terbang said:

We've completed the interior refurbishment project on our 252 just before Christmas and here ist how it went.

Gorgeous!

I could not quite make out what was going on with the shoulder harnesses.  My 252 has them, but yours look like inertia reels attached at the floor like a car.  Mine are not so tidy.  Are those an after-market solution?

[Matt M]

Look great. I am about to embark in an interior refurbishment as well. How much of a pain was it to remove and reinstall the headliner?

[0TreeLemur]

Beauty!

[terbang]

4 hours ago, Fly Boomer said:

yours look like inertia reels attached at the floor like a car.  Mine are not so tidy.  Are those an after-market solution?

In fact they are of the inertia reel type. I don’t think they’re an after-marked solution, we bought her like this more than ten years ago. She’s the last 252 ever built and I think the factory used these at that time. The rear seats have conventional seatbelts installed. 

[terbang]

4 hours ago, Matt M said:

How much of a pain was it to remove and reinstall the headliner?

Of course I checked MS before I tackled the headliner and I was a bit intimidated. It turned out to be not that difficult: remove everything but the two large center pieces. The switches, the speaker and the beepers are obvious to remove. After removing the clamps you can pull the air hoses at the very rear of the cabin. The two large center pieces of the headliner were screwed together with our plane and these screws can only be removed after the headliner is unfastened, therefore you definitely need a second pair of hands to uninstall it. 

You can see the four hoses in the picture, above. The narrow plastic piece in the rear was riveted to the skin of the cabin. It was the only piece that had to be drilled out. All the rest was held in place with sheet metal screws.

[carusoam]

Very Nice!

-a-

[terbang]

A few things I didn't mention in my first post:

I had many of the screw holes in the plastic panels closed, especially the ones around the windows. As has been suggested in another thread here on MS, I drilled new holes and used fewer screws around the windows as can be seen in the picture below. I sticked masking tape on the windows before I installed the plastic panels and marked with a pencil where I would have to drill, to be sure not to hit an existing hole. This worked quite well.

Where panels had to be screwed to other panels like in the picture below, I made small aluminum sheet metal doublers to hopefully make the screws stay in place. Moreover, I used Tinnerman nuts where possible e.g. for the eye ball vents in the footwells.

Unfortunately not everything went that well. A few of the cracks in the plastic panels reappeared after installation. The glass fibre patches work fine but there is some stress on the panels after installation and the epoxy didn't really bond within the cracks. All of the cracks are really minor and I can live with them except for one. It's below the oxygen outlets on the LH passenger side. I first stop drilled it but I don't think that was of much help. As has also been suggested here on MS I made kind of a putty by dissolving small plastic pieces in a little acetone and applied this to the crack. It's not perfect, but I'll have to live with it, see the picture below.

I should have done this before the panel was sprayed, I could have sanded it properly as well. 

[DCarlton]

Where my panels overlapped, I used these (see link below).  They seem to have adhered well with JB Weld Plastic Bonder Epoxy.  I was able to use machine screws instead of sheet metal screws.  Just another alternative.  

https://www.mcmaster.com/tee-nuts/stainless-steel-adhesive-mount-nuts/

Curious how you attached the flat upholstered panel inserts behind the arm rests?  I was worried about those loosening up when the cabin heated up in the summer and decided not to install them but yours certainly looks great.  

[milotron]

This looks really great and is inspiring me to get on with my upgrades.

What did you use on the lower side panels? Looks like Alcantara? Do you know what was used for backing?

[terbang]

3 hours ago, DCarlton said:

Where my panels overlapped, I used these (see link below).  They seem to have adhered well with JB Weld Plastic Bonder Epoxy.  I was able to use machine screws instead of sheet metal screws.  Just another alternative.

That’s a good idea, machine screws are always the better alternative! But how exactly did you do it? Did you glue the nuts in place beforehand? How did you manage to align them correctly? Am I too dim?

 

3 hours ago, DCarlton said:

Curious how you attached the flat upholstered panel inserts behind the arm rests?  I was worried about those loosening up when the cabin heated up in the summer and decided not to install them but yours certainly looks great.

Well, it’s winter here too, so let’s hope the best  The upholsterer used really tiny screws to attach them. I’ll report how this goes…

[terbang]

3 hours ago, milotron said:

What did you use on the lower side panels? Looks like Alcantara? Do you know what was used for backing?

Yes, it’s Alcantara, the same as the seat centerpieces. The backing is the original plastic part. It was covered with some sort of fabric but I’m not really sure that was original. 

[DCarlton]

9 minutes ago, terbang said:

That’s a good idea, machine screws are always the better alternative! But how exactly did you do it? Did you glue the nuts in place beforehand? How did you manage to align them correctly? Am I too dim?

 

Well, it’s winter here too, so let’s hope the best  The upholsterer used really tiny screws to attach them. I’ll report how this goes…

I glued the nut on the back panel first, then marked the hole in the top panel and drilled.  I didn't have the best tool to match the holes for drilling so it wasn't so easy.  I supposed you could drill through both pieces then glue the nut on too if both panels were temporarily installed first.   It'll be interesting to see if the nuts stay adhered and don't pop off long term; they seem stuck.  

[T. Peterson]

On 12/26/2022 at 9:02 AM, terbang said:

We've completed the interior refurbishment project on our 252 just before Christmas and here is how it went.

We had found a local upholsterer that works mainly on classic cars but had experience with aircraft as well, even N registered ones (we're in Germany). He told us, he would only use materials conforming with 14 CFR Part 25.853 and could provide a certification package for it. Moreover he was capable of fixing damages to the plastic panels and respray them. I asked my A&P if it was OK for him that I do the work under Appendix A to part 43 (c) privileges and he said no problem. We decided to do it together with this year's annual inspection and replace all windows at the same time. So I removed all the interior panels, carpets and the seats before the annual, and then, together with my A&P removed the old windows and he later reinstalled the new ones. In the meantime the upholsterer worked on the interior.

After three weeks everything was finished and we could collect the parts at the upholsterer's shop. He had fixed damages to the plastic panels with small glass fibre patches and the paint looked really nice. We had the windlaces redone as well and when we collected the parts, he gave me a box with all the old material. In there I found the old windlaces cut open, so I asked if he reused the foam. He said he had to, as he couldn't find certified foam of that round shape. I thought to myself, let's hope that the factory was that anal 30 or forty years ago 

The dark brown parts are leather while the lighter is Alcantara. The carpet is actually surplus material usually used on airliners - the upholsterer had contacts where to obtain it including certificate.

Reinstalling the panels was quite a chore, especially the headliners but in the end all went well and here is the result:

Frontal view

New windlace

Pilot's seat

The new carpet

Rear seats

RH rear seat

Baggage compartment

Rear seats removed

 

 

Wow!! Very nice!!

[WilliamR]

On 12/26/2022 at 3:40 PM, terbang said:

You can see the four hoses in the picture, above. The narrow plastic piece in the rear was riveted to the skin of the cabin. It was the only piece that had to be drilled out. All the rest was held in place with sheet metal screws.

Question on the rivets. The rivets secure the headliner plastic to the roof of the plane such that you are drilling through the top of the fuselage, correct?

Thanks

 

William 

[terbang]

1 hour ago, WilliamR said:

Question on the rivets. The rivets secure the headliner plastic to the roof of the plane such that you are drilling through the top of the fuselage, correct?

Thanks

 

William 

Yes, exactly. With our 252 these were pop rivets. I’m not sure if they were original or there was work done before.

[WilliamR]

Awesome, thanks.  I think they are original as my interior is original and has pop rivets. It was just a little hard for me to determine where they went through (really hoping they didn't go through the top of the fuselage).