After that though, it was time to get back to work and finish up the last remaining part of the baggage door: the F-1031 frame. My idea was to install a micro switch inside the frame, and put a small access cover in place of the original striker plate that would normally be there. After taking a few measurements and marking off the piece, I ended up with this:
The F-1031 Upper Baggage Door Seal Channel after installation
I don't have a pic of the cover plate or the micro switch, but the switch is attached to the cover plate and has a small steel wheel that protrudes out the back side (inboard side) of the channel. When the baggage door is closed, the latch catches on this wheel and pushes it in flush with the channel, activating the switch. This way, even if the door is fully closed, but the latch isn't latched, the switch will still indicate that the cargo door isn't properly closed. Should work pretty slick!
That puts an end to Section 34... yay! Before moving on to interior paint, I decided to assemble and install the oil cooler mount that I had custom-modified a few weeks ago to accept a larger-sized cooler. It went fairly well, although a few of the rivets along the top were fairly difficult to access. I ended up having to install just the top flange by itself to the firewall, allowing me to bend it down quite a ways to access the top row of rivets, and then assemble the rest of it as it got attached to the firewall. The resulting product looked great!
Custom oversize oil cooler mount, final installation - L side
Custom oversize oil cooler mount, final installation - R side
EDIT 11/1/2015: I think I may have messed up. Now that the finish kit is here, I see that the engine mount will actually get in the way of the larger oil cooler. I may have to redesign this mount from scratch, we'll see. Keep looking for updates on this.
The next order of business before we start bending brake and fuel lines is to paint the interior. Most parts of the interior will be carpeted or upholstered anyway, but the idea of painting the interior is to give the underlying structure a kind of consistent "base" color so that you won't see any unpainted surfaces in all the little nooks and crannies that won't be covered up. I've decided to go with a simple and inexpensive rattle-can paint, Rustoleum "Hammered" Black. The hammered pattern should give a nice look and spray on relatively easily.
I spent about an hour or so masking off all the parts I didn't want to get paint on, and in retrospect I think I should have spent even more time. More overspray got inside the tunnel and under the front seat than I had anticipated, which isn't a huge deal but it would have been better if I could have kept it brighter white. I may try and repaint it white or leave it alone, we'll see. Also, I never masked off the firewall so it ended up getting painted too. Not sure how I feel about that, we'll see how well it adheres to the stainless.
The first coat took 4 cans, and came out relatively well. It got a little blotchy in a few areas where I started to run low on paint, but I'll wait the recommended 48 hours and throw another light coat on. I imagine 2 more cans ought to do the trick. I'll also need to paint a number of other panels off the plane, so I'll probably need a total of maybe 4 more cans. Here's what it looks like so far:
Aft interior section after painting first coat
Forward interior section after painting first coat
That's it for now! We'll give this first coat 48 hours to cure and then try and shoot a light second coat over it and see if we can fill in a few of the light spots. Stay tuned for that!
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