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**N96337** · 06-17-2006, 14:10

Re: 88M: Almost ready to sandblast

Mike, I rebuilt a J-3 for a friend of mine a few years ago, and of the fueslage, we saved tubing from the baggage area forward on one side, and from the front door post forward on the other, and nothing at all above the top longerons. At that point, it was about a toss up as far as price to build his or just buy another fuselage. Since it was a '39 model J-3 and a bit different from the ones offered, and also since it had been his late Dad's plane, we decided to rebuild his. When the smoke had cleared and it was ready to sandblast and prime, he was into it about 10 grand. Like I said, that was a few years ago... shop rates are higher now. I have no idea what the factory would charge for a new one, but for cubs, I see the $14 grand figure quite often. A good used fuselage would be considerably less (and I'd tend to want to pay less than 1/2 that for a really good one), and probably quicker if the corrosion is indeed that bad.
As far as the cluster.... personally, I hate to see a splice in the middle of a tube, so I'd most likely take the tubes out to the next cluster or attach point....gonna have to weld anyway, so why make a splice in the middle??? Sometimes that's not practical, but I try to follow that rule. Clusters have an order that they were assembled in the factory, and I always follow that order when repairing/replacing them.
Make sense?
JH

**mhorowit** · 06-17-2006, 14:48

Re: 88M: Almost ready to sandblast

Originally posted by N96337

As far as the cluster.... personally, I hate to see a splice in the middle of a tube, so I'd most likely take the tubes out to the next cluster or attach point....gonna have to weld anyway, so why make a splice in the middle??? Sometimes that's not practical, but I try to follow that rule. Clusters have an order that they were assembled in the factory, and I always follow that order when repairing/replacing them.
Make sense?
JH

JH - when you say "take the tubes out to the next cluster..." it sounds like you are disturbing that "next cluster"???? - Mike

**crispy critter** · 06-18-2006, 03:46

Re: 88M: Almost ready to sandblast

Originally posted by mhorowit

I'm about at the stage where I remove her legs.
Seat came out so I can no longer sit in her and make engine noises

Looking at some of the rusted area and just thinking "what if the cost of repairing this rust damage would exceed the cost of a fuselage?". Unfortunately, I know neither the cost of a fuselage or what the cost will be to do the welding.

Just to have in my back pocket... what's a cost for a used, good condition BC-12D fuselage? Availability?

Second, I'm not going to weld on the fuselage; I'll leave that to the pro; however I'm looking at some of the clusters, one of which has 5 tubes joining a point on a longeron and wondering how a pro would approach a cluster that rusted? Can he buy a cluster and weld it into place or will he have to start from scratch? I know about elaborately shaped finger straps, but how far can he go with straps before deciding to rebuild the cluster? Or is that an impossible-to-answer question?

BBQ Chicken Thighs, Potato Salad, grilled veggies for tonight; gin and tonic to start. Smaller welding tip on order. - Mike

Mike,
You sound as if you are trying to rebuild this bird for less then what a flying T-craft would cost......I don't want to sound negetive but it is almost if not completely impossible to do that.As far as you have taken it apart it will be costly and time consuming.You could have bought a show winner for what it's going to cost you in the long run. With that being said please don't get discouraged because at least when it does fly you will know exactly what you have and how was restored.....plus,maybe it will be the next winner at Oshkosh?????

**mhorowit** · 06-18-2006, 08:19

Re: 88M: Almost ready to sandblast

Originally posted by crispy critter

Mike,
You sound as if you are trying to rebuild this bird for less then what a flying T-craft would cost......I don't want to sound negetive but it is almost if not completely impossible to do that.As far as you have taken it apart it will be costly and time consuming.You could have bought a show winner for what it's going to cost you in the long run. With that being said please don't get discouraged because at least when it does fly you will know exactly what you have and how was restored.....plus,maybe it will be the next winner at Oshkosh?????

Kevin - I'm in it for the fun. It's my form of entertainment.
So, the girls treating you well on Father's Day (translates to being left alone to work on the a/c

)?

**N96337** · 06-18-2006, 08:59

Re: 88M: Almost ready to sandblast

Originally posted by mhorowit

JH - when you say "take the tubes out to the next cluster..." it sounds like you are disturbing that "next cluster"???? - Mike

Mike, I will if I don't have to disassemble a whole cluster.. usually there's only a few tubes coming out, and I can get in there to weld in a new tube without having to get that wild. It just looks better in my mind, and is as good as it ever was.
JH

**mhorowit** · 06-18-2006, 09:11

Re: 88M: Almost ready to sandblast

JH - I took the cup-brush and my angle grinder out to 88M this morning and went over the spots where there was obvious rust and blistered paint.

Didn't look as bad as I thought it would, although that rusted cluster has several tubes that are rusted thru - Mike

**dedrekon** · 06-18-2006, 09:22

Re: 88M: Almost ready to sandblast

Mike,
I do have a pretty decent post-war fuselage hanging in the rafters of my hangar. There are some pictures on my website: http://www.dedrekon.com/

Vincent

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88M: Almost ready to sandblast

88M: Almost ready to sandblast

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