Hey - did you know if you click on the title of a thread it will take you to the first unread post since you last visited that thread?
but were afraid to ask: 
STOP!! Never post your email address in open forums. Bots can "harvest" your email! If you must share your email use a Private Message or use the 
smilie in place of the real @
Pretty Please - add it to our Events forum(s) and add to the calendar! >> 
Online
John, I'm pretty sure that 3mb is the largest a photo can be. I usually scale my photos down to 50% or so to get them under the limit.
-
Hi Guest!
If you appreciate British Car Forum and our 25 years of supporting British car enthusiasts with technical and anicdotal information, collected from our thousands of great members, please support us with a low-cost subscription. You can become a supporting member for less than the dues of most car clubs.
There are some perks with a member upgrade!**Upgrade Now**
(PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
1940 Stearman restoration (moved from Triumph forum so all can enjoy)
- Thread starter CJD
- Start date
Share this page
OP
CJD
Yoda
Offline
Thanks, guys. I had to switch computers to one that had the "easy" app to resize. Let's see how this goes....
Success! OK, I had a time with the fuel tank. It has seven baffles that are first riveted and then rose-bud welded. All of the baffles in my tank were popped. That is fixable (with a lot of work), but someone had also painted the tank, making the job that much more difficult. So...there are no new tanks available, and all the used tanks look like they were trampled. Actually...they were all trampled! The tank is hard to reach at the top of the wing, so there is a tendency for fuelers to sit on, stand on, and otherwise abuse the tank. I found this tank, and I know from experience that it is the best tank in the country. It cost an arm and a leg in barter parts - and cash - to get it. But, all done and here it is installed in the upper wing center section.
Now I finally get to the wings. The lacing along the ribs prevents the ribs from being moved as the covering is shrunk. Since the front of the wings are covered by thin sheet aluminum, I chose to apply a layer of padding to minimize the dents from normal use.
The old Juki sewing machine I have used on my Triumphs for 15 years came in handy to sew envelopes to cover the wing. The covers are then installed like putting socks on your feet.
The shrinking with a household iron is done at exact temperatures and using a lot of care to keep the fabric seams centered on the ribs. The end is carefully trimmed and glued down neatly
Success! OK, I had a time with the fuel tank. It has seven baffles that are first riveted and then rose-bud welded. All of the baffles in my tank were popped. That is fixable (with a lot of work), but someone had also painted the tank, making the job that much more difficult. So...there are no new tanks available, and all the used tanks look like they were trampled. Actually...they were all trampled! The tank is hard to reach at the top of the wing, so there is a tendency for fuelers to sit on, stand on, and otherwise abuse the tank. I found this tank, and I know from experience that it is the best tank in the country. It cost an arm and a leg in barter parts - and cash - to get it. But, all done and here it is installed in the upper wing center section.
Now I finally get to the wings. The lacing along the ribs prevents the ribs from being moved as the covering is shrunk. Since the front of the wings are covered by thin sheet aluminum, I chose to apply a layer of padding to minimize the dents from normal use.
The old Juki sewing machine I have used on my Triumphs for 15 years came in handy to sew envelopes to cover the wing. The covers are then installed like putting socks on your feet.
The shrinking with a household iron is done at exact temperatures and using a lot of care to keep the fabric seams centered on the ribs. The end is carefully trimmed and glued down neatly
OP
CJD
Yoda
Offline
Now, a coat of polybrush sealer is applied by brush. This effectively locks the tautness into the fabric. Unlike dope, is does not shrink the fabric...that was all done by the iron heating in the prior step. In the next photo you can see a reinforcing strip is laid down over each rib, and then the stitching is applied to hold the covering tight against the ribs. Spacing is specifically called out, based on the plane max speed (182mph for a Stearman), and also the area affected by the propeller circle. Each stitch has to go around the entire rib, get knotted with a special sein knot, and then the continuous lacing thread is run through to the next knot. In this area on the lower wing within the prop circle lacing is at least every inch! while this is being done, you must take care to avoid fowling the control rods that run to the ailerons. The darker coloring is 4 coats of polybrush laid down to saturate the cloth so the tape that goes over the lacing will stick permanently.
Now the wing is pre-coated where the tape will go. The odd dark areas are for "patches", which are additional cloth that reinforces areas that need it. Form here, the additional coats are sprayed. They include:
2 coats of pink sealer (polybrush)
4 coats of aluminum sealer (polyspray)
A sanding down of imperfections
2 more coats of silver...this polyspray blocks the sun's UV light from rotting the fabric, and goes back to the same aluminum impregnated dope used on zeplins.
Finally, 2 coats of final paint (polytone).
Finally, each layer must dry a day before doing any detailing in the paint.
These are the finished top wings. I have been slowed, in that addition to having to spray at least 7 times, spraying must be done above 60 degrees...so the winter weather is slowing me a bit. Fortunately there is still enough things to do indoors on the cold days.
Anyway...Happy New Year to all!!
Now the wing is pre-coated where the tape will go. The odd dark areas are for "patches", which are additional cloth that reinforces areas that need it. Form here, the additional coats are sprayed. They include:
2 coats of pink sealer (polybrush)
4 coats of aluminum sealer (polyspray)
A sanding down of imperfections
2 more coats of silver...this polyspray blocks the sun's UV light from rotting the fabric, and goes back to the same aluminum impregnated dope used on zeplins.
Finally, 2 coats of final paint (polytone).
Finally, each layer must dry a day before doing any detailing in the paint.
These are the finished top wings. I have been slowed, in that addition to having to spray at least 7 times, spraying must be done above 60 degrees...so the winter weather is slowing me a bit. Fortunately there is still enough things to do indoors on the cold days.
Anyway...Happy New Year to all!!
