More work forward of the firewall! Work at Pioneer Aero is continuing on the dish pan, with several areas of wear being addressed. Some of these areas where metal vibrates against other metal were anticipated by the engineers who designed the airplane, with rub strips being installed to create a barrier of sacrificial metal that could simply be replaced.
The Rub Strip was originally attached with a combination of rivets and spot welds, which were carefully chiseled off by the team at Pioneer Aero. It is interesting to note that the rub strip has done its job in several places, having been used up and rubbed through.
The Dishpan was also cleaned up, being sanded and bead blasted as required to remove all the dirt, old oil and surface corrosion present. The replacement sections of rub strip can be seen alongside these cleaned up original pieces. All of these sections are ready to be primed before having the repairs riveted together and the new Dzus spring and anchor nuts riveted in place.