The Rebirth of Cessna 140 NC3771V

[regular122]

Edd, I have not pulled the tanks. The bands are visible on the outside and you can see under them by pulling up a little. No corrosion noted. I am sill mulling the T&B indicator. I suppose I can always replace it at any time.

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14 Nov 2020 UPDATE: - Wing work plodding along. Never knew so much old fabric bond would take so long to remove. Almost ready for the zinc phosphate spray on leading & trail edges and gas tanks (basically anything that was originally zincked).

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The interior is coming along nicely. Matt had a chore to find someone to mix the panel cover formula. It's a PPG formula. I guess with O'Reilley's now serving as the local paint mixer on metal paints, no one can or wants to do Pittsburgh paint formulas. At any rate, we finally found a mixer in Norman, OK. Turned out great. The gooey, rough carpeted top looks like new along with the interior sides, doors and interior frame.

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Continued in next post....

[regular122]

....UPDATE 14 Nov 2020 continued - The panel itself is a nice French Silver Gray now. The panel covers are India (whatever that is) but once again, Lorraine Morris was a superb help in giving us the special mix formula of the scheme to match the original 1948 color. The panel covers are only only slightly tacked on rather than set in the pictures and the Plexiglas panel and cables are not installed. Still, the results are super exciting. Doesn't even look like the same interior.

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Project is definitely gathering momentum. Steve

[8424]

Steve, that really looks nice!

Steve A H

[6643]

Are you trying to figure out how to test your turn and bank? Is it electric? Power it up and hold it in your hand, make a banked turn and watch the needle. If it's bad it will be very sluggish and likely noisy. If it acts reasonably normal, go ahead and try it in the plane. Worst case is you'll have to take it back out. (The ball is pretty bullet proof...)

If the markings are sort of yellow they're probably radon...

[8233]

Are you trying to figure out how to test your turn and bank? Is it electric? Power it up and hold it in your hand, make a banked turn and watch the needle. If it's bad it will be very sluggish and likely noisy. If it acts reasonably normal, go ahead and try it in the plane. Worst case is you'll have to take it back out. (The ball is pretty bullet proof...)

If the markings are sort of yellow they're probably radon...

I've also heard that it should take 4 or more minutes to spin down after power off. Shorter times than that may be an indicator of bearing issues.

[regular122]

Thanks guys. I will see if the T&B indicator is electrical.

Another dumb question - Can the transmitter handset jack on the left of the panel be adapted to take a send / receive headset? Until now I have been using a 4-place box that plugs into the passenger jacks. Lots of cables in the way though when you are flying with a passenger. Would love to be able to keep the configuration of the panel original in appearance but notice there is only one jack on the left side for the handset (I am guessing that is what it is for). Steve

[6643]

The original configuration was a loudspeaker and a hand held mike. Not something you really want to preserve...

Mine has dual jacks on the rear doorpost panels. I think the original had a headset jack there on the pilot's side.

[regular122]

You are right about the speaker. I have even used it when we could not get dual communication with a passenger. I am glad it still works but you are correct it is something I do not wish to make my primary means of comms.

The rear door post idea seems like a good one. Do you have a pic or diagram to show where it is installed? Thanks John. Steve

[6643]

No photo. I'll try to get one next time I get out there.

I just checked. You can see it in the parts catalog. Page 106, Item 34. Come to think of it, I think it's actually in the rear of the wing root panel.

[4004]

What does the small venturi on the pilots' side, that I spoke about, drive? (T&B?) Your compass in the top center hole. For the younger folks, the layout is a carry over from the old IFR days - "needle, ball, and air speed"!