Paint Spar Pins

 

 

This afternoon I put a coat of black Hammered paint on the spar pins.  It is really hard to see how they look in the picture.  Suffice it to say I think I will need to sand them off and recoat them.  I will do so next week.

Interior Paint and Spar Pins

This evening I repainted the inside surface of the air vents.  I had originally painted them grey, but with the interior finishes grey does not work.  I repainted them with the new beige color I have selected to go with the upholstery and vinyl trim.  I think they turned out great.

 

I finished the assembly of the spar pins.  Afterwards I removed the pin stoppers and springs and used a Scotch Brite pad to prep the pin stopper tubes and the ends of the spar pins for primer.  I masked off the portion of the spar pins that will inserted into the spar bushings.  I them primed the stopper tubes and the ends of the spar pins.  I think I will paint this portion of the pins and tubes with black Hammer Tone paint to match the instrument panel.

Spar Pins Continued

 

This evening I stopped at Home Depot and purchased some Loctite 1 Minute Epoxy.  I filled the pin stoppers and allowed the epoxy to set.  Next I inserted the springs and the pin stoppers into the spar pin stopper tubes and installed the screw with the ¼" bushing.  The pins retract and return without any trouble.  I tried a spar pin in the left spar connection.  It appears to fit and install without any difficulty.  Next I need to install and test the reed switches.

It is pretty cold today so I am bringing the spar pins inside the house to allow the epoxy to cure in a little bit warmer area.

Spar Pins

 

This evening I started to work on the spar pins.  The aluminum stopper pins would not slide into the spar pin handles.  I used the drill press and some emery cloth and Scotch Brite pads to reduce the diameter of the stopper pins so they would slide into the tubes.  I have gathered all of the parts together except for the springs.  I need to purchase some epoxy so I can seal the magnets in the stopper pins.  The epoxy I had in the shop was too old and I couldn't get it out of the applicator.

 

I also checked the flaperon torque rod weldments.  Van's issued a Safety Bulletin because 2-builders have discovered the welds to be incomplete on these parts.  I checked my parts per the SB and verified they are welded correctly.