The Rebirth of Cessna 140 NC3771V

[regular122]

11 Dec 2020 Update (Cont from previous page) - Once the felt was tacked into place, I then trimmed it to about 3/4" on either side of the leading edge while also cutting notches around each rib so the felt could be folded under. The felt shaped around the wing tip nicely and was easy to work with as I smoothed out wrinkles around curved surfaces at the tip. I like the result.

I was going to apply the Eko Bond today but the temperature never rose above the high 40s so I will have to wait. The manufacturer says the bond should only be applied from 65F - 95F. In the meantime I can lay the new wires for the landing light and install that before the fabric goes on.

One more little thing completed! Steve

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[regular122]

28 Dec 2020 - 2 Jan 2021 Update - Cold weather and temperatures below 65 degrees have prevented working with the fabric bond on the wings. In the interim, Matt was able to get the gear legs all cleaned up and painted. Decals have been applied to both sides. The fuselage is about ready to move to the same airport as the wings.

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On my end, in addition to the Grimes Landing Light model D-3040-A, I was fortunate enough to find through the Cessna 120-140 Association's Facebook page an incredible General Electric AS-1B Radio / Transceiver. I know my aircraft had it because my logbooks show the Sinclair maintenance crew worked on it in 1951. While I will certainly not be able to use it as an actual radio, I can't wait to explore an idea I have to mount it. More to follow on that once I have it in hand.

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So, with the radio found, I needed to find an original Electro-Voice Hand Mike. One eBay search netted a still new in the box 205-S Model, the very one the GE AS-1B uses and the one in the Cessna 140 parts manual. I paid $30 plus shipping for a new in the box microphone from the late 1940s. Amazing what is out there. Matt has already remounted the hand microphone holder on the left side of the cockpit.

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More continued on the next post...

[regular122]

28 Dec 2020 - 2 Jan 2021 Update (Con't) - The cold weather temperatures gave me the motivation to do a complete overhaul of the Grimes Landing Light. When I got the light, it was sold as in working condition. We did a test on it and it did work, although it was sluggish and the overall condition of the light was pretty beat up. The flange with the screw holes was bent every which way and uneven. I did a test fit to ensure it would actually mount in the wing. It does.

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Next I did as complete a strip down of the light as I could. I was never able to get the cast housing halves apart, but everything else came out. The wires were decent enough but the fittings, solder and cloth on them was ratty. I re-soldered the fittings, cleaned up the original positive wire hole in the lamp bowl (its was a puncture with metal lacerations!), cut a T-Slot in the lamp bowl (canopy) for the soldered washer to actually pass through, and then Gary and I gave all the wires a voltage test and then encased them in new heat shrink. Lots of life left in this old lamp now.

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The gears were hung up on something. Not sure what. Grit, grease, felt. Yes felt. There is on the geared bronze lamp bowl mount a pin that it swings on, when the two halves of the cast case are joined together. On one side, the pin looks bigger, like a stop for a punch pin. That is deceptive. The smaller side is not smaller at all. It is hollow and has a 1 inch piece of 1/16th dia. felt inserted in the this hole. In theory, it acts as an oiler to the bronze geared Lamp Bowl (Canopy) mount which has an opening directly above the gear teeth. Why they designed it this way is anyone's guess, but it became a source of obstruction for the gears. I was finally able to break it free and from there, further tear down the lamp and clean it all up.

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More update follow in next post....

[regular122]

28 Dec 2020 - 2 Jan 2021 Update (Con't) - The next step was to make or modify parts to get humpty back together again. After cleaning up the lamp positive wire hole in the canopy assembly (lamp bowl) from a jagged edge to a nice round hole, I then cut a T-Slot into it so the soldered washer end of the positive wire could just past through rather than requiring a complete removal as it was originally. Why it would leave the factory with a positive wire passing through a jagged hole is a mystery.

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Using the concrete hangar floor as a nice hard flat surface, I then used a wooden block and a small hammer to flatten all the flanged area where the screws mount the light to the wing. Took some beating but finally got it presentable again.

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The last item was to make a phenolic insulator replacement for one of the actuator arms that had broken.

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More to follow on the update in next post...

[regular122]

28 Dec 2020 - 2 Jan 2021 Update (Con't) - With all parts repaired, replaced or refurbished, Gary hooked up the wires to test it out. It worked and the motor ran smoother and faster than from the first test and there was no gear obstruction of any kind. The lamp fully deployed and redeployed.

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Now that I had it all working properly, next came the final finishing and paint. I used some Zinc-based gray spray paint for the internal canopy bowl, since it will likely gain moisture when deployed and not be seen. The rest of the assembly was painted and marked to better match the original appearance. The exterior of the flange was buffed out in the bare metal and polished, since that is how the control surfaces on the wing will look and it will match.

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For the bulb slip ring, since it was so rough and since it will only be getting scraped, I decided to use Gun Blue to treat the metal and prevent rust. Once blued, I then oiled the ring. It makes a nice dark contrast to the metal flange and bowl.

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More on the update in next post...

[regular122]

Last post of the 28 Dec 2020 - 2 Jan 2021 Update - I now know a lot more about Grimes Landing Lights than I ever thought I would need to know. And I truly appreciate the tech data available through this forum. I found the Electrical schematics here and also the Grimes service manual for these lights. They were a huge help! Although I likely would have taken everything apart anyway, it was nice to have a manual to figure out what all the parts do and where they were supposed to go. I had no left over parts!

The last little nice touch I added was to replicate the Grimes data labels on the motor and housing. I have no idea what the serial number was for this landing light. I gave it the serial number of my plane. I did these labels not only to look nice but also for whoever ends up with this plane after I do. One, they will know what kind of light it is, and two, they will know when the restoration was done on the lamp.

Here is the finished and restored Grimes D-3040-A Landing Light. It was fun to knock something out to completion for a change. Happy New Year to all. I am hoping 2021 is when NC3771V takes to the skies again. Steve

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[2066]

That really looks great -- you've taken "refurb" and "restoration" to high levels. The labeling is a neat idea, too, and just adds to the "newness" appearance. No doubt we can all imagine how impressed a new owner will be many years from now to see the care & excellence that went into even the ole landing light. Valuable pics and description for those of us facing maintenance on our lights, too -- thanks for sharing!

[regular122]

Update 16 Jan 2021 - We successfully moved the fuselage today from Matt's shop to Twin Lakes where the wings are. For the first time in 6 months, most of the aircraft is in the same place. Well, airport anyway. Below is the pic of us hauling it in last July.

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Here is the one of us hauling it out! Appreciate the help of Matt Stewart (brakes and trailering) and Matt Nichols (polishing and painting). They are on either side of me in the group pic.

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All decals except Dino have been applied. Plane is buffed and will need a small wipe down before applying John's 360 coating to it. I figure if all those flying warbird museums use it, then it must be good stuff.

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Continued in next post...

[regular122]

Matt painted the spinner red. Guess it goes with that aggressive 90hp engine. I like it.

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The decals I got from the Philippines turned out nice but they were almost unusable. There was no sticky wax paper pull off to apply one side and then pull off the other. Matt carefully made a painter's tape backing and lined it up. It worked and the decals pulled off.

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Once I got it settled at its next temporary home, I could not resist gently resting the panels on the instrument cluster and then sticking the yokes in for a shot of what they might look like finished. It looks really good. All knobs are painted the yoke color as well except the mixture. Need to get all the cables back in and the panels mounted now. I still have the plexiglas panel to install, and all the cables, the trim rings for the instrument openings, and need to make a glove box. If the weather remains below 65 degrees for the foreseeable weeks, then I will shift to some of that work while waiting to get warmer weather for the fabric bond.

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QUESTION: Any special care needed to fabric over the landing light opening? I am assuming it gets covered over and then I mount the lamp after cutting an opening much like an inspection window. Has anybody covered their wings with one of the landing lights installed on the wing?

[2356]

In reference to your landing light, you seem to be missing a piece. You should have an inner ring that has 6/32 nut plates to secure the light assembly.