Another strut AD and fitting SB done, with pulley upgrade

[PT13Pilot]

Finished the annual on the T-Craft I built the wings on last year. The strut AD went well with all struts good. I went ahead and took the strut fittings down to bare metal as well as the surrounding tubing. Used a hand glass bead blast gun for the final cleaning, made a HUGE mess, but I think it was worth it. Looked, scoped, epoxy primed, 2 part painted it, and opened the drain holes. It looked great inside and out. I figure unless they tell us to cut the fitting off and replace it when the AD comes out, I've done all I can, and am confident it's fine for another 60 years with proper care.
I also replaced all 18 pulleys with ball bearing replacements from Doug at the Luscombe Foundation. He was great to talk to on the phone and very helpful. He also had the shinn brake linings I needed so I ordered the the pulleys and brakes from him. He shipped everything out the same day. The pulleys made the airplane much more pleasant to fly, and the owner loved it. I flew it a few hours while I had it, and I was impressed! Only problem was I now need a chiropractor, my 6'4" frame doesn't fold around like it used to to change some of the pulleys. A friend of mine that sold his Luscombe gave me a spot facer bit and rivet squeeze dies for the brake linings, so that made the lining replacement simple. I can't imagine epoxying them in. Chipping all that out when you need to replace them again would be a huge pain. And with a few tools, the job is a cinch to do with the rivets.
The owner told me that the airplane now flies the way he's wanted it to for the 30 years he's owned it. A happy customer is a good thing!
Happy Holidays to everyone,
Chris

[Forrest Barber]

Re: Another strut AD and fitting SB done, with pulley upgrade

You have helped make my day, Doug of course was very instrumental in getting our Foundation going too! He ( they) have a lot of good parts. Old dog collar rivets so work good. I still have the drill bit and origional punch for setting the rivets from my Dad's tool box.

[Guest]

Re: Another strut AD and fitting SB done, with pulley upgrade

Finished the annual on the T-Craft I built the wings on last year. The strut AD went well with all struts good. I went ahead and took the strut fittings down to bare metal as well as the surrounding tubing. Used a hand glass bead blast gun for the final cleaning, made a HUGE mess, but I think it was worth it. Looked, scoped, epoxy primed, 2 part painted it, and opened the drain holes. It looked great inside and out. I figure unless they tell us to cut the fitting off and replace it when the AD comes out, I've done all I can, and am confident it's fine for another 60 years with proper care.
I also replaced all 18 pulleys with ball bearing replacements from Doug at the Luscombe Foundation. He was great to talk to on the phone and very helpful. He also had the shinn brake linings I needed so I ordered the the pulleys and brakes from him. He shipped everything out the same day. The pulleys made the airplane much more pleasant to fly, and the owner loved it. I flew it a few hours while I had it, and I was impressed! Only problem was I now need a chiropractor, my 6'4" frame doesn't fold around like it used to to change some of the pulleys. A friend of mine that sold his Luscombe gave me a spot facer bit and rivet squeeze dies for the brake linings, so that made the lining replacement simple. I can't imagine epoxying them in. Chipping all that out when you need to replace them again would be a huge pain. And with a few tools, the job is a cinch to do with the rivets.
The owner told me that the airplane now flies the way he's wanted it to for the 30 years he's owned it. A happy customer is a good thing!
Happy Holidays to everyone,
Chris

Hi Chris,

Just a thought, keep an eye on the cables and fair leads near the blasted area. The stray media can get in the lead and cable and wear out the cable faster than normal. I did that once!

Dave

[PT13Pilot]

Re: Another strut AD and fitting SB done, with pulley upgrade

Dave,
I spent forever trying to clean that up. Had plastic in and over everything, and it still went everywhere. Still faster than hand cleaning or chemical stripping I guess. I did do that first before I cleaned the cables and replaced the pulleys.
The only problem, if you can call it that, with the new pulleys were the grove for the cable on the new pulleys aren't as deep as the origionals. The cables from the yokes to the back of the cabin were almost too short by the time they go through so many pulleys with slightly bigger diameter. Had to make sure all the turnbuckles started on the threads at exactly the same time, and still ended up with 1 or 2 with 1 or 2 threads showing. Worked out in the end, but had to take a couple stabs at the rigging to get everything the way I wanted.

Forrest,
Did you get anywhere with Superior on the bungess? These were already showing signs of getting weak, like you and Dave have spoken about. Told the owner what I had read here and would keep him informed. Might try the 3rd used bungee when I change them again. The airplane lives about 50 miles from me, so I don't see it very often, so I told him to keep an eye on them. Only has about 25 hours on them since I changed them in March. Sad they aren't lasting very long. But at least they are a cinch to change with Dave's tool.
And my hand me down brake tools were definately much appreciated!!! He gave me 2 dies for my rivet squeezers, one flat to perfectly fit the rivet head, and the other puts a perfect rolled edge on the little rivets! Made the job a breeze! And I'm pretty sure the linings I removed were origional, and just starting to get into a few of the rivets. The airplane only has 3 owners since 46, and ownershipwise has never left the state of Missouri. Total time is only 685 hours.

[Guest]

Re: Another strut AD and fitting SB done, with pulley upgrade

Gee, ya know I called SBC twice about 2-3 weeks ago and they have not yet called me back.

Will try again this week I guess.

[PT13Pilot]

Re: Another strut AD and fitting SB done, with pulley upgrade

Dave,
Sounds good, if you get the "well that's the first we've heard about that ", BS let me know and I'll put them on speed redial! I don't like paying for something that doesn't work! You'd think in 2007 someone could make a decent set of rubber bands!! Not exactly reinventing the wheel or rocket science here.
CJ