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View Full Version : Pilot's will like this thread, Piper Cub restoration

Musclerodz
08-23-2009, 07:48 PM
I have been wanting out of the airplane business for a couple years now. But when a family friend of 50+ asks you to do a restoration for him, you don't say no. We finished the annual inspection on his Piper Cherokee and flew it home to him. While there we picked up this J-3 Cub to redo. It had sat in this open hangar so long it had collapsed on it. It had belonged to his dad who delivered the Sunday paper by air to the farmers, talk about a paper route! Anyways, we had 4-5 guys taking it apart and it went from all together to sitting on the trailer in a little over an hour. I will update this thread as we go along to show what it takes to restore an antique airplane, something I have done for 20 years now.
Spiffav8
08-23-2009, 09:47 PM
:D You know I'll like it. :D
jst8a5.0
08-23-2009, 10:01 PM
How ironic, I am doing work on one right now too!! Great to see another one!
Musclerodz
08-24-2009, 07:53 AM
How ironic, I am doing work on one right now too!! Great to see another one!
Actually I have 3 in the shop, 2 of them are mine
GregWeld
08-24-2009, 08:15 AM
Watching and learning about this will be major FUN!!

Thanks for sharing!!
:cheers:
RECOVERY ROOM
08-25-2009, 09:18 AM
Good thread,Always been into planes,Love the Cubs.I will be watching this one.Been working on my license for about a year now.
Musclerodz
08-25-2009, 08:24 PM
Good thread,Always been into planes,Love the Cubs.I will be watching this one.Been working on my license for about a year now.
Next time you come see Steve Cook, just fly in to my shop since I am on a private airport just south of OKC
jst8a5.0
08-25-2009, 09:56 PM
Actually I have 3 in the shop, 2 of them are mine

Ok now you're boasting!:D
Spiffav8
08-26-2009, 07:55 AM
Actually I have 3 in the shop, 2 of them are mine

Hey I need some stick time in a Cub so send one of those suckers my way. :unibrow:
Musclerodz
08-26-2009, 05:40 PM
Hey I need some stick time in a Cub so send one of those suckers my way. :unibrow:You will be spitting on the windshield making airplane noise because they are in pieces like this one. I plan to build on at least one of them while doing this one.
mexMan
08-26-2009, 07:47 PM
what about some cheap updates of the zombie plane? interesting build Muscle... g2g, I need a hot dog... or two, with extra bacon, and a lot of tomato and onion, ham, ketchup, mayo... and chili... extra spicy... update the plane muscle!
Musclerodz
09-07-2009, 07:53 AM
Time for an update. After about 12 hours of disassembly, got the fuselage hauled down to the blaster for some cleaning. Between old bad repairs and corrosion, I have alot of welding in my future.
GregWeld
09-07-2009, 08:09 AM
Oh yeah buddy!

Yesterday while wasting some time - I searched Youtube for some tips on TIG welding aluminum... I came across some "interesting welding" - one of which showed a guy using a torch on the bottom of a beer can - and then doing a technique that "back in the day" I'd have called brazing... adding filler and smearing this filler around until the hole was patched.

Looks like the repairs here used a similar technique... :lol: :thumbsup:

I'm ASSuming that the airframe is aluminum?? I don't know anything about planes except that I'd never jump out of a perfectly good one.
GregWeld
09-07-2009, 08:12 AM
Just another question on this kind of repair... If you cut the tubing out - will you simply butt weld in a new tube? Or will you insert some backing into the tube first and then butt weld it. Not sure that you'd call that - but it's like the reverse of fish plating something if you know what I mean?
Spiffav8
09-07-2009, 09:50 AM
Time for an update. After about 12 hours of disassembly, got the fuselage hauled down to the blaster for some cleaning. Between old bad repairs and corrosion, I have alot of welding in my future.

Yeah....I don't like those kinds of pictures. :_paranoid
Bow Tie 67
09-07-2009, 11:01 AM
And that sucka flew around like that.

The frame is steel and many have linseed oil inside to prevent corrosion. As far as the correct repair, I'm not sure if its a spliced in section of tubing or tube inside tube, its been way to long since I went to school.

Oh, linseed oil is flammable, burning through a cluster weld will scare the crap out of you.
Musclerodz
09-07-2009, 09:07 PM
Think of it as one big roll cage. Repairs are allowed, I prefer to replace entire tubes were able. Splices are allowed but there are rules as to where and how you do them. Tubing is mild steel 1020 except in structural areas where it is 4130. All repairs are done with 4130 and gas welded. I do not like to TIG fuselages as I still have to preheat and post heat to prevent embrittlement in the welded area. I will show some of the repairs once I get to somw of them. Some will be easy, others will be complicated.