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Tail wheel assembly paint

JDA_BTR

Well Known Member
Is it the custom to prime and paint the steel tailwheel assembly? Any precautions? I suppose I’d keep paint out of the aft bearing area.
 
Yes - prime (two part epoxy primer) and top coat with a good quality enamel paint. Mask off the two areas that mate to the steel fuselage bracket. For those bare steel areas apply grease during assembly.

For that matter anytime you have two pieces of metal making contact, and you would like to be able to disassemble those two pieces at some point in the future, apply grease.

Carl
 
Thanks Carl. Is it possible to mask off the mating surface on the inside of the fuselage part?

I'm also curious best way to clean the part. Does alumiprep work on this or make a problem? Soap and water may not be enough there is a fair amount of oil on everything.
 
No need to mask the internals of the brackets.

To prep steel parts I typically use Coleman Fuel and Scotchbrite pads.

Carl
 
Thanks Carl. Is it possible to mask off the mating surface on the inside of the fuselage part?

I'm also curious best way to clean the part. Does alumiprep work on this or make a problem? Soap and water may not be enough there is a fair amount of oil on everything.

I just did one last week. I wiped down with Acetone and primed with Rust-Oleum. Been using the same stuff for more than 20-years and it works well at low cost. Will top coat with color TBD Rust-Oleum after assembly. (Black, White, or Grey)

I used BLUE 3M masking tape on the inside surface and outside mating surface to keep the primer off. I also used wheel bearing grease on the mating surface for assembly.
 
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Paint is good, but Cerakote is an option too. Check with your gunsmith or other Cerakote shop.

We're doing a lot of our steel parts in Cerakote now as it is corrosion resistant, thin, light, and removable by bead blasting... unlike powder.

It is not meant for paint topcoat, so choose your process and go for it.
 
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