INTERIOR FINISH PREPARATION
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After nearlying destroying the top while trying to remove and reinstall the top by myself, I decided to rig something to help with the process. A couple of pullies, rope, and some small "C" clamps and just a little muscle shoud do the trick. |
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So why is this in the "FINISH" section? The simple answer is
that some of the interior finish work will be best perform BEFORE you mount
that fuselage top permanently. Having an easy way to get the top up
and out of the way is well worth the effort.
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Before you mount that top it would be to your advantage and / or the
advantage of your upholstery expert to start on the interior finish preparation.
I will be using a combination of carpent with a foam underliner and held in place with Velcro and upholstry fabric. This shot shows the underlayer foam placed into the baggage compartment. and placed on the inside of the backseat. Currently it is just held in place with masking tape. |
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The process starts with making a paper template and covering all areas
to be upholstered or carpeted. The paper template is cut along the
lines desired for the individual pieces. The paper template is then
used to cut the foam underlayment and templates.
The front floorboard will be cut into three sections. One center section around the rudder pedals and two side sections. |
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The front side sections will extend backward along the side of the
front seats. My plan calls for extending the carpet up the sides and
ending just under the longeron. If you wanted the sides to be upholstered,
the cutting patterns would be cut along different lines.
As you can see from the number of pieces and all the masking tape the paper fitting process is something like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. It is very time consuming even with full access to the interior from the sides. Just imagine trying to do this with the top on and crawling around inside. I ran out of my template paper so I haven't finished the lower fuselage but have already spent about eight hours on this phase. Once the templates are done though, the process moves to a table and goes considerably faster. |
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The back floorboard and back seat areas will be a little more difficult
and will consist of more pieces. The exact number will be determined
as I pull them out. Cut the foam using the templates and cut to size
of the template. FIT THE FOAM into the interior and trim as need to
get a full coverage. The purpose of this point is to make a single
fitted template for marking and cutting the carpet. The carpet once
cut will be edge trimmed and backed with Velcro.
The areas to be covered will then be edged and crossed with Velcro for holding the carpet or upholstry in place. The foam once used for a cutting template will be trimmed and glued inside of the Velcro strips. The area under thre rear seat and the rear floorboard will take several pieces on each section due to the odd sections but this is where the templates will really pay for the effort. |