Paul Thomas Posted July 13 Report Posted July 13 Where do you all source these? My google fu is weak. Most the damage is on the forward part of the console which has been repaired in the prior to my ownership and looks like it needs another repair. If I can't source one, has anyone here repaired one? My understanding is that they can be repaired but I'm afraid more damage will happen as I take it in/out for repairs.
IvanP Posted July 13 Report Posted July 13 I think this is fixable with some patience and Bruce Jaeger's kit. I repaired cracks in my headliner and other interior pieces using this kit. https://www.jaegeraviation.com/Do-It Yourself Plastic Repair Kit-2017.pdf Another option is to send the piece(s) to Hector at Aero Comfort and have them covered. His work ios awesome and worth every penny. 2 1
Paul Thomas Posted July 13 Author Report Posted July 13 15 minutes ago, N201MKTurbo said: https://vantageassoc.com Unfortunately they don't have the overhead console for my airplane and no plans to mold one. 50 minutes ago, IvanP said: I think this is fixable with some patience and Bruce Jaeger's kit. I repaired cracks in my headliner and other interior pieces using this kit. https://www.jaegeraviation.com/Do-It Yourself Plastic Repair Kit-2017.pdf Another option is to send the piece(s) to Hector at Aero Comfort and have them covered. His work ios awesome and worth every penny. I had not seen the DYI on his website. That is AWESOME. Thank you. DYI looks like a realistic option.
Fly Boomer Posted July 13 Report Posted July 13 9 hours ago, Paul Thomas said: Where do you all source these? My google fu is weak. Most the damage is on the forward part of the console which has been repaired in the prior to my ownership and looks like it needs another repair. If I can't source one, has anyone here repaired one? If I recall correctly (not likely), @PT20J did a nice writeup on the process. Don't try to use the MooneySpace search -- most of the time, it doesn't work very well. You can restrict your favorite browser to do a search on a single site like this site:mooneyspace.com plastic repair 1
PT20J Posted July 13 Report Posted July 13 You can see if Vantage has one https://vantageassoc.com The interior plastics are fairly easy to repair, but someone has made such a mess of that that it would take a lot of work and likely will never look great. 1
1980Mooney Posted July 13 Report Posted July 13 4 hours ago, Fly Boomer said: If I recall correctly (not likely), @PT20J did a nice writeup on the process. Don't try to use the MooneySpace search -- most of the time, it doesn't work very well. You can restrict your favorite browser to do a search on a single site like this site:mooneyspace.com plastic repair Be sure to use Google search. That handy search string (site:mooneyspace.com “add anything that you want to search for here”) wont work on Bing. 2
Paul Thomas Posted July 14 Author Report Posted July 14 I was looking at another part in the airplane that Vantage makes that was not listed on the website. That caused me to broaden my search on their website. The overhead console (and other parts) are not listed for an 84J on their website but it's available for 83 and 85 among other years. It appears to be the same part so it looks like I can just order a replacement. https://vantageassoc.com/mooney-m20-k130308-001-593.html 1
DCarlton Posted July 14 Report Posted July 14 49 minutes ago, Paul Thomas said: I was looking at another part in the airplane that Vantage makes that was not listed on the website. That caused me to broaden my search on their website. The overhead console (and other parts) are not listed for an 84J on their website but it's available for 83 and 85 among other years. It appears to be the same part so it looks like I can just order a replacement. https://vantageassoc.com/mooney-m20-k130308-001-593.html If not, I was told a few years ago they would make the part if you would send them the old one. There's a process for that; I can't remember what they called it. The web site is not friendly or comprehensive and yes sometimes the parts are available for other years but identical.
PT20J Posted July 14 Report Posted July 14 1 hour ago, Paul Thomas said: I was looking at another part in the airplane that Vantage makes that was not listed on the website. That caused me to broaden my search on their website. The overhead console (and other parts) are not listed for an 84J on their website but it's available for 83 and 85 among other years. It appears to be the same part so it looks like I can just order a replacement. https://vantageassoc.com/mooney-m20-k130308-001-593.html Call them. I've found that their online catalog is not always up to date. 2
201Mooniac Posted July 14 Report Posted July 14 Mine was in bad shape so I ordered one from Vantage but it didn’t fit properly and I found that Mooney will make one. Expensive but arrived in a few weeks.
haymak3r Posted July 15 Report Posted July 15 18 hours ago, 201Mooniac said: Mine was in bad shape so I ordered one from Vantage but it didn’t fit properly and I found that Mooney will make one. Expensive but arrived in a few weeks. Didn't fit properly?? How so? They say they come oversized, and you trim to fit. was that the biggest issue? Or was it something worse. 1
1980Mooney Posted July 16 Report Posted July 16 (edited) On 7/12/2025 at 9:28 PM, Paul Thomas said: Where do you all source these? My google fu is weak. Most the damage is on the forward part of the console which has been repaired in the prior to my ownership and looks like it needs another repair. If I can't source one, has anyone here repaired one? My understanding is that they can be repaired but I'm afraid more damage will happen as I take it in/out for repairs. I don't know how skilled or handy you are working on your Mooney, but if you have never worked on and removed your interior before this can be a time consuming and frustrating project. Over 25+ years, I have done it more times than I care to recall. It is still a pain in the ass. In order to get that front headliner off, you will need to remove the front and rear plastic side panels To do that the front seats need to come out. The kick panels need to be removed on both sides. There are a lot of screws of all sizes Bag each set by location - don't mix up the location of short screws with the location of longer screws Do not use any sharp pointed screws in the side panels. An avionics shop substituted a long sharp screw one time on my plane side panel and proceeded to drive it right into a cable that was zip tied to the steel frame. The headliner removal and replacement can benefit from two people handling it. It gets brittle over time and if you are holding it just by one side you can crack it by its own weight and do more damage than you started with. New plastic panels are no panacea. Every Mooney is slightly hand-made. Those panels, even from Mooney, are generally oversized and need to be trimmed to fit perfectly. And then there are all those screw holes. New plastic panels do not have any screw holes. If you want to hit all the existing holes, you need to use the old panel as a template in order to mark them. It is easy to screw up. Otherwise you have to drill all new holes in both the new plastic panel and the aluminum. This is also easy to screw up. I prefer to repair my existing panels and utilize all the existing screws and screwholes. Now in your case someone has put a lot of oval headed screws in your headliner - perhaps a backing plate? It is pure overkill. The panel should be smooth without any screw heads. Every owner faces this interior problem. Good luck however you choose to proceed. Edited July 16 by 1980Mooney 1 2
Paul Thomas Posted July 21 Author Report Posted July 21 I called my IA and the project has started. The front overhead console is out, the most time consuming task was unhooking things from the overhead console and marking wires. Only the pilot side panel had to be removed to gain access to the front overhead console. It appears there were multiple repairs with various construction techniques. I can confirm that epoxy is a poor choice; repairs done with epoxy cracked again and I'm able to peel off the epoxy, although I do believe surface preparation likely also had to do with it. Home Depot/Lowes no longer carry ABS on the shelf so that's been ordered. I have some leftover cloth. The plan is to see how well the ABS can be fixed before a decisions is made as to whether new pieces will be ordered or fix what is there. I'll be out of town 3 out of the next 4 weeks so if I have to order things, it hopefully won't really delay the project. I am hoping to hear from @201Mooniac about the fit from Vantage as I still haven't heard back from LASAR on a quote. Since the rest of the interior is having to come out, the rest of the interior will be done as well. I need to choose a color scheme as the seats will be going out and replacement carpet coming in. 1
201Mooniac Posted July 26 Report Posted July 26 On 7/21/2025 at 2:46 AM, Paul Thomas said: I called my IA and the project has started. The front overhead console is out, the most time consuming task was unhooking things from the overhead console and marking wires. Only the pilot side panel had to be removed to gain access to the front overhead console. It appears there were multiple repairs with various construction techniques. I can confirm that epoxy is a poor choice; repairs done with epoxy cracked again and I'm able to peel off the epoxy, although I do believe surface preparation likely also had to do with it. Home Depot/Lowes no longer carry ABS on the shelf so that's been ordered. I have some leftover cloth. The plan is to see how well the ABS can be fixed before a decisions is made as to whether new pieces will be ordered or fix what is there. I'll be out of town 3 out of the next 4 weeks so if I have to order things, it hopefully won't really delay the project. I am hoping to hear from @201Mooniac about the fit from Vantage as I still haven't heard back from LASAR on a quote. Since the rest of the interior is having to come out, the rest of the interior will be done as well. I need to choose a color scheme as the seats will be going out and replacement carpet coming in. I had too much trouble with the one from Vantage so I got one from Mooney. The two speaker grills would not fit and the center section with the switches and air flow control didn’t fit right either. If all of the parts had been available from vantage I expect they would work but mixing the Mooney and Vantage parts didn’t work well. 1
1980Mooney Posted July 26 Report Posted July 26 On 7/20/2025 at 10:46 PM, Paul Thomas said: I called my IA and the project has started. The front overhead console is out, the most time consuming task was unhooking things from the overhead console and marking wires. Only the pilot side panel had to be removed to gain access to the front overhead console. It appears there were multiple repairs with various construction techniques. I can confirm that epoxy is a poor choice; repairs done with epoxy cracked again and I'm able to peel off the epoxy, although I do believe surface preparation likely also had to do with it. Home Depot/Lowes no longer carry ABS on the shelf so that's been ordered. I have some leftover cloth. The plan is to see how well the ABS can be fixed before a decisions is made as to whether new pieces will be ordered or fix what is there. I'll be out of town 3 out of the next 4 weeks so if I have to order things, it hopefully won't really delay the project. I am hoping to hear from @201Mooniac about the fit from Vantage as I still haven't heard back from LASAR on a quote. Since the rest of the interior is having to come out, the rest of the interior will be done as well. I need to choose a color scheme as the seats will be going out and replacement carpet coming in. The more you do, the more you will find to do. So this overhead console project has turned into the entire interior project. Since you are pulling the interior Inspect all the tubulars for corrosion and need of paint Inspect the spar for corrosion Per Skip, @PT20J you should untape the sheet aluminum inspection ports "Remove the rear seat. I believe that the factory used duct tape. Some people use aluminum tape, but it is hard to remove aluminum tape as it tends to tear into little pieces, the adhesive being stronger than the tape. 3M General Purpose Adhesive Cleaner will loosen the adhesive. The wing roots are also duct taped closed behind the interior trim panels and the dust boots on the landing gear retract tubes in the wheel wells are another source of air leaks. Also, the door seal along the bottom often leaks air if it is old and compressed. If you are going to remove the rear seat and retape the inspection covers, I'd take the time to remove them and inspect the area between the front and rear spars for corrosion. Skip" You may want to do something with the insulation after inspection. If your plane has undergone avionics upgrades they may have abandoned wire in place which you can remove. Check for any fuel seepage from the pickup or sender Check your logs to see when your fuel lines were last replaced - if old this is the time to do it. Etc, Etc......
Paul Thomas Posted August 8 Author Report Posted August 8 The interior is out and I've started to repair the plastic. The last person who worked on it loved epoxy and metal to fix things, especially on the overhead console. There was a 1/4 inch or more of epoxy. I've removed the metal and ground down the epoxy so that proper fix can be done and I'm going to start on the overhead console this weekend. If I can salvage that, I'm hoping to limit what I need to order from Vantage. I did a couple of test with other parts and it appears that ABS cement and cloth works wonders. I'll use EZ sand and follow the Jeager process to complete the project. I've enjoyed having interior out because I can really look around. The list @1980Mooney shared was completed yesterday (except for replacing the fuel line). I also had my IA look at things for SB208. It appears it had been completed before including new insulation; I did not recall that in the log which matches handwritten notes that I found earlier this year. The seats will be redone in Lexus leather, with flame certs, by a local upholstery shop. I think I have the carpet selected, they just need to ensure that it will also have flame certs before I order it. I'd prefer to find a local place for the trim that goes around the windows so that I can see the color first hand. One of my remaining items to figure out is the fabric for the speaker covers. 1
PT20J Posted August 10 Report Posted August 10 On 8/7/2025 at 9:28 PM, Paul Thomas said: I've enjoyed having interior out because I can really look around. The list @1980Mooney shared was completed yesterday (except for replacing the fuel line). I also had my IA look at things for SB208. It appears it had been completed before including new insulation; I did not recall that in the log which matches handwritten notes that I found earlier this year. Take a lot of pictures. Have your IA log the 208 inspection. Be sure to check for rust behind the gussets on tube clusters. Reinforce all the holes where the plastic attaches with glass cloth and ABS cement. ABS cement can be made from melting plastic parts (some use Leggos) in MEK which is nice if you need a color. The cement from the hardware store for gluing ABS plumbing pipe also works well if black is OK. Paint everything when done with SEM Colorcoat. Phantom white is a good color choice. You can get SEM in rattle cans, or by the quart. There is a lot of plastic when you get it all out and so I bought the material and had a paint shop spray it which saved me a lot of time and mess. While you have the carpeted sidewalls out, take the wemac eyeball vents out of the pilot and copilot side and take them apart and clean them. Be mindful of screw lengths when you put it all back together - there are some places where too long a screw will poke through something you don't want it to poke through.
Paul Thomas Posted August 14 Author Report Posted August 14 Thank you Skip. SB 208 will be logged since it is now done, I just need to get the logs to my IA. I had not thought about a quart of SEM paint but that makes the job so much easier when I already have all the spray equipment.
Yetti Posted August 15 Report Posted August 15 If the repairs that were done were structurally holding, I would just leave them and cover the whole thing in leather. DAP Contact Cement is what the factory used for the interior. Should be good enough for us. Get the good stuff, not the water based.
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