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Order of operations for door final fit, paint, cabin top attach?

sritchie

Well Known Member
Hey all,

I'm trying to wrap my head around how to finish up these doors and wanted to confirm my understanding with you all.

I've got my cabin top temporarily attached, doors hinged and door pins installed.

What's left:
1. fill and sand the cabin top / door so that the doors are perfectly flush and make the gap uniform
2. paint the interior of the doors and the interior of the cabin top
3. final attach the cabin top

Is this the right order? OR... is removing the cabin top for painting AFTER I've filled the gap going to cause any issues?

I imagine the other way to do things might be (2, 3, 1) instead of (1, 2, 3).

I think I've done my research here, but I've maybe done too much research and frazzled myself into not knowing how to proceed. Thanks for the support, all.

Even though there's quite a bit to go, it's exciting and scary to know how far I've come.
 
Hey all,

I'm trying to wrap my head around how to finish up these doors and wanted to confirm my understanding with you all.

I've got my cabin top temporarily attached, doors hinged and door pins installed.

What's left:
1. fill and sand the cabin top / door so that the doors are perfectly flush and make the gap uniform
2. paint the interior of the doors and the interior of the cabin top
3. final attach the cabin top

Is this the right order? OR... is removing the cabin top for painting AFTER I've filled the gap going to cause any issues?

I imagine the other way to do things might be (2, 3, 1) instead of (1, 2, 3).

I think I've done my research here, but I've maybe done too much research and frazzled myself into not knowing how to proceed. Thanks for the support, all.

Even though there's quite a bit to go, it's exciting and scary to know how far I've come.

That's basically what I did. You may still have more work on #1 after #3, but it should be minor. Painting the interior on the bench upside down is much easier that painting it in place.
 
That's basically what I did. You may still have more work on #1 after #3, but it should be minor. Painting the interior on the bench upside down is much easier that painting it in place.

I was also wondering about the same things as the OP. :)

If you are installing an Aerosport overhead console, could that be done in step 2 just before paint?
 
I was also wondering about the same things as the OP. :)

If you are installing an Aerosport overhead console, could that be done in step 2 just before paint?

Granted, I did things a bit different than everyone, since my cabin cover was used to generate the data for the console and a mold for the headliner. The inside of my cabin cover is glass smooth, which was needed to make the mold. If you use the headliner, you don't need to do all that work.

But yes, do all that work first with the cabin cover on the workbench upside down. It's much easier.

The only things you need to do is ensure the edge that meets the empennage is trimmed properly so that you can determine is there is any work needed to be done. I just put some weather stripping on the back and it butts firmly to the baggage bulkhead.

There are three different cabin cover molds that I am aware. They all have slightly different adjustments that have to be made. Most of the adjustment is where the step down is just behind the front seat. But all that depends on which version cabin cover you have. If you have the first generation pink cabin cover, it should fix like a glove. The second generation pink one the step down is more aft about an inch or so. Hopefully nobody is still working on the green version.
 
The 1-2-3 sequence is what I did. I installed the overhead console after #1, and with the cabin top upside down on the bench.

In hindsight, I'm not sure I'd do the overhead console again. Lots of work and lots of expense for the expected benefit.
 
Hmmmm.....what is the green version? The one I have is gray on the outside and pink on the inside. Which version is that?

The green version is/was the original.

Sounds like you have the latest. Does your top have a sticker with "inspected on xx/yy/zz" printed on it? If so, what's the date on the sticker?
 
......
There are three different cabin cover molds that I am aware. They all have slightly different adjustments that have to be made. Most of the adjustment is where the step down is just behind the front seat. But all that depends on which version cabin cover you have. If you have the first generation pink cabin cover, it should fix like a glove. The second generation pink one the step down is more aft about an inch or so. Hopefully nobody is still working on the green version.

OK, but my 2005 QB kit that I bought is the original green version - but with pink doors.

Any idea what extra problems I can expect. :)


PS It's good to hear that the doors and hinges can be trimmed and fitted before final attachment of the cabin top.
 
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OK, but my 2005 QB kit that I bought is the original green version - but with pink doors.

Any idea what extra problems I can expect. :)


PS It's good to hear that the doors and hinges can be trimmed and fitted before final attachment of the cabin top.

I did all my doors and rear windows with the cabin cover and forward fuselage assembly just clecoed in place. This allowed me to work on the panel outside of the plane later into the build.

It's been a long time, so my memory is vague. I don't think there is anything major with the green tops, but may have more minor tweaking. I think they used the same mold as the Gen1 pink tops. The green parts are typically at a lower finish quality than the pink and the later gray gelcoated parts.

Have you done a dry fit yet? You'll know real quick what opportunities you'll face. The overall interior surface on the green tops suck. The headliner from Aerosport will save you a bunch of sanding and filling work.

There is the infamous flat spot outside on the area behind the door and in front of the rear window. It's almost like this spot was sanded so that the top would fit in a smaller crate.
 
Top

What I did
- I fit and clecoed the top secure.
- trimmed and fit doors,latch/pins and fit the mc master door seals and door gutters, fit all windows but not glued
- took top back off smoothed and painted interior of top including glueing and clear coated overhead console. Painted all exposed interior surfaces of fuselage with final color.
- permanently attached top to fuselage.
- fit all avionics racks and panel to forward fuselage top while on bench.
- fit and installed parking and heat cables and installed firewall pass through
- permanently installed forward fuselage top and installed all windows
- glassed in windows and built windshield fairing and started blending doors to top and setting door gaps.
- took break from fiberglass and worked on harness and panel install and wiring every now and then to break up the monotony of filling and sanding.

This process worked well for me and was the most efficient way I could think of.
 
The green version is/was the original.

Sounds like you have the latest. Does your top have a sticker with "inspected on xx/yy/zz" printed on it? If so, what's the date on the sticker?

Not currently Kyle. I might have removed it though. I got it with my quickbuild back in Sept.
 
What I did
- I fit and clecoed the top secure.
- trimmed and fit doors,latch/pins and fit the mc master door seals and door gutters, fit all windows but not glued
- took top back off smoothed and painted interior of top including glueing and clear coated overhead console. Painted all exposed interior surfaces of fuselage with final color.
- permanently attached top to fuselage.
- fit all avionics racks and panel to forward fuselage top while on bench.
- fit and installed parking and heat cables and installed firewall pass through
- permanently installed forward fuselage top and installed all windows
- glassed in windows and built windshield fairing and started blending doors to top and setting door gaps.
- took break from fiberglass and worked on harness and panel install and wiring every now and then to break up the monotony of filling and sanding.

This process worked well for me and was the most efficient way I could think of.


Interesting, this is great. And I guess you're waiting to paint the inside of the doors until after the door blending and gap-setting?
 
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