R

RScott

Well Known Member
Finished the rudder pedals today, will be working on various cockpit interior sheet metal parts soon.

When is the best time to paint the interior? When most stuff is done & I have to pull everything out to mask & paint? Or paint the cockpit now while it is mostly bare and paint remaining parts as I go?

Also, I see lots of RV's with a light gray interior, matching Van's powder coated parts. Doesn't that give you a lot of reflections on the inside of the canopy? What's the best color?

Thanks.
 
If you're going to have fabric on the side panels, covered seats and a little carpet on the floor don't paint anything.
 
painting interior

We are just ahead of you in the fuselage. I read lots of threads here and ideas are all over the board. We decided to etch, alodine, epoxy prime and AcryGlo the interior, then assemble. Just got the last parts painted today. My Tech Adv. did his this way and after 5 years or so, almost no scratches on the interior. We will have some interior panels covering part of the sides and carpet on the floor, but wanted that stuff painted anyway. We will still have to paint other interior parts as we go, ie: seats, baggage area, etc, but think it will look great for many years to come. YMMV :eek:
 
I painted my interior before I started installing any system components and before the top skins forward and aft of the cockpit were shot on. I used Rustoleum Smoke Gray rattlecan paint for the interior. I like the idea of being able to get touch up paint at most any Wal-Mart! Even through all the crawling around I've done installing all the wiring and other stuff, the paint is holding up extremely well.
 
Painting Interior

Richard,
I knew the interior was going to get a lot of wear. I powdered coated everything in the interior that I could haul to the refinisher. I used the light grey and I have been happy with the result. I have not noticed any glare or reflections, it reflects heat well, and the powder coated surface has held up well for two years flying. I did the roll bar, the instrument panel, the rudder petals, all removable panels, control sticks, etc. For the floor, side walls and the inside of the canopy skirt I used a Tap Plastics product, Copon Epoxy Resin Paint. It has some abraison resistance and, while not as good as the powder coating, it has also held up OK. There is a set up charge for powder coating so I tried to do larger batches at one time. I was building before Van's coated the steel parts. I started with them and just kept going.
 
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