More progress forward of the firewall is taking place! Pioneer Aero is continuing to work on the dish pan, addressing several areas which show signs of wear. The engineers who originally designed the Dauntless anticipated some of these locations where metal vibrates against metal, installing rub strips at those spots to create a barrier of sacrificial metal which could be replaced, when needed, during routine maintenance.

These rub strips were attached via a combination of rivets and spot welds. The team at Pioneer Aero carefully chiseled them off to allow the installation of replacement parts. It is interesting to note how the rub strip actually did its job in several places, with the original device more or less rubbed through.

Pioneer Aero technicians also sanded and  bead blasted the dish pan components, to remove eighty years of accreted dirt, oil and surface corrosion. You can see the replacement sections of rub strip alongside the original, cleaned-up pieces. All of these sections are now ready to be primer-painted before having the repairs riveted together and the new Dzus spring and anchor nuts installed.