More Work

We were hoping to get the Tri-Pacer back together quickly but have already fallen behind. After close inspection we decided that our rusty stabilizers were beyond repair and would need to be replaced. We located a pair in an airplane junkyard in Maryland. Ray and I drove down last weekend and got the pair along with some tires. The stabilizers were a little rusty and would need to be cleaned up but were much better than our originals.
I dug out my old sand blaster and spent a couple days after work blasting. My compressor is not very big and the constant cycling had me squirting water in just a few minutes. I remembered the compressor filter that had been in the bottom of my toolbox for years and hooked it back up. It is a great filter, very good airflow, no pressure drop and it uses rolls of toilet paper as media.

After a good blasting I gave them a coat of primer before taking them to work and sneaking them into the paint booth.
While I was preparing the stabilizers Ray was over at the airport removing the nose wheel support frame. About 8 month ago Ray had noticed two dents in a stressed section of the frame. We were worried about it and found another one on the web. We painted it and set it aside for just such a time as this. With the plane already down for the stabilizers it was a perfect time. Ray got the wheel assembly off and brought it over just as I was finishing up the paint. We pulled the front strut out of the frame, swapped the bearings over to the new frame and reassembled the strut back to the new frame.
Getting the frame and wheel assembly back on the plane was a little harder than getting it off but with a little persuasion, it fit.
Next weekend we should be ready to start covering the stabilizers.