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My cub rebuild...

Lots of progress in the last few days. New fuel lines routed for the dakota 24 gal tanks. Trim system finished, more interior work done. I welded a bracket on the front of the seat frame and moved the two electrical solenoids there, so they are out of the way of the brakes for servicing. That was a big complaint of mine before the rebuild. Should make life easier. After talking with Wireweinie though, I think I am going to move the starter solenoid to the firewall.

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I closed off the upper baggage for several reasons. It will be less interior space to heat in the winter, better looks, better security of items in the upper baggage, and it allows me to run a three piece fuel line from the rear of the right wing tank to the valve so if you ever have to change a line because of chaffing or leaks it will be simple. Almost impossible with the fabric on for a 1 piece line. It also cleans up the fuel line install with the L-21 glass. No longer a fuel line running through both side windows...
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Nice having all that extra room in there to service the brakes!

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Hopefully I will be covering the fuselage next week. Have some electrical work to route first, but its coming together...
 
Looks great! Thank you for sharing your build. Also thank you for including full-size and excellent photos. I'm really enjoying following this.


Thanks
Bill
 
Sorry to see your troubles Cory. But you'll end up with a nicer Cub in the end.

One thing I noticed that I'd change if it were mine is that I'd eliminate the springs from the front seat frame backrest. On the suggestion of a very experienced Cub guy I put a thin aluminum sheet on there when I had my -18. it was a bit lighter than the springs but the real purpose was to increase braking effectiveness. It seems unlikely to help, but it does. When you're putting a lot of heel force on the brakes you're also pushing hard against the seat back. The springs flex back and some of your braking effectiveness is lost.

Of course you have to be getting on the brakes hard but with your big 35's and off airport landings I'm sure you do at times.
 
One thing I noticed that I'd change if it were mine is that I'd eliminate the springs from the front seat frame backrest. On the suggestion of a very experienced Cub guy I put a thin aluminum sheet on there when I had my -18. it was a bit lighter than the springs but the real purpose was to increase braking effectiveness. It seems unlikely to help, but it does. When you're putting a lot of heel force on the brakes you're also pushing hard against the seat back. The springs flex back and some of your braking effectiveness is lost.

Of course you have to be getting on the brakes hard but with your big 35's and off airport landings I'm sure you do at times.

Very interesting, Dan. Never thought about that.

sj
 
Cory, as others have said, the awesome pictures really help!

sj
 
Sorry to see your troubles Cory. But you'll end up with a nicer Cub in the end.

One thing I noticed that I'd change if it were mine is that I'd eliminate the springs from the front seat frame backrest. On the suggestion of a very experienced Cub guy I put a thin aluminum sheet on there when I had my -18. it was a bit lighter than the springs but the real purpose was to increase braking effectiveness. It seems unlikely to help, but it does. When you're putting a lot of heel force on the brakes you're also pushing hard against the seat back. The springs flex back and some of your braking effectiveness is lost.

Of course you have to be getting on the brakes hard but with your big 35's and off airport landings I'm sure you do at times.

I'd do this as well.....or, what I did on my 11 seat back was I simply wrapped it in Poly Fiber and shrunk it good and tight. Very light and it is very solid. My motivation was a little different, however, in that I have a bad back, and my back just pushes right through those springs and gives me a curved spine....bad medicine. The fabric is super light, and so far after a couple years, seems to be holding up fine. In any case if it ever fails, I'll just wrap it again. Simple, quick and probably lighter than anything else.

MTV
 
I covered my seat back and bottom in Poly Fiber and attached the seat bottom cushion to the fabric with two strips of velcro
Works great and weighs pretty much nothing.
Pounds are made of ounces.
 
Sorry to see your troubles Cory. But you'll end up with a nicer Cub in the end.

One thing I noticed that I'd change if it were mine is that I'd eliminate the springs from the front seat frame backrest. On the suggestion of a very experienced Cub guy I put a thin aluminum sheet on there when I had my -18. it was a bit lighter than the springs but the real purpose was to increase braking effectiveness. It seems unlikely to help, but it does. When you're putting a lot of heel force on the brakes you're also pushing hard against the seat back. The springs flex back and some of your braking effectiveness is lost.

Of course you have to be getting on the brakes hard but with your big 35's and off airport landings I'm sure you do at times.


I have been thinking about doing that throughout this build so far. I think I am going to go ahead and do it. It already has an aluminum bottom panel so might as well do both...
 
+3. Did the same with my back seat. Fabric shrunk it. Super light. The smallest amount of pleasant give. Nice and comfortable. And again - super light. I only shrunk it to 250deg (first shrink stage, if I remember that right)
 
I'd do this as well.....or, what I did on my 11 seat back was I simply wrapped it in Poly Fiber and shrunk it good and tight. Very light and it is very solid. My motivation was a little different, however, in that I have a bad back, and my back just pushes right through those springs and gives me a curved spine....bad medicine. The fabric is super light, and so far after a couple years, seems to be holding up fine. In any case if it ever fails, I'll just wrap it again. Simple, quick and probably lighter than anything else.

MTV
This is an excellent idea for another reason. For those of us who have long legs this would provide another inch or more of leg room.
 
It will be a very nice and clean cub.

Thank you for sharing info and pics. Futur buiders will like it.



Continu your good work!
 
Lots of little stuff done in the past few days. Doesnt look like a lot of progress, but the little stuff is what seams to take the most time. Got all the wiring ran for the tail light and beacon, ELT mounted and wiring ran, trim pieces formed and ready for paint. Panel raised and new boot cowl piece over the panel for stick clearance, and Ipad mount in. Should start Fabric tomorrow or monday...

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Are you going to run power to the back seat? Hold down for the rear stick cover? Just thinking of ways to slow ya down.:)
DENNY
 
I am going away from the standard map pocket on the left hand side for a little more versatile storage on both sides in between the tubes and the boot cowl. Will be able to put a quart of oil, bottle of water, glove and hat in winter, and anything I need to be able to access while flying in there. I am going to also put some kind of net material pocket underneath them for other secure storage.

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Storage in a Cub is a must. I really like my wing root storage. Use it on every long flight. From sandwich to frozen walleye.


f3WEQ6HrI0i98VpjeesIOtnuFjBpy8ALZYFXyrMCMy_CeWcQhTaKaX5Mf7TKQ1cWXW7KQkS-RKjj-W04_S1EeT6yrmR_kNfxsyDMRkBexAlvEVlTI-GqjjWDDh293zYuDm8IUa9YJIhNs-ipcaofaSEYQ-ngUGzc4DRI1ZkPvDGsHndZnXR2QeoQLGSlsbwbR-ahfwfmkxCaC24GfGMc-wkTdzIrBjCsPc9O5ZNm_VLpDRt2P-2JZ_OqUQIr9wVyDj7Fh2oy3XpfoEnWM-ceVv3T9dyDxbmWJi4PqfflbNHXUDKu-uXnUAkwqMXwy4PIi9rUfATtP0w2cjImY4WCjVu5-ooh_Hay8l-oqYkqTcugJ7k278PUPQzw0YB17f90_hs7rGFUw9_0-yY7WZPfDkSMHCLRI2VUVW0CI7QDMIrxo_gjevx0ZbbkTwmkWLTTsbvpou7nNRsIVElQx4uvFzy6zVff-qO-VC_wOlG8vjwZokRwBHGpCQC9VK3gVlvFB6XO5GWm8sZFNBw21xM66VNqG30bdeAVIlkUmoW6aqPgH7veMvFaCWtEPCJrwty-ks_CAPR7tcmZLIXbMy8yPYMgIMHaKdhMpDfDuYqwH-A8PPtRGcZG=s660-no
 
Very nice Oli! I use the open front hoop in my wing root for storage now, and I though about adding more space up there. I really like yours!
 
Lots done in this past week with the help of my buddy Jim who just got back from a 6 month deployment. I cut and installed my two carbon fiber wing root panels and then we tore into the engine. It is all dissasembled and the case and crank have been sent out. All electrical wiring ran that needed to be done before fabric, and I started on the fabric work. I hope to have that done and ready for silver in the next week. Then recover the last wing and start working towards assembly until the engine parts all get in. I have a few parts and instruments on order before I can get going much further on the panel.

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More beautiful Carbon Concepts parts. New wing root panels since I am moving all the electrical out of there and into the panel.

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This was pre-teardown. Very little damage was evident looking it over from the outside. Hopefully inside will follow that trend!

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Judging by the bearing wear and a few other issues it appears that it was not properly rebuilt last time it was majored... It will be this time!

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Cam and crank were in decent shape, but the cylinders needed a little attention and they were orange stripes, so I elected to go with new cylinders while its apart.
 
Fabric work done so far. The bottom and left side of the fuselage are on and preshrunk. Hope to get the right side on tues and then begin the taping.

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You mentioned that bearing wear and some other things indicated that it hadn't been majored properly.
Would you mind sharing what you saw? Always looking to learn.
 
The buildup in several areas of the case for the amount of hours, along with uneven wear on the bearings mainly. Caused my IA to believe that the case halves weren't done at the last major.
 
Are you thinking that they were not torqued properly or not "reworked" as in sending them to Divco in Tulsa for surfacing?
How many hours?
 
There is no requirement for resurfacing the crank case halves unless there is evidence that they had been fretting.
 
Had to take a break for my daughters wedding and some other life interuptions with finals, and now summer classes, but I am still at it, and now able to spend a few more hours a day than in the past. Hope to have it done in a month, but there is still plenty to do. A quick update on the engine, the bearings were heavily fretted with only 563 hours, and the crank was cracked. Hopefully by the end of the week next week we will have all the engine parts in and start on that. The fabric is complete on all surfaces but the one wing that was undamaged. I decided to go ahead and do that for the experience and to make the whole cub match, and new again... The fuselage is in silver with all of the wet sanding done, and I started repairing the nose bowl, boot cowl, cowling, and cargo pod fiberglass work. Hoping to have it done in a month or less...
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I think your doing a great job and am sure its going to be beautiful when you get done. Hang in there you will be back in the air before you know it.

Jon
 
Its been a long time since I have posted any updates. I have been busting my butt trying to get this project done before the whole summer blows by me. It hasn't been cooperating with me lately though... I made the decision that I would go ahead and recover the "good" wing as well since I am looking to gain fabric experience. My old wing had quite a few flaws in it from the last rebuild so that helped with the decision...

There were 7 or 8 paint runs in it and quite a bit of ringworm

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After stripping the fabric I found a couple other issues, missing wingtip bow braces, missing hardward on one of the flap brackets and some stripped screws. I also wanted to install the atlee outboard tie down, so I was glad I made that decision.

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Its starting to get a little easier. I was able to do the whole fabric job on this wing by myself. I am really starting to enjoy the build as it progresses.

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