Hello all. I am one of those builders that takes forever to build an airplane. I've had a completed rudder stored in my dry and climate controlled basement now for about 10 years. ... Yes, I know... Anyway, I took it down from up on a top shelf that was located directly below a small staircase that goes from my garage up into my laundry room. The left side of the rudder has been exposed facing upwards all these years, and was loaded up with all kinds of nasty and oily looking residue. I can't even imagine what this stuff is but possibly mouse droppings among other things. I tried cleaning it off with some lacquer thinner (the only available at the time), which cleaned up a lot of it, but left a roughly two ft. square area of left over corrosion. Most of it is minor pitting, but pitting none the less.
How do I fix this? Is this too large an area to simply compound off or otherwise buff out until the pitting is gone? Or should I think about reskining the rudder completely or even building a whole new rudder?
I will try to upload some pics of the pitting shortly.
How do I fix this? Is this too large an area to simply compound off or otherwise buff out until the pitting is gone? Or should I think about reskining the rudder completely or even building a whole new rudder?
I will try to upload some pics of the pitting shortly.