The boyshave been busy at Auburn Airplane Works – Michael and Eric pulled the engine and the engine mount. The engine mount has been sent out for overhaul, so this leaves the firewall nice and exposed.

Since the heavy weight of the engine has been removed, the plane sits as a tail dragger. However, the plane is well balanced, and Michael found that it was susceptible to nosing over – so he took the liberty to put some weights in the back to be safe.

The firewall is a galvanized steel plate – though it had been painted several years ago. The previous paint job had not adhered to the surface well since it had flaked off in parts. So – out with the scotch-brite pads and start rubbing off the flaked paint…. after a short period of rubbing by hand, I swapped to an air tool. A small angle tool, with a similar scotch-brite circular disk, and the old paint started to come off.

 

I worked on this for a few hours on Saturday.

 

On Sunday evening, I did some more work on the paint removal. Here’s a comparison of how much paint can beremoved in 40 minutes:

 

Another Fedex Box

I did receive another box – this time from Airtex Interiors – 4 cans of glue! After the firewall is complete, then time to remove the old carpet.