Firewall angle painting

[DanH]

Ken, I'm sorry that you feel besieged enough to go personal, but the facts remain. Please don't declare 25.853 materials to be safe in contact with a firewall

Let's just agree to disagree, and move on.

Fair enough.

[bret]

From the sidelines, with popcorn, I enjoy Dan's common sense tests, no need for multi million dollar test equipment, just a way to measure temps, simulate an engine fire, wa la! Data! Coming from a background of auto, truck, marine and Drag racing, I have seen my share of oil and gas fires. It is just amazing how fast and instantaneous a small oil leak self ignites on hot headers! let alone one under pressure, Go from a nice peaceful blue sky day to blow torch self destruction in milliseconds, just like Dan's test rig!

[Ken Martin]

Originally Posted by bret

From the sidelines, with popcorn, I enjoy Dan's common sense tests, no need for multi million dollar test equipment, just a way to measure temps, simulate an engine fire, wa la! Data! Coming from a background of auto, truck, marine and Drag racing, I have seen my share of oil and gas fires. It is just amazing how fast and instantaneous a small oil leak self ignites on hot headers! let alone one under pressure, Go from a nice peaceful blue sky day to blow torch self destruction in milliseconds, just like Dan's test rig!

Again, I'm going to speak about the "specific" application of small amounts of Fire Resistant paint applied to Aluminum angles riveted to the firewall outside of the firebox -- of a GA type aircraft. (I qualified my statement before, but just in case someone want's to use my words as a blanket statement for all applications.)

Aluminum turns to liquid before reaching 1250F. You do a "Common Sense" test using 2000F flame and are more worried about the paint than the substrate it is adhered to???

With my 20+ years of Aeronautical Engineering experience, I have to agree with a previous poster who stated, (and I summarize) "If my aircraft is reaching those temps, I have bigger concerns to worry about."

[rightrudder]

Originally Posted by rapid_ascent

I don't want to get into a discussion of whether or not to paint the angles at all. That is a different topic. I'm still thinking about that one.

My question is can the firewall stiffeners even be seen when the interior is completed. I mean without standing on your head.

I'm curious what others did that did decide to paint the angles. Did you just prime or did you prime and topcoat with the interior paint?

I went with water-reducible primer and JetFlex top coat, to match the rest of the interior:

[WingsOnWheels]

right or wrong, I had primed all my firewall angle with a self-etching primer prior to assembly. When I painted the interior, I masked off the firewall and shot the whole thing with a coat of epoxy primer and then urethane topcoat. I'm happy with the results. The epoxy and topcoat are both PPG Products.

Topcoat is PPG Omni MTK. I have been very happy with the paint in this application. It is a single-stage urethane. The coverage was great and even shooting at odd angles and tight spaces with my cheap gun and inexperienced hand, I only got one small run in a place that can't be seen anyway.

[rapid_ascent]

Doug,

Thanks for the pic. I think that is what I'm going to do. Did you use Jetflex WR? Your paint color looks about like what I was looking for. What color is it?

[rightrudder]

Hi Ray,

Yes, it is JetFlex WR. Very easy to use, and the fumes are not bad at all. I'm not sure what the color code is, but the color is called Gray Beige.

Here's another overall/panel shot of the interior to give you a better idea of how it looks:

[rapid_ascent]

Doug,

I think that color looks nice. I ordered a color chip card from Alliance yesterday so soon I hope to be able to make my selection. Bruceh used that color also and he had lots of pics. It hard to be sure of the color on a computer screen. I'm trying to match the Ash leather from Classic Aero so I'll see how it goes.

[rightrudder]

I think you'll like it. I wanted a neutral color, on the lighter side for a nice airy feel in the cockpit. I like to see contrast between the darker forms of the EFIS, dials, etc. and the panel.

It's not the most durable paint in the world, but super easy to apply, and a cinch to touch up...I use one of those sponge-type brushes and just dab it on. When dry, it's nearly impossible to see where original paint ends and touch-up begins.