Hi everyone I have been lurking for a bit and posted one or two questions but I feel like it's probably time to start an actual build/rebuild/revamp thread.

I am a PP who has no experience building until now, but have a strong background in welding, light machining and heavy fabrication. I have been waffling on doing a build from the ground up for about two years now and just decided to pull the trigger on a project plane. I'm currently not living at my actual house because of my better half's job situation so I am setup in a temporary shop without many of my tools (welder, lathe, etc). Which was a big part of why I decided an already flying project would be better at this point.

That's how I came across N195CL, which was originally built by another forum member who unfortunately passed away last year.

It's a Classic IV 1200 with ~1100TTAF and a fresh ~140hr Jab 2200A.

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It looks like it had a rough landing in 2012 (guessing based on replacement of grove gear without reason given in the logbook). That resulted in some tweaked tubing that I will be straightening and then replacing. I have some material onhand to add gusset reinforcements to both sides as well.

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Beyond that, there were some longstanding fuel leaks that hadn't been addressed so I have some new fuel tanks on order from KF, as well as a new Al header tank. I pulled some of the fabric off the wing yesterday from immediately behind the tank which had cracking. Then stripped the coatings and performed a pull test. Even with my terrible test rig (not applying even clamping pressure) it passed. Given that this is the worst of the fabric on the airframe I am not planning on a full recover, just the front of the fuselage and wings where the tanks will be going. The rest of the fabric looks great, no cracks, still very pliable.

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My ultimate goals are to get it all put back together by spring time (tanks are 3-4 months backordered) and to use it as a fun time builder. I plan to eventually operate out of a local strip and some hay fields so i will likely be adding some 22in tires, and upgrading the tailwheel. The panel is going to be replaced as well since I need ADSB compliance to operate out of some of the locations near me.

In any case I wanted to get this thread started as an introduction and place to post some pictures. I'm sure I will be asking plenty of questions along the way! Right now I have some wing rotisseries in the works and just got a bunch of goodies from Aircraft Spruce to start repairing the fuselage after the metal work is done.

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