sglynn

sglynn

Well Known Member
What did you do in regards to prime and paint of the brackets that hold on the wheel pants, and also the nose wheel fork? Did you prime and paint with airplane paint at the time you finally painted the whole airplane? Or did you prime and spray with Rustoleum thinking these parts will get dirty and greasy?

I'm just doing my 7A nose pant and doing an annual on my Cherokee and the similar brackets are only primed on the Cherokee and they look like ****, even after cleaning them. I'm thinking prime and spray paint wheel parts with Rustoleum. Is that a dumb idea?
 
Didn't do anything. They are alclad and are quite happy, and easy to clean, in their original unpainted state. After five years and 500 hours flying off of a nice 2,000' grass strip no problems at all.
 
On mine I did epoxy primer and acrylic enamel, I think it looks better, even tho you won't see them.....
 
After 16.5 years and 2,895 hours

I did nothing. No issue leaving them bare Alclad as they came. Maybe you can find someone with more hours that did something and I bet they have the same result as mine.

Build it light and do not do more work that does not add value.
 
I'm with Condor - never even thought of painting them on any of our planes - they get dirty, you clean them - and don't worry about damaging paint. They can't be seen from the outside - and I doubt the judges at OSH would make you take the pants off to get the Lindy.... :)
 
Thanks for all you experiences. Glad to hear none of the treatments have adverse consequences.

I've decided to prime and paint with spray can paint. I've found an ACE Hardware brand in light grey that is almost the same as the Van's paint color on the gear legs.

I appreciate doing nothing, I just decided I like the glossy finish.

Much appreciated.
 
Alclad is a surface treatment. That means that every cut edge of the perimeter and holes is exposed. Not only are those pieces exposed to moisture and contaminants, but in a way where residues build up and are retained for long periods of time. Another issue is that a composite surface in contact with an aluminum surface will abrade that surface over time. Additionally, even pant enclosed pieces get grit pitted over time. (Inside of a wheel pant can be a sand blaster on some runways).

Probably not a huge deal, but the peace of mind for me was worth the minimal cost to have them powder coated. No they can't be seen, but if I ever sell my ship, any prospective buyer will be told that all possible parts of the fairing assembly were coated. Whether that has value or not remains to be seen. It would have value to me as a buyer but probably not enough to be a deal breaker.
 
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