REPAINT/REBUILD ADVICE

[GAHorn]

I'm not a painter and can't advise about clear coats, but I suspect a clear coat is merely pigment-less polyurethane...and should not be affected by new poly put over it as long as it's lightly sanded prior to re-coating. But you might wish to visit directly with your paint-brand distributor or supplier.

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

I'm not sure either Dave about the clear coat but on thing for sure is that if the paint is not removed and you add more paint you are also adding more weight which wasn't necessary had it been done the way you wanted it to begin with.

[GAHorn]

Not contradicting the validity of Bruce's comment...but the amount of additional wt is negligible. The airplane's wt probably isn't increased by more than 20 lbs by the entire paint scheme, so I'd imagine the stripes are only worth a pound or two at most.

[zero.one.victor]

Dave, looks great and the shine shows nicely in the picture.
Johneb

John, you might think that nobody caught the copyright bug you added to the 170 logo in your avatar, but it ain't so. Too funny!

Eric

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

I noticed the copy right as well

George the additional weight could be neglegable and i hope it is but as much as the strips 'bug' Dave knowing that there is additional weight would "bug" me untill proven that it was insignifigant. It's just a carry over from my model airplane days when we counted ounces not pounds.

[jon s blocker]

If you are going to repaint, you will need to tape up to the line you don't want to remove, then block sand from that line lower to the next panel line, (seam on the aicraft skin). You will then be assured there won't be any lines showing, (like uneven surface under the paint), and it will assure you go adhesion. On your side stripe, there is a narrow panel that goes all the way back and it appears your lines are within that panel line, so there won't be that much area to do. Your painter should be able to do that with minimal effort, and as long as the base coat is even a close match, you won't be able to tell the re-paint was done. We had to do re-paint on our plane and it came out nice. Make sure to block sand all of the stripe off, or it will show an uneven line under the paint, (a slight raised line under the paint). You don't have to take all the base coat off, but it should be sanded and make sure all of the surface is FLAT. As you sand you will take off the clear coat and get into the base coat, but that is good. Clear coat in the car industry is used to cover up a weak paint job. The base coat is shot on, roughed up, then the clear coat is shot on making the color look wet. Good luck, by the way the paint job looks excellent, but don't be SATISFIED with someone elses idea of what he thinks your plane should look like. He does not have the right to paint your plane the way he wants. Jon

[AR Dave]

Jon,

Thanks for looking at it and explaining so carefully. I know exactly what you're talking about, because I showed him those seams on the plane and told him to stop the top blue on the first seam and start or stop the side stripe on the next seam. I thought this would hide the seams all together and would be nice to line up the stripes with. He blew that off right then and there. If he would have went by the seams, he'd have the paint job I want. If it comes down to it, I'll volunteer to help sand it down or help with the labor, I just want the correct paint job!

I've had to stay at work 17 days, which is an extra 3 days. My coworkers are ready for me to get out of here, now. My attitude changed after I got the plane pictures. Just had an argument with a friend who told me that unless the painter wants to repaint it out of the goodness of his heart, it ain't happening. I think when I tell him I can't live with it, he'll work something out for me. Positive Thinking!

[N1478D]

If there was some way that you could have the plane stay in his shop 30 more days, and have him there on a Saturday when 40 of your friends land there at Ozark and crowd in around him to help urge the right decision, the outcome could be predicted.

[N2865C]

Jon,

If it comes down to it, I'll volunteer to help sand it down or maybe even help pay for getting it right.

Dave, I'm guessing you paid between 7500 and 9500 dollars for that paint job. Thats a lot of dough. In my opinion, you should accept nothing less than what you specified. Your painter is a professional and he should be expected to get it right. That is what he gets paid for. As for helping.... that would be like going into a restaurant and when they screwed up your meal saying "oh thats OK, I'll come in the kitchen and help you remake it" and then paying full price .

I had my 170 painted last year. It was at a top quality paint shop and I paid top $$ for it. It took a little longer than it should and one of the reasons was because he was repainting an airplane that they had made a mistake on. My painter seemed proud of the fact that he was making it right. Thats one of the reasons that he has such a good reputation.

If it was me I would tell the painter in a friendly but firm way that I expected it to be redone as specified in a timely manner and that there is no room for negotiation. If that didn't work I would spend $250 on a good attorney and have him contact the paint shop. I suspect that your airplane would be repainted in short order. Worst case you would be out $250.

I don't know what line of work you are in, but in most businesses, if you don't preform you don't get paid. As a business owner you expect mistakes to happen from time to time and it is built into the cost of doing business. I don't see any reason to let this guy off the hook in any way.

Just my humble opinion.

jc

[zero.one.victor]

Not contradicting the validity of Bruce's comment...but the amount of additional wt is negligible. The airplane's wt probably isn't increased by more than 20 lbs by the entire paint scheme, so I'd imagine the stripes are only worth a pound or two at most.

I agree that an extra coat of paint on such a small area adds an negligible amount of weight. But I think the weight of an overall paint job is more than most folks think. My 1969 Cessna 150 had the factory paint job listed on the W&B sheet, I seem to recall that it was in the 30-35 pound range, and a 150 is lots smaller than a 170.
Anybody have a factory W&B for a 60's vintage Cessna they could report on?

Eric

[GAHorn]

John, you might think that nobody caught the copyright bug you added to the 170 logo in your avatar, but it ain't so. Too funny!

Eric

Yeah...but it's too big. It's the wrong color. It's in the wrong location. It's the wrong font.

[JTS]

Dave, I assume that you work very hard for your money. And when you make the decision to invest it in something that should be as worthwhile as a beautiful new paintjob on your bird, I believe you should settle for nothing less than complete satisfaction.
Remember it will be the very first thing you notice every time you approach that airplane. Listen to that little voice inside, make your decision as to what you want and don't take "no" for an answer.

Best Regards,
Jody

[johneeb]

John, you might think that nobody caught the copyright bug you added to the 170 logo in your avatar, but it ain't so. Too funny!

Eric

Yeah...but it's too big. It's the wrong color. It's in the wrong location. It's the wrong font.

Don't forget it is also facing the wrong way!!

[AR Dave]

I'm leaving AK today - supposed to pick up the plane 3:00 pm central time tomorrow (sat). Stay tuned!

[170C]

How about an update Dave. How did your Sat AM meeting go and after seeing you plane in the flesh (aluminum), what did you think?