In article ,
Ted wrote:

On Fri, 02 Dec 2005 18:27:58 GMT, Orval Fairbairn
wrote:

In article ,
Ted wrote:


What is the original finish? Dope? Enamel? Polyurethane?

Also, what is the fabric? Cotton? Linen? Glass? Dacron?

Is there a silver (or equivalent) UV undercoating?

I doubt that removal of the fabric from the wood would splinter it, as
most fabric is attached to wood by dope. The fabric will just peel off.

The original finish is Emron, Piper Daytona white. And the fabric is
Polyfiber. I'm not sure about the undercoating, as I haven't sanded it
down into it yet. But I'm sure the builder used the Stits process,
(now Polyfiber) I would prefer to pull the fabric off, but then again,
that sure seems like an enormous job to repaint. Something to consider
when building a wood airplane. When that day comes when the paint is
worn out, a re-paint is definitely more work than stripping and
re-painting a metal plane. But I've done that job too (to a Swift) and
it's no fun either.

OK -- You can wet sand the Imron (not Emron) down to roughen the surface
and take out any poor spots. White is a great base coat, as some colors
(especially reds) tend to show through.

Now -- a second thought: Have you tried to polish the old paint? All of
the polyurethanes (Imron is one) are extremely durable, but will oxidize
somewhat over time. If you use a power buffer (I use a Makita) and visit
your local automotive paint store, you will find some high-quality
finishing compounds (3M Perfect-It is a good one). These work very well
at restoring old paint, but are messy, as you need a fair amount of
water in the process. The buffer will sling the goop around, so masking
is a good idea.

--
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