What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Interior Finishing related questions

CharlieWaffles

Well Known Member
I am getting ready to prep my interior for finishing and had a few questions.

1) How far do the front seats move forward and aft once installed? I am trying to figure out how far aft and forward they move to a specific point of reference - say the back of the seat tunnel cover (near the passenger foot well area).

2) Are people finding it easier to paint the canopy top BEFORE or AFTER installing the windows?

3) Which scotchbrite did you use to roughing the interior surface for paint adhesion? All my roughing to date has been the red pads, but I woundered since this will be more visible, if the grey is sufficient.

Thanks for the info!
 
Mark,
I have my seat rails removed, so I can't help you there. I would definately paint the inside of the cabin cover before it's installed. It is much easier to manage. You can always touch up and surprises from damage later, just protect it while you are assembling things inside and out. Assuming you are painting the cabin cover and not installing a headliner, I would sand first with 80 grit paper to get it nice and smooth. Then come back with some reduced resin to fill all the pin holes. Repeat and sand again until you think you have the pin holes filled. Then spray with a filler primer, sand with 320 grit, then an epoxy sealer, then color. When you install the windows mask the area around the windows and protect all the area around the inside so you don't get the adhesive on the new paint. If you use the Lord adhesive or the Sika adhesive, they both clean up off painted surfaces with mineral spirits, which will not affect your new paint. BTW, do all your sanding with a sanding block.
Hope this helps

Edit: I just looked at your website and noticed you are using the Aerosport overhead. Are you using their headliner? If not, think about considering it. It dresses out the overhead and the windows very nicely. If you use the headliner, you might want to outline the inside window frames with black semi-gloss to match the trim piece Aerosport provides. The carbon fiber console has mold release on it and you really need to sand it and clean it up to get the paint to stick. On the carbon overhead I would just sand with 320 wet or dry
 
Last edited:
I am getting ready to prep my interior for finishing and had a few questions.

2) Are people finding it easier to paint the canopy top BEFORE or AFTER installing the windows?

Before!!! Upside down on the bench. You'll still have areas that you'll have to retouch. (i.e. the places you use filler around the door. Hold off on the windows as long as you can. I can tell you that I'm glad I don't have the windscreen on yet while I'm finishing the panel. Makes access much easier. I'll be putting all the windows in as soon as it gets warm enough.

3) Which scotchbrite did you use to roughing the interior surface for paint adhesion? All my roughing to date has been the red pads, but I woundered since this will be more visible, if the grey is sufficient.

I used sandpaper on the fiberglass and carbon fiber overhead, and the maroon pads on the aluminum.
 
I painted doors after windows were installed but before installing to cabin top. I painted remaining interior after windows but before doors were installed. Glare shield/center brace flat black then masked off before painting interior. Painted all removable panels separately. Money, time, weight, looks...all of these numbers are low and we are loving it. It can be done both ways.
 
Paint the entire inside of cabin top before windows. Finish it off like the outside of the airplane. You will have to touch up areas around door jams but that is very easy. I recommend painting the majority of the interior. Red scotch pad is perfect. Put on coat of etch primer of your choice. Then paint with a color that will match your interior. Use a 2 part catalyized paint. I did not put paint on the anodized wing spar area. See Photo. Paint visual surface
of all access panels

0_0_0352e7dd20f547742a38a86abeeb9e9f_1

0_0_6c064fae832faa6182e68d222fe4a3e9_1

0_0_a4d738f6b4d0b2d38961eb5ef38e5ca6_1

0_0_c6fa7d20f25c4a569c9f0781f8e34ae0_1

0_0_77294c15d19d3346bef8a21206877668_1


Geoff
 
I am getting ready to prep my interior for finishing and had a few questions.

1) How far do the front seats move forward and aft once installed? I am trying to figure out how far aft and forward they move to a specific point of reference - say the back of the seat tunnel cover (near the passenger foot well area).

Thanks for the info!

Charlie,
I measured my seats today. They travel a total of 5 inches. If you measure from the crotch harness mount on the back seats, the large gold-colored support rod at the aft bottom of the seat is 14" in the back position, and 19" in the forward position. The seat backs are further back than the rod, but the rod is the lowest point that would hit somebody's shins. Hope this helps.
John
 
After final fitting and attaching the door to the cabin top, is the recess in the upper portion of the doors that allows access to the door hinges filled in with cloth/epoxy? It appears this would allow a better weather seal with this area filled in, however removing the doors would be impossible after that. I believe the holes outside of the doors where the door hinge screws are exposed will be filled in with epoxy, so I believe filling in the gap inside the door where the door hinges attach is acceptable also. What do you do?
 
Just my 2 cents - from what I've seen some people fill that area in and some dont and I think its mostly a cosmetic choice as it isnt a big concern for leaking. Most of the time you would likely have a cover on the plane if it were outside anyways, right?

Edit: We did cover our hinge recess and have the McMaster door seals and it never leaks. If we had to we can get a wrench under the cover.

Here are a few pics of examples of how some people finished it off with stock vans seals. Hopefully you're using McMaster but these could give you ideas anyways. I've seen several where they made it removable via two screws. I wouldn't permanently cover the hinges without access screws or some way to get to the nuts but thats just my opinion.

IMG_7055-X2.jpg

IMG_6392-X2.jpg

IMG_4986-X2.jpg
 
Last edited:
I wouldn't. As you say, that is the only way to remove a door later. I make cover out of .020 attached with glassed in rivnuts. I'd hate to wreck a paint job both inside and out just to pull a door.
 
I fabricated four different .032" plates and installed them with proseal. Painted to match door interior. Easy to get a wrench underneath or remove them if needed. Without the plates for the first few cold months, using McMaster seals, we were losing alot of heat to the low pressure area above the cabin. Cold air would enter other areas creating drafts. Once we installed these, the cabin was warmer with slightly less noise.
 
There is no reason you can not fabricate a cover and still remove the door hinges. This is how I did it. This needs to be done if you are using the Mcmaster Carr seals, not only to keep out the air, but also the water. I used a piece of leftover glass cut from the door fabrication, epoxied it in and body worked it flush
IMG_1324.jpg
 
Two questions:
1) Does everyone fill over the 8 screws on the outside of the door that holds the hinges to the door (removing the door with those filled over would be difficult
2) If I just place a cover over the inboard side of the door to cover the hinges, but that cover does not extend over the bend up to the hinge, would not water accumulate in the space between the cover and the hinge? I believe if I were to cover over the hinge, in order to prevent water from accumulating the cover would need to conform to the contour of the door at that point and essentially close in the hinge.
I believe if I place two layers of cloth on the inside of the door and completely hide the hinge, I could 'cut through that cloth if needed to loosen the hinge and remove the door. The only reason I can conceive of having to remove the door is if it was damaged somehow and a damaged door would already have damaged the finish in some way.
 
I have never seen water accumulate in the hinge cover. If it did get in there, it would pour out as soon as you opened the door. You really don't want to glass the hinge in place, nor do you want to glass over the screws on the outside. In fact, when I painted the door, the screws and hinge piece was not attached. If you really want to cover the opening, you could install nut plates on the hinge and then close a large portion of the hinge opening on the top, leaving just enough for the hinge with the nut plates to be removed. You could also fabricate a piece of aluminum that has the nut plates attached to it and glass it in place prior to closing the hinge area. You could then slide the hinge piece out through a very small opening. You could also fab a small piece to cover the end that is removable with a couple of small screws. But like I said, I don't have an issue with water and mine are wide open at the top. My plane is always in a hangar or has a cover on it during overnight trips.

Check out Ivans build site http://ivankristensen.phanfare.com/2292606_3334806#imageID=55423623
 
Last edited:
I did the same as Bill and can attest that there is no problem with water. There are quite a few RV-10 configured this way.
 
How about the hinge part on top of the cabin. Did you leave this open or did you glass over this hinge?
 
I would not be anxious to glass over anything that may come off later, especially the door hinges. I made plates that screw to the hinges with 2 #6 screws. If you look on Ivans web site you can see what he did for that also. I found out later that you can not see the hinges on the top unless you are on a ladder! When you get into the plane, the door is open and it hides the hinge recess, so it can't be seen at that point either.

As I recommended in my prior post, take a good look at Ivans website. This is what I did.
http://ivankristensen.phanfare.com/2292606_3334806#imageID=56811305

You can also find answers to a lot of your questions by searching this forum and viewing other builders logs listed in their signature blocks.
 
I filled the top hinges in with filler and glassed over the top. Put nutplates on the bottom hinges. Now I can remove the doors by removing the four screws in the door. To put a door on, I put the door on and latch it. Then I fish the hinge up into place with a wire inserted from inside thru the nutplate and the screw hole and install the screws.

Only problem possible is if you ever need to remove the upper hinge, but can't see why that should ever be necessary.
 
Back
Top