Matronics Email Lists Forum Index Matronics Email Lists
Web Forum Interface to the Matronics Email Lists
 
 Get Email Distribution Too!Get Email Distribution Too!    FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

RV9-List: Heads Up On Wheel Pant Fiberglass Quality...

 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Matronics Email Lists Forum Index -> RV9-List
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Matt Dralle
Site Admin


Joined: 08 Nov 2005
Posts: 25204
Location: Livermore CA USA

PostPosted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 9:44 am    Post subject: RV9-List: Heads Up On Wheel Pant Fiberglass Quality... Reply with quote

Dear Listers,

I took delivery of an RV-8 QB finish kit around September 2008. Last weekend I started tackling the installation of the wheel pants. The first thing I noticed on inspection of the wheel pants was how horrible the quality was. The front piece didn't fit the back piece and the flange shoulder on the back pieces were not straight. Getting a even an "okay" fit was nearly impossible. The other issue was the quality of the fiberglass itself. On the rear part of the back piece, the epoxy resin was completely spider-cracked on both sides and on both pants. It was nothing a few more coats of resin and a bunch of sanding couldn't fix, but who wants to do that? Needless to say, I was fairly demoralized by the fact that there was really no way I was going to be able to make them really fit together "perfect".

But, I plowed ahead anyway and started trying to mount them to the Grove Airfoiled gear. I had a lot of trouble getting them to fit correctly onto the landing gear. The main issue seemed to be that they are too small at the bottom and don't fit over the brake caliper without touching. I kept thinking that I must just not have them in the correct position, so I kept hogging out a little more glass here and there with the Dremel tool until basically the holes were all too big (for the gear leg and for the wheel). I finally found a couple of builder web sites where others have had the same issue with the brake caliper interference and they added a 2.5" "blister" to pooch out over the area that rubs. But by this time it was too late for that first set of pants.

But here's the interesting part. Since I had basically destroyed both of the original pants trying to get them to fit, I decided to just order up a replacement set, take a sedative, and start over again on the whole thing. The new wheel pants arrived from Van's yesterday. The difference in quality between these replacement units and the ones from last year is incredible! The seams are nearly perfect on the replacements and only required a bit of sanding on the front part to get a *perfect*, and I mean *perfect* fit between the front and back halves. The consistency of the fiberglass layups is 100% better on the new units, and that seam at the top was already so flat, I didn't even have to sand it down. There are no spider cracks in the glass anywhere. I haven't actually weighed them, but replacements feel like they might be somewhat lighter as well.

Obviously Van's switched fiberglass vendors at some point in the last 10 months and the switch was well worth it. I've attached a couple of photos of the Circa September 2008 and Circa June 2009 sets I received. The only similarity is in the overall shape.

FYI

Matt Dralle
RV-8 #82880 N998RV


- The Matronics RV9-List Email Forum -
 

Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:

http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?RV9-List



Circa_September_2008_Vans_Wheel_Pants.jpg
 Description:
 Filesize:  771.57 KB
 Viewed:  2699 Time(s)

Circa_September_2008_Vans_Wheel_Pants.jpg



Circa_June_2009_Vans_Wheel_Pants.jpg
 Description:
 Filesize:  645.61 KB
 Viewed:  2699 Time(s)

Circa_June_2009_Vans_Wheel_Pants.jpg



_________________
Matt Dralle
Matronics Email List Administrator
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Matronics Email Lists Forum Index -> RV9-List All times are GMT - 8 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You cannot attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group