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Wing rib corrosion

jcirelli

Member
Good afternoon,

I'll reach out to the factory on Monday, but wanted to see if anyone else was experiencing the same thing: I've noticed some slight surface corrosion on the wing ribs - specifically the side that would have been against the forming block. The sticker that indentifies the part number is dated in March, so they're only about five months old... They've been stored carefully in a hangar.

Has anyone else noticed this on their recently delivered wings?
 

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Check this out.

E7705DA1-F70F-48FB-A2DB-44E13AD542CB.jpg

D9A35E88-5C08-40A5-A672-58D33258E74B.jpg

Van's said this is burned oil from the laser-cutting process, not corrosion, and can be safely buffed off. I assume the answer you'll get from Van's is "build on".
 
Scuff it with purple scotchbrite, etch, alodine and it will be corrosion proof until the time you prime it.
 
I spoke with Sterling this morning from Van's. He looked at the pictures, and surmised that this is not corrosion or burnt oil splatter. He explained that early into the hydroforming process, the factory used a baking powder to allow the material to slip/slide on the forming blocks. During this process, some of the powder material was compressed and formed these spots.

He advised that no action is necessary on my part (scuffing off, priming, etc). My intent has been to not prime the ribs. Though I am starting to reconsider this.

He also explained that the "gouging" scratching from the tooling isn't a concern, but can be buffed out.

Joe
 
I spoke with Sterling this morning from Van's. He looked at the pictures, and surmised that this is not corrosion or burnt oil splatter. He explained that early into the hydroforming process, the factory used a baking powder to allow the material to slip/slide on the forming blocks. During this process, some of the powder material was compressed and formed these spots.

He advised that no action is necessary on my part (scuffing off, priming, etc). My intent has been to not prime the ribs. Though I am starting to reconsider this.

He also explained that the "gouging" scratching from the tooling isn't a concern, but can be buffed out.

Joe

For clarification, it was not baking powder or soda used - it was plain flour.
 
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