Trimming Console Side Panels

[ADK-Flyer]

What are other builders using to trim the side panels for the console? They appear to need a quarter to a half an each off the top of each panel and some trimming on either end as well. They are very thin and it seems like they would be easy to mess up.

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[P Johnson]

I used a woodworking router with a ball bearing flush trim cutter, just mark the cut line and clamp or double sided tape a board on the marked line for the ball bearing to follow.

[ADK-Flyer]

I used a woodworking router with a ball bearing flush trim cutter, just mark the cut line and clamp or double sided tape a board on the marked line for the ball bearing to follow.

I definitely have a router table and I believe I have one of those bits. How much did you have to trim? I believe on the seat end of mine it?s almost a half an inch and maybe an eighth on the front end. I figured tin snips or something like that will probably distort the aluminum badly.

[bumsteer]

Since the panels are thin, I (and others) have used a steel straight edge and a sharp razor knife. 10-15 strokes and it should give a nice edge to snap along. Keep the fingers clear!!

Rick

[gsxrpilot]

I'm gonna need to completely redo the console and side panels. Is there any reason the console and both side panels couldn't be a single piece?

Thanks,
Paul

[bbs428]

Some thoughts on the center consol:

A lot of builders like to cover the center consol in fabric and "If" you purchase the interior kit (or use your own source) you get material that matches to do this. If this is the case, it doesn't matter as much as long as you trim the sheet aluminum decently. It's all covered.

Some builders don't. Like "Bumsteer" said earlier, I also scored the sheet, then sanded with edge 400 grit and a sanding block until I had a flush edge, then lightly sanded the sheet face itself for paint adhesion. I used flush rivets for all the foot pedal adjusters/flap brackets and filled with a good body filler. It was painted with the same 2-part epoxy grey primer I used on the instrument panel.

Getting the bends right on a single piece of aluminum might be tricky and time consuming. For me, that would be pita!

I understand the desire to do it differently - believe me, I do! Lol.



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[ADK-Flyer]

Some thoughts on the center consol:

A lot of builders like to cover the center consol in fabric and "If" you purchase the interior kit (or use your own source) for the Kitfox you get material that matches to do this. If this is the case, it doesn't matter as much as long as you trim the sheet aluminum decently. It's all covered.

Some builders don't. Like "Bumsteer" said earlier, I also scored the sheet, then sanded with edge 400 grit and a sanding block until I had a flush edge, then lightly sanded the sheet face itself for paint adhesion and painted with the same 2-part epoxy grey primer I used on the instrument panel.

jm2cw - It all takes time, but you don't have to make it harder or take longer than it needs to be. More important is to do it to the best of your abilities and as complete as possible so you don't have to "redo" or fix your previous work.
Getting the bends right on a single piece of aluminum might be tricky and time consuming. For me, that would be pita!

I understand the desire to do it differently - believe me, I do! Lol.



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That looks great. My kit came with the interior kit so it will hide little mistakes for sure though I'd know they were there so it would probably bother me lol. Do you run a carb heat setup on your 912uls? I'm contemplating on engines and I'd love fuel injection but man these engines are so expensive they cost as much as a new vehicle. I'm concerned about the carburetors and the temperature swings where I live in upstate NY I'm guessing it would be a tuning nightmare.

[n85ae]

After a few iterations of reworking them, I ended using black trunk lining carpet glued to mine, and truck bed liner
paint on the floorboards. It looks nice and professional, and it's low maintenance. The bed liner paint, actually is one
thing that worked really well, it's textured, sticks really well to the floorboards, and has yet to wear through ...

Jeff

[jrevens]

I'm gonna need to completely redo the console and side panels. Is there any reason the console and both side panels couldn't be a single piece?

Thanks,
Paul

Paul,
You need to have good access to what?s under there. A one piece unit would make it VERY difficult.

For a couple of reasons, I built all new pieces for mine from slightly thicker material (.020 or .025? for the sides, .063? for the top).

Here we go - quotation marks also turn into question marks.

[jrevens]

What are other builders using to trim the side panels for the console? They appear to need a quarter to a half an each off the top of each panel and some trimming on either end as well. They are very thin and it seems like they would be easy to mess up.

I built an all-metal airplane, from scratch, and I found it pretty easy to cut aluminum cleanly by hand. A good set of smooth-jaw duckbill shears work well. The technique is to make a cut in 2 or more steps. Don?t completely close the jaws of the shears with each cut. Stop before then, reposition the shears and make another cut, each time. The first cut is made very close (maybe 1/8 in., depending on metal thickness) to the final cut line, then a final cut is made on the line. This helps to eliminate deformation. Finish with a file and possibly fine sand cloth.