The Rebirth of Cessna 140 NC3771V

[regular122]

24 Sep 2020 - Matt taped off the trim pattern and then applied the primer coat. Red will go on top of this. Looks very authentic to the original style patterns.

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26 Sep 2020 - The left elevator is now stripped.

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Steve

[8233]

Looks nice! How did he create the pattern? I'd like to repaint my stripe and the cowling section was painted incorrectly at one point in time.

[regular122]

Looks nice! How did he create the pattern? I'd like to repaint my stripe and the cowling section was painted incorrectly at one point in time.

We took measurements from the schematic you posted on 9 July in this thread and then also looked at lots of pictures. He matched it pretty well. Steve

[regular122]

9 October 2020 - All the control surfaces are now stripped! Took me forever. Even got a couple of farings done.

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Tomorrow I am starting the wing prep and fabric covering. I also will pull the instrument panel cables so Matt can paint the interior the proper original colors. Should have more to post this week if all goes well. Steve

[regular122]

With the website being down, I was unable to post some updates. Time to catch up.

Update Part 1

10 Oct 20 - Everything is stripped but a few wing fairings. The past two weeks have seen the fruit of Matt Nichols' work with the fuselage completely polished, primed for trim and red trim completed. The quality of his work is incredible. The last photo shows where the Sinclair decals will be placed. The white backing sheet will not be there.

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[regular122]

Update Part 2

15 Oct 2020 - With the outside looking so good, I bit the bullet on the interior panel decision. What good is a great exterior if the intertior looks like a bomb hit it? I really did not wish to yank every engine control cable from the instrument panel as everything was airworthy and functional. But I figured the delays will be worth it. So...After lots of pictures, tagging and threading, Matt and I removed all the cables. Hopefully I will be able to connect the foot bone to the ankle bone and the ankle bone to the leg bone again.

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[regular122]

Update Part 3

To prep for the wing work, I needed to build a wing 'rotisserie.' So, a trip to the aircraft departments of Lowe's and Home Depot yielded the necessary material for the work save a scrap piece of lumber or two. I had found a simple enough wing holder design online somewhere, maybe here, and used it as the basis for the work. Mine was a little simpler with no conduit to fool with. It works fine.

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[regular122]

Update Part 3

The Wing holder is sturdy and can rotate on a circular disk with bolts that index about every 15 degrees.

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17 Oct 2020 - Getting down to the final wing prep. Nothing is ever simple. While the MEK substitute works great for getting off the old fabric bond and other materials, it would not budge the masking tape that was applied to the ribs and joint areas. Only a heat gun seemed to do that. Lots of little pieces to remove.

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24 Oct 2020 - Many thanks to Ken and Lorraine Morris from Taildragger Aviation for their kind and continued support answering many questions during my project. I asked Lorraine what I should do about my cracking and flaking Plexiglas panel and she said they had reproduced exact copies! That was an understatement. The panel looks amazing and will restore the instrument panel perfectly after Matt paints the area in the original silver gray under colors. I will place a brown backing sheet under the Plexiglas more than likely to get the brown panel cover match.

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I also ordered some nice vinyl Cessna 140 vertical stablizer decals from Graphicsmaxx on eBay. The company is based in the Philppines but the shipping was surprisingly quick and customer service as great. As an added bonus, I even found an original little Scott Tailwheel hubcap to replace the missing one. So, things continue to plod along and get completed. I am starting to get excited as I can see it coming together. Steve

[regular122]

6 Nov 2020 - With the early and damaging ice storms here in Oklahoma, I have not been able to get to the plane as much as I would have liked due to clean up. But, we are moving forward once again. Major scrub down of the left wing is almost complete. I decided that since the wing is open I would clean everything, not just surfaces. Lots of little residue hides in these old wings. And I found the creation of of some dirt dobber that managed to find his way inside the flap slots. If the fabric is covered correctly, these wings should last a couple of decades or more so best to have the aluminum inside nice and clean.

The Next step will be zinc phosphating the leading edge and tip surfaces. Intent is to lightly spray whatever was originally lightly sprayed. I called the help line of the Stewart's System. Instant connection with a very knowledgeable pilot / A&P. I wanted to make sure that respraying was not only appropriate but that the zinc phosphate (a zinc chromate replacement) was OK to use with the Stewart's System. He said it was. So after the clean & phosphate, I will begin to lay in the felting for the leading edge. Have to say that so far, the Stewart's help line has been wonderful.

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Meanwhile, Matt has been busy with the interior. Now that the sinful ugly panel is apart, he has been able to lay the base coat 'French Silver Gray' color as per original. Again, many thanks to Lorraine Morris of Taildraggers for answering our technical questions on color type. Here is where we are as of today.

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After 8 months of work now I had hoped to be flying it again by now but then on reflection, alot has been covered in a short time. It will get done when it is done. Better to do it right than right now.

Some Questions: My turn and bank indicator is very faded and darkened yellow where the white used to be. So much so that when I have flown the Cessna it is very hard to see the ball and the indicator lines. Not something I like. I purchased a much better condition one (visibly anyway) from a group deal where a guy in CA was converting a banged up 140 into a flight sim. He didn't need the instruments, none of which seemed to be affected. I bought as many as I could which was three (Altimeter, VSI and T&B). So my question is, is there a safe way to know if the T&B is functional? Are there any tricks or pitfalls to removing the old one and installing the better one? Thanks in advance, Steve

[4004]

Steve:
Did you pull the tanks out of the wings? If not, I suggest you do so and check the bottoms for corrosion, especially where the bottoms sat on the OEM "felt like" material which was known to absorb salt atmosphere and over time result in bands of corrosion there. FWIW
As to the T&B, IIRC, that's driven by the small venturi on the left side of the boot cowl. Consider removing the venturi and and with a piece of rubber hose couple to the T&B and y'all hold it or affixed outside the truck and "road test" it - should give some indication, needle movement, noisy bearings, etc. Kinda "thinking out of the box/airplane"!