Paint the screws or not

Simon Hitchen · #1 10-03-2016, 05:05 PM

Im well into the painting process now and have finished both wings. Question I have is should I paint the screws that hold the fuel tank to the spar? I was thinking single stage urethane but wondered how well the screws hold up to the screwdriver. Id rather have unpainted screws than untidy chipped ones.

Thanks,

Chino Tom · #2 10-03-2016, 05:14 PM

The screws that were not going to be removed (like the fuel tank screws)
are painted on my RV. All of the ones that will be removed for inspections
are unpainted stainless.

f14av8r · #3 10-03-2016, 05:56 PM

When I had to remove my fuel tank, I sure was glad none of my fuel tank screws were painted! Not having the screws painted made removing and replacing the tank much easier and avoided damaging the paint job.

Simon Hitchen · #4 10-03-2016, 07:29 PM

I agree, that's why I left them out during the paint job, just incase I have to remove a tank at some point.

jibby212 · #5 10-04-2016, 05:05 AM

If you want painted screws I would use stainless. Sand blast them and paint separately.

Captain Avgas · #6 10-04-2016, 05:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jibby212

If you want painted screws I would use stainless. Sand blast them and paint separately.

Using stainless screws for the fuel tanks is very bad engineering and would not be approved by Vans. Milspec #8 stainless screws are typically 80,000 psi Ultimate Tensile Strength. Milspec cad plated steel screws as supplied by Vans are 120,000 psi.

I'd use the cad plated screws supplied by Vans for the fuel tanks and not paint them. People think that they're never going to take off their fuel tanks ...but many have to to fix leaks down the track.

sblack · #7 10-04-2016, 06:33 AM

Nice paint job btw!

dougknight · #8 10-04-2016, 09:04 AM

I took a single hole punch and made little rounds from blue masking tape and put them over the screw heads prior to painting. 650 hours later it still looks like the day it was painted. In the event of ever having to pull the tank simply score with a paint cutter and peel the tape off.

TCONROY · #9 10-04-2016, 10:17 AM

I just had my -7 painted and I spent quite a bit of time dividing up all the screws into individual baggies identifying what they were for and what color they should be painted. I'm really happy I did that as the resulting painted screws looks really good. I figured that if they get beat-up over time I can switch to stainless or just have some more painted.

wirejock · #10 10-04-2016, 10:32 AM

Not to hijack but what if you wrap? Would it be better to wrap without screws then run them in a small hole or wrap over them and hope they never have to come out?