A place where restoration project-type threads can go to avoid falling off the main page in the WIX hangar. Feel free to start threads on Restoration projects and/or warbird maintenance here. Named in memoriam for Gary Austin, a good friend of the site and known as RetroAviation here. He will be sorely missed.
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Thu May 17, 2007 6:10 pm

Thanks for all the comments and certainly the questions. I've noticed the number of views growing, but never imagined this much interest. I hope to keep posting until I'm done and then post a little video of the engine run and first flight.
The gear was overhauled by the Canadian Military (RCAF) on the tag and then inspected by Chesapeake Airways Service Corp sometime after.
Gary, Great job on Ol 927. Little did I know many of us had the name right on. I did find a company in Canada who is listed as capable to overhaul the gear, but don't know how many they've done in the recent past. I ran across a deal today where I actually purchased another nose gear assy for a very reasonable price. I'm not 100% sure what is on the tag, but is a money back gaurantee if I'm not satisfied. I'll put the old gear on the shelf for now as a parts source if needed.

Thu May 17, 2007 8:29 pm

Sabremech- -This is a wonderful thread. It has been very educational for me, as well as for others, I'm sure. Like Gary, you've been kind to take the time to share this knowledge with all of us.

Fri May 18, 2007 7:46 pm

What have I been up to today? I finished disassembling the nose gear and hope to have the trunion bushings in my hands on Monday. I sure hope they fit and have the right clearance. Here's the gear disassembled.

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I started to disassemble the brakes for new carrier installation. I hope to use the same heatpack as they only have about 35 landings on them. Here's a couple shots of the brakes.

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In order to get the new accessory cover on the front of the engine we had to modify it a bit. The tube to the starter was off quite a bit, so we drilled out the rivets and made some adjustments.

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I made up a little fixture to measure the horizontal stab hinge play and mounted it today. The limit is .012 and we have about .005, so we're still OK there.

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Still seem to be working on about a 100 things at one time, but we're making progress.
David
WHF Maint
www.warbirdheritagefoundation.org

Mon May 21, 2007 9:15 pm

We managed to get quite a bit of work done on Saturday. The cockpit is back together to include the ejection seat and canopy.

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We took care of many of the squawks and are now ready to install the engine. Hopefully we don't run into any problems and will install it tomorrow.

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The right hand wingtip is almost finished with fitting and hole locations. We dimpled the skin and countersunk the spacer today so it should be ready for primer and paint soon.

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All the pieces for the engine are back now. The oil scavenge pump and exhaust cone are ready to install after we get the engine back in the airframe.

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Thanks for looking, Check out our website and let us know what you think. There's some new things in the works at WHF. www.warbirdheritagefoundation.org
David
WHF Maint

Mon May 21, 2007 9:36 pm

Sabremech wrote: The right hand wingtip is almost finished with fitting and hole locations. We dimpled the skin and countersunk the spacer today so it should be ready for primer and paint soon.

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David, when you get a chance, can you give us a little more detail as to how you found the hole locations?

Mon May 21, 2007 9:55 pm

I'm thinking the pieces of masking tape with the fastener center lines marked on them might have something to do with it. :wink:

Tue May 22, 2007 12:41 am

bdk wrote:I'm thinking the pieces of masking tape with the fastener center lines marked on them might have something to do with it. :wink:

Yup.

The reason I asked is because a few weeks ago I helped someone drill NOS fairings for tip tanks on an L-39. We ran a line of tape from leading edge to trailing edge over the holes on the wing, then measured back. What I see here on my dinky little laptop computer screen is tape going from tip to fuselage.

What David did here looks different from what we did, so I think he may have found a better way. Obviously, there are a *lot* more holes on an F-86 tip.

Just curious is all.

Tue May 22, 2007 7:41 am

I'll do my best to explain what we did for locating the holes. We put tape near several holes and before we put the tip on made an X where the crossing point is over the center of the hole. Then we put the tip on and carefully marked the spots where the X crossed and drilled those holes. The rest were done by placing the tape as you see it and marking the center line of the hole. With the wingtip off we can measure the distance of the hole from a point on the tape. Lastly put the wingtip on with the previously drilled screws and then mark the rest of the holes with the measurement on the tape. Drill the holes and insert the screws. We could have made an X for each screw hole, but with them so close together it would have been a mess.
I hope I've explained this OK. Much easier to do than explain.
David

Tue May 22, 2007 7:48 am

Sabremech wrote:Much easier to do than explain.
David


Welcome to my life. :lol: :wink:

Gary

Tue May 22, 2007 8:56 am

Thanks David. You explained it well enough that even I could understand!

Tue May 22, 2007 9:42 am

I know I can count on you Gary for an assist if needed. Right? :)

Tue May 22, 2007 10:38 am

I wish I could help you, but I know zip about jets. Wrong kind of round engine for me. Heck, I still don't know what the heck I'm doing yet....still learnin'.

Tue May 22, 2007 11:09 am

Nice A frame hoist. Were can I buy one like it?

Patrick

Tue May 22, 2007 12:35 pm

Gary, I'm learning something new every day too! I'm certainly more comfortable with my round engines than the ones your working on.
I purchased the A-frame hoist from Grainger. They have a pretty good selection. I didn't want to have to rent something 2 times a year for the Sabre. We plan on having the airplane for quite a while and this will have paid for itself after one more annual. I can also use it to change an engine on any of our other birds as well if needed.
David

Tue May 22, 2007 9:13 pm

OK, The engine made it's way back into the Sabre today. The correct engine sling and our hoist worked great. We had to add a little weight in the exhaust cone to get the balance right. It probably would have been better if the tailpipe was installed.

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I got carried away with the buffer a little before we put the engine in. Maybe a little practice for the upcoming polishing of the fuselage.
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David
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