Repairing Plastic Instrument Panel Overlay

I recently saw an article in KitPlanes or maybe Sport Pilot about how
to repair / rebuild a plastic instrument panel overlay. Whichever mag
I saw it
in, I've managed to throw away. Anyone know what issue this was?
Could you email me a copy?

Thanks for the help.

Jeff

I think it was 'Sport Aviation' but I also traded it.

Jim

Jerry Mader makes a product called POLYFIX.
He sells it in kit form.
My father and Jerry used to demonstrate it in the Aircraft Spruce booth
at Sun N Fun and at Oshkosh.
For information, go to www.redam.com

Thanks for the help.

There is a very fine product called "JB Weld" that my A&P recommended to me.
It works extremely well on the plastic instrument panel parts.

JB Weld is amazing stuff. It comes in two separate tubes, and you mix it
together like epoxy. It stays workable for over an hour, and "gravity
smoothes" itself into a very nice surface.

When it is fully cured (overnight) you can drill it, sand it, saw it -- just
like the original plastic. I have used it to repair several parts, and --
after painting -- you can't see the repair at all.

On the last thing I repaired (the stupidly designed fuel sump access door
that every back-seat passenger seems to step on and break) I actually used
it to not only fix the break, but I was able to get it to "surround" and
encapsulate a small piece of aluminum sheet metal, to act as a
reinforcement. To further strengthen the piece, I drilled and pop-riveted
the aluminum piece to the plastic before gluing. The JB Weld fills voids
extremely well.

(Every time I fix this stupid part, I make it stronger. This is my third
attempt -- if my kids break it again, I'm installing a piano hinge on the
danged door!)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Would have been nice if Piper had put the sump drain actuator *outside* on the
belly near where you need to hold the collection bottle, wouldn't it? Even if
it were behind some sort of door (like it is on the inside), it would have
avoided all the passenger induced damage, as well as many of the gas spots on
asphalt ramps. (I assume the 235 has a similar set up as a Six with the push
down lever thingy behind the cheesy plastic door with the spring hinges). Maybe
someone can come up with an STC to put the drain actuator on the belly where it
belongs.

Jay Honeck wrote:

Thanks for the help.

There is a very fine product called "JB Weld" that my A&P recommended to me.
It works extremely well on the plastic instrument panel parts.

JB Weld is amazing stuff. It comes in two separate tubes, and you mix it
together like epoxy. It stays workable for over an hour, and "gravity
smoothes" itself into a very nice surface.

When it is fully cured (overnight) you can drill it, sand it, saw it -- just
like the original plastic. I have used it to repair several parts, and --
after painting -- you can't see the repair at all.

On the last thing I repaired (the stupidly designed fuel sump access door
that every back-seat passenger seems to step on and break) I actually used
it to not only fix the break, but I was able to get it to "surround" and
encapsulate a small piece of aluminum sheet metal, to act as a
reinforcement. To further strengthen the piece, I drilled and pop-riveted
the aluminum piece to the plastic before gluing. The JB Weld fills voids
extremely well.

(Every time I fix this stupid part, I make it stronger. This is my third
attempt -- if my kids break it again, I'm installing a piano hinge on the
danged door!)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

--
--Ray Andraka, P.E.
President, the Andraka Consulting Group, Inc.
401/884-7930 Fax 401/884-7950
email
http://www.andraka.com

"They that give up essential liberty to obtain a little
temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
-Benjamin Franklin, 1759

Do you guys carry a bucket to catch the gas you drain if you remain
overnight somewhere? Eleven seconds minimum for each tip and six
seconds for each main spills a lot of gas.

Don

On Mon, 26 Jan 2004 16:51:48 -0500, Ray Andraka
wrote:

Would have been nice if Piper had put the sump drain actuator *outside* on the
belly near where you need to hold the collection bottle, wouldn't it? Even if
it were behind some sort of door (like it is on the inside), it would have
avoided all the passenger induced damage, as well as many of the gas spots on
asphalt ramps. (I assume the 235 has a similar set up as a Six with the push
down lever thingy behind the cheesy plastic door with the spring hinges). Maybe
someone can come up with an STC to put the drain actuator on the belly where it
belongs.

Jay Honeck wrote:

Thanks for the help.

There is a very fine product called "JB Weld" that my A&P recommended to me.
It works extremely well on the plastic instrument panel parts.

JB Weld is amazing stuff. It comes in two separate tubes, and you mix it
together like epoxy. It stays workable for over an hour, and "gravity
smoothes" itself into a very nice surface.

When it is fully cured (overnight) you can drill it, sand it, saw it -- just
like the original plastic. I have used it to repair several parts, and --
after painting -- you can't see the repair at all.

On the last thing I repaired (the stupidly designed fuel sump access door
that every back-seat passenger seems to step on and break) I actually used
it to not only fix the break, but I was able to get it to "surround" and
encapsulate a small piece of aluminum sheet metal, to act as a
reinforcement. To further strengthen the piece, I drilled and pop-riveted
the aluminum piece to the plastic before gluing. The JB Weld fills voids
extremely well.

(Every time I fix this stupid part, I make it stronger. This is my third
attempt -- if my kids break it again, I'm installing a piano hinge on the
danged door!)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Do you guys carry a bucket to catch the gas you drain if you remain
overnight somewhere? Eleven seconds minimum for each tip and six
seconds for each main spills a lot of gas.

Where did you get those numbers?

Never heard that before -- we sump them into the clear plastic tube, check
for debris and water, and go on our merry way...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

On Mon, 26 Jan 2004 23:54:34 GMT, "Jay Honeck"
wrote:

Do you guys carry a bucket to catch the gas you drain if you remain
overnight somewhere? Eleven seconds minimum for each tip and six
seconds for each main spills a lot of gas.

Where did you get those numbers?

Never heard that before -- we sump them into the clear plastic tube, check
for debris and water, and go on our merry way...

Bear in mind ours is a '69.

While going through old W&B stuff, I found this Piper document that
says it's supposed to be kept with the aircraft. The last page and a
half contains a description of how to drain the tanks through the
belly so that you collect all the water that might be in the gas lines
between the tanks and the sump. Goes: start with the selector on OFF,
then left-tip, left-main, right-main, right-tip, 11-seconds,
6-seconds, 6-seconds, 11-seconds. The times are minimums, for when
the tanks are full -- it says it might take more time if the tanks
aren't full.

Makes a certain amount of sense if you think about it. You can have
gas in the belly-drain sump and water in a tank line where the water's
below the level of the tank drain, but is blocked from entering the
selector valve by its check-valve. When you select a new tank, the
check-valve is opened, and yes water will flow down the line and into
the sump, displacing the gas that's there, but it won't happen
instantaneously.

The procedure should apply to all Cherokees with four tanks. I'll
look up chapter and verse tomorrow. I bet the procedure isn't well
known, and it wouldn't be well liked, because you wind up draining
close to a pint of gas -- onto the ramp if you don't have a bucket and
a Gatt jar.

I'll bring it up on the 235 BBS after I see what responses come up
here on the NG.

Don

Jay Honeck wrote:

Do you guys carry a bucket to catch the gas you drain if you remain
overnight somewhere? Eleven seconds minimum for each tip and six
seconds for each main spills a lot of gas.

Where did you get those numbers?

Out of the AOM (POH for those whose planes are too young to remember the
AOM). I imagine the 235 has similar numbers.



Never heard that before -- we sump them into the clear plastic tube, check
for debris and water, and go on our merry way...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

--
--Ray Andraka, P.E.
President, the Andraka Consulting Group, Inc.
401/884-7930 Fax 401/884-7950
email
http://www.andraka.com

"They that give up essential liberty to obtain a little
temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
-Benjamin Franklin, 1759

In article _MhRb.160023$na.268733@attbi_s04, Jay Honeck
wrote:

Do you guys carry a bucket to catch the gas you drain if you remain
overnight somewhere? Eleven seconds minimum for each tip and six
seconds for each main spills a lot of gas.

Where did you get those numbers?

Piper PA32-300 Information Manual (Issued July 1973), Chapter 2
"Airplane and Systems", "Fuel System"

Piper PA32-300 Infomration Manual (Issued August 1976, revised
September 1978), Chapter 4 "Normal Procedures", 4.9 Preflight Check,
Miscellaneous.

Apparently, this was revised when Piper changed from the separate four
tanks/four lines feed fuel selector, of the older models (four separate
fuel tank gauges), to four tanks, tips flow into mains, mains feed fuel
selector (two fuel tank gauges). The instructions are listed based on
aircraft serial number and specifies the sequence for draining the
tanks. The six second time is retained while the 11 second time is
deleted and a note to the effect that a less than full tank my require
an additional few seconds.

Both these manuals contain drawings of the fuel systems.

The Piper PA28-236 Information Manual (Issued July 1978) only mentions
the right/left wing tank sumps.

This manual also contains a fuel system drawing in Chapter 7,
Description and Operations.