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Hello Chris @crueby,As I expected a ton of good information from you. The diagonal bracing is a must and will be an easy addition to include. I like the idea of some sort of epoxy paint but will require me to do a lot of research. Reading through your reply has given me an idea for another approach to overall construction. I have to make a run into Lufkin this morning and will stop by the paint store and have a talk with them.Thanks so much for all your help and time.Have a great day,Thomas
Quote from: Ye-Ole Steam Dude on April 10, 2019, 02:43:16 PMHello Chris @crueby,As I expected a ton of good information from you. The diagonal bracing is a must and will be an easy addition to include. I like the idea of some sort of epoxy paint but will require me to do a lot of research. Reading through your reply has given me an idea for another approach to overall construction. I have to make a run into Lufkin this morning and will stop by the paint store and have a talk with them.Thanks so much for all your help and time.Have a great day,ThomasWhile there is epoxy paint, I was thinking of just brushing on epoxy resin to seal the wood and smooth it, then painting over that. The newer epoxies dont have any amine blush (wax forming on the surface) like the older ones did. I use the System 3 Silvertip epoxy now, it is thin enough to brush/roll on, and has zero amine blush. Without putting on the cloth (which you dont need in your build) there is no weave to fill, so even a single coat is helpful, two is better, and it sands fairly easily. Then you can paint with whatever paint you want. The 3M 5200 in the joints with the edge trim would seal that up, and keep the edge grain from soaking up any moisture while driving in the rain.
Another great resource on glueing with epoxy is from the West System folks, they do a little magazine with lots of project tips:https://www.westsystem.com/projects/I have used their products a lot, but think the Silvertip is better at the moment. Great info from them here:https://www.systemthree.com/pages/resourcesYou can find it a lot of places online, prices do vary a bunch place to place.
Leaving some of the wood as clear finish might look really good too; maybe just the edges/trim?I was gonna post something about a plywood body and flames, but it seems inappropriate. I like the Model T lines, and it goes with your name and logo, Thomas!
35 mph! You need to start engineering the roll cage and 5-pt. harness! Ooooh...oversize brass gauges and dials. Sounds very cool. Hmm...hard to find replicas though - lots of antique stuff on ebay going for ridiculous $.Rock Auto has this antique-y gage, but 120 mph? Of course you could calibrate it so 35 mph actual = 120 mph indicated...https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=8416388&jsn=336
Hey Thomas, I guess I am one of the ones that’s been “silently following along, but man I’m digging your build. TBH, been wanting to do something like this since the frame on my first mini-bike broke (circa 1971) if’n a fella could come up with an instrument panel from a small Mooney airplane; would you be interested? Think I can gets some pictures by Monday. Enjoy the springtime Cletus
Thomas, I think it’s from an M20 Mooney. It’s in my BIL’s estate and I can easily nab it. Headed that way this weekend and will get pictures.Cletus
You absolutely must have the turn/bank indicator. Altimeter too, with a hidden switch you can throw to make it suddenly unspool at the same time the turn/bank indicator starts to roll wildly. You could probably do a copper sulfate reaction to put a copper gleam on chromed gages. Or do a little home metal spinning with brass sheet to make your own bezel ring to cover a modern chrome plated gage. Or run a speedo cable up to a Watts governer style whirligig, with attached gage pointer for speedo readout, that would be cool too. Or, one last idea would be a pitot-static tube rigged to a red-dyed kerosene slant-tube manometer (I think some of the early biplanes actually had these installed for airspeed indicators?). Extra points if the pitot and static taps form part of the flying woman from a Packard/Rolls hood ornament.