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Keeping it simple...so far.

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Posted

Here is a picture with the nose of N84KF painted with Poly-Tone Insignia Blue.  I had a quart laying around so what the heck. It will never look glossy, but in a few weeks I'll buff and wax it so it should loose some of the "satin"finish.

The cowl was already off...'cuz I'm replacing the muffler. The tailpipe had been bumped by a lawn tractor, cracked, and repaired with welding before I got the plane. I knew it's history and was watching in case the repair failed, and it did. No real harm done, but I'm down for a while as the new one is being made and shipped from Idaho.

I am not familiar with the actual muffler failures that happen on non-reinforced systems, but I imagine this is the weak point so I am including some pictures of where mine failed. Remember, mine failed at a (bad) repair weld, but the area (I think) is the same.

steve

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Posted

did she start sounding like a radial all of a sudden??  hell, weld her back up and fly it till your new one gets here... or jump in the stearman and burn some smoke oil.....

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Posted

Ya know..., as I was taxiing back the last time I thought I heard something "different", but not very much, as I dismissed it as the direction the wind was blowing the exhaust noise.  I noticed nothing different with EGT during flight, no smoke or smells.

It was during the next preflight that I gave the stinger the obligatory handshake that I noticed it could be moved. So the cowl came off, then the muffler.

Here is another picture that shows the extent of the prior repair. That was my first thought too ... just get it fixed, but the extent of all damage combined says "just replace it ".

If anyone wants the assembly, send a postpaid box....it's yours.

Actually it could be repaired, but I would think the endcap would have to be replaced and the baffle re secured inside.

I save everything, and it would/will  be a spare if I got ambitious... but right now I'm not.

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Posted

dooooohhh. looks like the heat affected zone got a bit brittle.  I would not monkey with a repair either unless it was my only option in some remote village..I can tell you from chasing cracks like that on snowmachines that unless you stress releive the muffler / pipe after welding chances are that it wont last long... On the older artic cat race sleds we would have to stress releive a brand new pipe in order to make the entire race without blowing out a seam.

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Posted

The new muffler should be here soon, maybe a week. Then I can get back to business. The weather here has been perfect, but this has given me time to do a little detail work on the bird.

I loose my big hanger tomorrow as my friend is returning from Key West with his Navajo, so I have to double up with the Cubcrafter Sport Cub again. It was nice while it lasted.

I'll try to take some pictures of the new slum soon.

steve

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