The International Cessna 170 Association

Looking for help. I picked up S/N 25405 been parked since 1988. I gutted it trying to restore. Not knowing alot I pulled all cables and pulleys without saving cables. I ordered a cable kit from McFarlanes. With only the parts manual we're having a hard time putting cables and pulleys together. Question is, Is there another source that can help my A&P and myself get the control cables in the right direction on the right pulleys. Thanks for any guidance. Been too many hours already on the flap cables.

Obtain a copy of the 170 parts catalog and there are diagrams that show the runs but there are some errors in the diagrams and another source is the pilots operating manual which give a general idea of the cable runs also. Some thing tells me that mc Farlane used to,give out a diagram with each cable purchased also. I had the most fun[difficulties ] with the elevator cable . Be very wary with your cable tensions . My new cables were supposed to be “prestretched” but when tensioned to the correct tension ,we all went to lunch [about 2 hours — long lunch and amber liquid refreshments ] and when we came back and a check tension was done and to our surprise they had dropped to about 14 lbs . It took about a week of retensioning and rechecking to get what we were after.

Just had a mail from a friend who just read this and helped me with the cables. He said the lunch was not 2 hours but 5 hours . Must have been the sausages that we ate.

The 100 Series Service Manual may be of some help. You are looking for diagrams or details for the '56 172 in the aileron and flap department. Rudder, prior to '55 will be different. Of course don't accidentally install a nose wheel !

The search engine on this website will be your friend. The IPC will help but it will take real sleuthing to position the correct size bushing between some pulley clusters. Hopefully you kept them together. If you need a specific pic of a specific spot, possibly one can be found.

Bruce Fenstermacher wrote:The 100 Series Service Manual may be of some help. You are looking for diagrams or details for the '56 172 in the aileron and flap department. Rudder, prior to '55 will be different. Of course don't accidentally install a nose wheel !

Aww, I like my nose wheel. I also like tailwheels too when I fly my hangar neighbor's Cub. Never flown a 170 I'd love to sometime.

slimmorstad1 wrote:Looking for help. I picked up S/N 25405 been parked since 1988. I gutted it trying to restore. Not knowing alot I pulled all cables and pulleys without saving cables. I ordered a cable kit from McFarlanes. With only the parts manual we're having a hard time putting cables and pulleys together. Question is, Is there another source that can help my A&P and myself get the control cables in the right direction on the right pulleys. Thanks for any guidance. Been too many hours already on the flap cables.

Rookie questions:

• How did you reach the pulleys under the floor for the aileron and trim controls? (42-10 in the 48 Parts Manual) I have everything out of the centre console including the flap handle, trim control and pretend heating system. I'm seriously struggling to reach the bottom pulleys. I really don't want to pull the floor, and if I do I'll end up rebuilding the fuel system too.
• Is there any sensible way to get the elevator, trim and rudder cables disconnected at the back from the outside or does it require a very small apprentice shoved lengthways down the inside of the plane? I hope not cause my 6"4, 240lb carcass is not going to fit! The tail is off but I can't reach much of anything through the lightening holes.

Mission creep has set in big time! "Sure while it's this opened up you might as well ..."

Thanks,

Gareth.

I just finished replacing all cables and installing all the pullies. I had to crawl in the tail and disconnect the cables from the inside. I'm 6'4" 230 and I got in. Installing pullies, lot's of frustrations and time. Giving up at times and coming back 20 minutes later helped me.

Sorry I don't have a quick and easy method.

Thanks Slim

That looks like being this weekend's job for me then!

Before I pull a cable ,I attach a thin cord at the end of the cable and as it is pulled out the cord takes it place and makes refitting the cable so much easier. Plus when pulleys are changed , I take photos of each pulley block as there often spacers fitted on the attach bolt to give clearances. When working down the end of a fuselage have a small house hold fan blowing down the inside of the fuselage . It keeps temperatures down. Plus have a good light source down there and not try and use a torch . To aid the comfort of working down the tail of a tail dragger we elevate the tail to level by placing the tail wheel on a large sturdy table and have brakes set and chocked . Thus the person working down the fuselage is not head down and bum up .

ghostflyer wrote:...not try and use a torch . .

The first time I read the AFM of a British-built airplane...errr... AEROPLANE-Heavier Than Air.... was a DH-125 (with an empty wt of 22,500 lbs). ... and the pre-flight instructions were to look inside the fuel tanks using a TORCH.

It was a very humorous instruction to a “yank” who did not know until that reading that a “torch” is a “flashlight”.

ghostflyer wrote:Before I pull a cable ,I attach a thin cord at the end of the cable and as it is pulled out the cord takes it place and makes refitting the cable so much easier. Plus when pulleys are changed , I take photos of each pulley block as there often spacers fitted on the attach bolt to give clearances. When working down the end of a fuselage have a small house hold fan blowing down the inside of the fuselage . It keeps temperatures down. Plus have a good light source down there and not try and use a torch . To aid the comfort of working down the tail of a tail dragger we elevate the tail to level by placing the tail wheel on a large sturdy table and have brakes set and chocked . Thus the person working down the fuselage is not head down and bum up .

Cheers mate! I like to think of myself as reasonably smart and it hadn't dawned on me to jack up the arse end to make it more comfortable to work in. (Sigh)

I have photos of the block assemblies. The string thing won't work for me as I'm pulling the lot, cables, pulleys, etc. for a full clean, strategic paint and buckets of ACF-50.

George, It was supposedly George Bernard Shaw that said "The United States and Great Britain are two countries separated by a common language" When you add up an Irishman, a Texan and an Ozzie it brings it to a new level!

Gareth.

Use brass wire, it will withstand O/H practices and still be there when you reassemble.

c170b53 wrote:Use brass wire, it will withstand O/H practices and still be there when you reassemble.

...or safety wire (.020 or .025)