Sequence question

I am close to being ready to pain the cockpit and baggage area of my project and have a couple of sequence questions. The front deck is off, so it is completely open. I plan to remove the rudder pedals, parking brake, and interior vent lines and all fluid fittings during painting.

1. I presume I would want the upright cap strips over the main bulkheads to be installed for painting. The roll bar and canopy frame have been fitted, and I have bolted the roll bar in place. Is it OK to rivet the cap strips once the roll bar has been installed?

2. Should the canopy frame side tracks be bolted to the fuselage for interior painting?

3. Is it best to extend the interior paint to the inside and outside of the canopy tracks and also the canopy and forward decks? So interior paint all the way to the corner of the side skins?

Should the flap actuator cover (or any other covers) be painted in place versus painting separately?

Should I paint screw heads for all the cover attachments?

Thanks for your help!!

Bill

Hey Bill,

I would fit and match-drill the cap strips, but paint them separately and install them very late in the build, reason being that you may want to run some wiring through there. I nearly buttoned mine up, but someone her convinced me otherwise....and sure enough, I ran my magnetometer wiring in that very spot! They're also a good place to mount LED map lights.

Paint all covers separately. I wouldn't bother painting the screws, as they'll get chipped up during the install if you aren't ultra-careful. Good luck!