With the last of this year's landscaping done, I'm finally going to be concentrating on the Kitfox. Here's the latest progress.
Fairing Removed.jpg
I used an oscillating tool to slice the outer edges of the tail post fairing about 4" above the tail wheel mounting plate, then it just peeled off of the Scotch Weld with surprising ease. That gets it out of the way for the tail reinforcement, and it can even be re-used (which saved me $60+ for a new one).
Power File.jpg Tail 01.jpg Tail 02.jpg
With that done, I busted up and removed the bottom rib in the tail. I really only needed to remove the rear half, but the forward half was glued in crooked, and since I have a new rib on order, I'll have material to replace it, so it might was well come out. Once the fairing and rib were out, I used a power file to remove powder coat from the area around and above the tail wheel mounting plate, so a reinforcing gusset can be welded on. If you don't own a power file, I can highly recommend it. It fits in tight spaces, it's easy to control, and it makes short work of paint and corrosion.
Rudder Bracket Plates.jpg
The last sanding job on the frame was to remove powder coat from the rudder torque tube bracket mounting plates in the forward fuselage. The holes drilled by the first builder weren't quite in the right place, which may have been a contributor to the rudder pedals being very difficult to move. So, I'm going to have the holes plug welded, and I'll drill them again when I get to reassembly. You can't tell from this photo, but the powder coat is removed on the underside as well. That's where the power file was a Godsend; the tip of it fit into the U-channel with about 1/8" to spare, so each plate took about 30-40 seconds to clean up. That power file is becoming my favorite tool.
Caliper Before.jpg Caliper After.jpg
You may remember that my brake calipers were in quite a state. Using both the power file and my 4x36 belt sander, I was able to remove virtually all of the corrosion and pitting on the calipers, leaving a bright, shiny surface, ready for a new coating. I'll probably Alodine them to start with, and eventually paint them to match the overall color scheme.
By carefully scrubbing the calipers' cylinder bores with a maroon Scotchbrite pad, I was able to remove all of the roughness left by the old o-rings. There's still some black staining on the aluminum but the bores are nice and smooth, so I think they'll make a good seal with new o-rings on the pistons. That's a huge relief, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed, because replacements are very expensive. Plus, I've got a lot of time into them now!
Finally, I spent about an hour getting my wing rotisseries closer to finished. The first builder had fabricated some PVC tees to mount the wings, which I cut apart to scavenge several ~12" pieces of 2" Sch 40 pipe. I also cut two 36" pieces of 2x4 and bored three holes in each to receive the PVC pipes. Those will be the rotating assembly. The holes need a little sanding to fit the pipes, so I'm waiting on a kit of sanding drums from Amazon. I should be able to get the rotisseries done in another hour or so, then I'll finally be able to start stripping the wings.
It looks like my adaptation of the EAA rotisserie design that I posted a few weeks ago should work well. I'll be able to lock the wing in any position by tightening an iron pipe cap. Hard to explain, but I'll post photos when it's done.