Finishing the doors

posted Jul 17, 2012, 7:34 AM by Bill Thomasson   [ updated Jul 17, 2012, 7:47 AM ]
First I added flox to the edges of the doors where they were not tight enough to the frame.  I did this by putting packing tape on the door frame, and packing tape on the inside of the door edge, overhanging the door surface.  I then closed the door and filled the area with flox.  The packing tape on the door holds the flox flush.  Then when it dried I used a belt sander to sand it down to a nice gap, and sand it flush with the surface of the door on the inside and outside.
 
Then taped off around the windows and used a 6"putty knife to spread micro on the surface of the door seam.  This got any low spots on the door or frame filled with micro.  As soon as I got it all the way around the door I opened the door as it had filled in the gap and the door would have been permenently sealed if I had not.  This did leave a little jagged edge on the door and frame, but after drying was quickly sanded down smooth with a belt sander.
 
For the interior of the door I am going to cover them with headliner material.  I am making fiberglass inserts which will be held in with pop fasteners so that it will have a clean edge, and cover the latch mechanism.  I got this from Brandi.
 
First I cut out some cover panels for the hinge areas.  I used excess door trimings from the initial trimming of the door.
I also made covers for the pin guides.  I am going to use RTV to hold the pin guide covers in place, so that they can be removed if the pin guides need replaced or adjusted.  A cover is needed so that the door seals have something to press against.
 
2 layers fo fiberglass cloth over top.
Then Micro. after sanding the cloth layup.
Then covered door in packing tape as a release agent.  2 layers of cloth and then peal-ply.  I used ziplock bags filled with sand to press the cloth into the door reseses.  The first door I did this to I had a lot of wrinkles after it was dry.  I used a belt sander to sand out the high points of the wrinkles, and then added addtional cloth over the thin or missing spots.
 
Second door came out much better.
 
Next I need to put the doors back on the plane, and mark the edges of the door seals.  The headliner can't overlap the door seals as they are already tight.  I will paint the edges where the headliner does not cover.
 
I still need to put all the windows in, but am waiting on the firewall work before ordering the glue which has a shelf life.
 
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