Painting aileron push rods.

JoopSJ · #1 10-03-2018, 10:15 AM

I had to re-do my aileron push rods (the small ones)
Trying to avoid shipping costs to this part of the world I ordered the parts locally.
Question:
Do I have to powder-coat the rods or can I also paint them?

krw5927 · #2 10-03-2018, 10:29 AM

I remade mine using 4130 steel tube of the same dimensions that was not powder coated. I simply gave them a good scuff, primed, and painted, and they're holding up great after 4.5 years of flying.

Carl Froehlich · #3 10-03-2018, 10:49 AM

I paint the powered coated parts to match the rest of the plane. Light sand with 200 paper, wipe down, light primer and paint.

Carl

az_gila · #4 10-03-2018, 11:26 AM

All of the early -3, -4 and -6 RVs kits were delivered before Vans started powder coating the steel parts.

Clean, scuff and epoxy prime and you will be fine.

One other option is to locally cadmium plate the parts like all of the AN steel hardware. But I'm guessing the Netherlands has probably banned cadmium.

JoopSJ · #5 10-03-2018, 01:42 PM

Thanks all for the replies.

wirejock · #6 10-03-2018, 03:46 PM

Remember to prime the inside.

jibby212 · #7 10-03-2018, 05:14 PM

Personally I prefer paint over vans powder coat. Several of my powder coated parts chipped and exposed large areas of rust underneath and I am not even flying yet. Prep with Ospho, epoxy prime and topcoat with whatever. A lot easier to touch up or sand blast off if you ever need to. I work in the railing business and deal with wet applied paint with chemical prep and powder coat. The wet paint far surpasses the powder coat in corrosion resistance. And yes, I actually remade those same pushrods and painted them.