The Peril and her new life

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YELLOWMAULE
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The Peril and her new life

Post by YELLOWMAULE »

So today I began the replacement of the factory Razorback and the six different colors of paint. Like a friend said in a text, Congrats on getting the skin off, that's a big first step. It truly was a mental hurdle and if you've never done it, you can have all the fabric off with two guys and a couple knives in a matter of minutes.
Now that she's bare and sequestered in the garage, the assessment and planning have begun in earnest. No real surprises yet but I know they're hiding in there. They always are. Especially after 46 years and 13 owners.
We let Mrs YM have the ceremonial first slice of the fabric. She was more uptight about than I was.
The fun began last night when the number of 60's era items were removed.
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One thing right off the bat is how HEAVY Razorback and lots of paint are. I swear you could use this stuff for body armor.
I plan on kydex for the interior panels, stripping the wings and repainting, recovering and making some slight changes. The old girl has taken us a lot of places and never left us high and dry. Time to return the favor.
Oh, I know that the issue of stuck horizontal stabilizers has been addressed but for the life of me, I couldn't find it. Could anyone direct me to that topic? It's been soaking for a couple days and I think tonight I'll add heat.
Live it like its your last day.

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crbnunit
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Post by crbnunit »

I don't know an esay to get the stabilizers off. We tried penetrating oil soaks, heat and finally a slide hammer. We got them off but had to do quite abit of repair work later. I can tell you I used antiseize when they went back on! Maybe a routine removal and reinstallation occasionally?
You have to make up your mind about growing up and becoming a pilot. You can't do both!

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aero101
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Post by aero101 »

Let soak a couple of days in good penetration oil... Stab must come off straight or will bind at front and rear posts... Generally, you can beat stab "in" to loosen on inner stubs.. I use a pry bar made to catch the stab outer tube edge and pry it in otbd direction using airframe as needed to supporting prying... If that don't work, try a propane torch, heat until spittle beads up and boils away quickly, then try prying or pulling again? If still no joy, I put a 90 Degree bracket on large slide hammer end, hook it under most inbd rib, and pound both front and rear ends in even manner.. This will usually screw up the inbd rib, but they're easy fab and weld replacements!! Bottom line is if you can get outer tube freed up over inner tube just a little, you can usually get it off the rest of the way with some fiddling around going inbd / otbd, over and over again... and if that doesn't work, I usually just take a cut off wheel, split the outer stab tube length wise (laterally), being careful to stay off of cutting into the inner tube. Once you've done about a 3" cut, the outer tube should loosen right up and come off easily. Then build weld repair at tube ends, depending upon how you cut, this can be pretty simple repair? Good luck, when going back together, use some anti-seize between tubes for the next guy? :(
Jim
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FARMAULE
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Post by FARMAULE »

Curious what covering your going with? Also are you sticking with the same great color combo? :D I look forward to watching your project underway.

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BatMaule
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Post by BatMaule »

Oh crap! Now you've gone and done it!! :shock: Good luck and I'm excited to follow your progress and, of course, to see the end result.
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MikeW
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Post by MikeW »

Kurt, I couldn't tell from the pics, do you have the cross brace below the door for float kit?

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Post by stick_rudder »

I like your style, committed now! I'm planning on starting my recover in January, will be following your progress like a hawk. Keep the pictures coming!

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chris erasmus
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Post by chris erasmus »

boy oh boy you have bigger balls than me, i wouldn't dare to attempt a monumental task like that.
good luck keep us posted

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YELLOWMAULE
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Post by YELLOWMAULE »

Hmm, seems like I'm living the adage "Balls of steel, brains of oatmeal". Not really, it needed to be done. The Razorback was 46 years old and sections were beginning to deteriorate with haste. In addition, there was a tremendous amount of paint on the fuselage. Once the paint would crack, it would focus the flexing to one spot until the fabric failed.
The plan is to recover with Stewart's systems. There's a couple reasons. I've helped a couple friends do their planes on the last couple of years. The results was impressive and they've been standing up to the cold and sun with flying colors. They've made some improvements on the pot life of the finish coat which is good and needed. The other reason is that a number of years ago, I gave myself a (not) healthy dose of MEK poisoning. It laid me out for a few days and I've never quite got over it. I get around the chemicals, even just doing a patch, and I get wonky. The water base intrigued me and after watching it and working with it, it was a no brainer. BTW, the customer support from Stewart's has been incredible. There's a lot of clean up ahead of me and a couple of repairs before the serious prep work begins. The last couple of nights have been spent with a probe and a flash light.
There are a couple of changes I'm looking into, not the least of which is eliminating as much excess weight as possible. The belly port goes away, the 60's era strobe and rotating beacon. Am considering a partial or full skylight as well a more Spartan interior like Kydex. Basically, I will tailor the AC to the way I use it.
MikeW, no I don't and I'm not sure I'm going to either. That's up in the air. I'm not sure I'm good enough of a pilot to fly floats anyway. :wink:
Paul, yep, here we go. You're next!
F_M How could the Peril be any other color? Not sure if I told you but I used to be based very close to where your plane came from. Having the two yellow ships running around together was fun.
Chris, it's not about testicular fortitude, like anything else, once you put one foot forward, the natural inclination is to swing the other foot in stride. March on one step at a time and a mountain is thus scaled. I've never really managed to anything the easy way any how.
Live it like its your last day.

truthinbeer
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Post by truthinbeer »

Brave man.:) This will be a very interesting thread and I am looking forward to reading your updates.

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aero101
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Post by aero101 »

Kurt-- At least you've made that first step ok, or I guess your wife made it for you? I've seen others mess around for days, avoiding cutting of fabric off, until I've taken knife to it myself, usually down the whole side, with the statement 'well guess you're committed now?'... You wouldn't believe some of the looks from concerned owners this can cause!! It'll be interesting what you think of Stewart Process, some seem to like it, other's not so much. The extreme cold up here seems to affect it, although down there in tropics I've heard it holds up well... I'm getting very sensitive to the MEK myself, and think my recover career is about done because of hazardous nature of chemicals... :? :shock:
Jim
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Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.

benflyn
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Post by benflyn »

Kinda like the bacon and eggs for breakfast, the chicken is involved, the pig is committed.
As I hurtled through space, one thought kept crossing my mind - every part of this rocket was supplied by the lowest bidder .
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truthinbeer
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Post by truthinbeer »

benflyn wrote:Kinda like the bacon and eggs for breakfast, the chicken is involved, the pig is committed.
:lol: Never heard that one before. Excellent.

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YELLOWMAULE
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Post by YELLOWMAULE »

Well, despite taking a week or so off and doing some visiting Outside, progress has been made.
Some revelations of the last couple of weeks:
Found a couple tubes that needed repair/replacement.
Found a little corrosion in the door posts on the bottom. (Make sure of your door seals!)
Came to the determination that due to the presence of corrosion that sand blasting was in order. That would preclude the ability for the panel and engine to remain on the airframe. Got into the panel and found some things that needed to be addressed. Well, you know, you can't have TOO much fun can you? New panel and a change up of panel layout are in the works.
Yep, kind of morphed into a complete overhaul.
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The Entitlement Dog about sums it up best. Not much to a wiring harness when you get it all laid out is there?


By the way, does anyone have a suggestion as to removing the two bearings at the bottom of the yoke pivot at the floor?[/img]
Live it like its your last day.

Steelroamer
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Post by Steelroamer »

Wow Yellowmaule!!

I got a knot in my stomach just looking at those pictures. It looks like a monumental task for sure. I am a mechanic by trade (not planes) and that scares the hell out of me!!

that being said, once you are done it will be exactly what you want and you'll know EVERYTHING about it.

good for you and keep the photos coming for chicken shits like me, loving it!!

Ian
There is no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing

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