My Kis Cruiser - Door Sking Install

N247BR

Doors Preparation - Outer Skin Install

I have broken the door preparation into several sections to keep the individual pages smaller and give some logical sections.

The door skins have to be trimmed to an etched line that is barely cut into the outer skin. I cut to just out side the line and carefully sanded to the line. I test fit the skin before doing the final trim. The lines proved to be surprisingly accurate for the outside shape but not for the window. (More on that later.)

Fit of the skin was pretty good but did not quite fit as well to the compound curvature of the door and the fuselage. I used both tape and clecos to work the skin as best I could.

This shows the close fit of the right door. The right side door came out with an excellent fit but the left side was a much greater problem. I only had a couple of minor voids to fill on the right side but had to cut and rebond the middle sections (front and rear) on the pilot side.

The clecos were used to position the door skin but during close out I applied a very tight fitting tape around the outside of the door and the window and removed the clecos.

It was very important to carefully sand the inner door panel as well as the inside of the door skin to ensure a uniform thickness to the glass to be bonded. This photo shows an area where overlapping glass caused an extra thickness to the glass.

The window here has been marked and sanded to prepare the surface for bonding.

An extra layer of tape has been applied along the bonding edge. This was supposed to facilitate the clean removal of one layer of tape prior to the adhesive curing. The adhesive I used cured much quicker than I expected and didn't do much to help.

The extra layers of glass were added to both the vertical channels to provide an area for attaching the door struts. I located the position for the struts and installed the locking nuts in position instead of relying on machine screws. I also added additional glass plies across the bottom and top to add strength. Before close I buttered a thick epoxy/flox mix to fill the area between the inside and outside skin around the hinge area.

The inner door panel was placed into position and the bonding areas buttered with adhesive. The outside skin was also buttered and positioned using clecos. I then used tape to hold the skin in place for curing. It worked great on one door and not so great on the other. Not sure of why but I still believe the tape and a minimum number of clecos was the right way to proceed. As I mentioned above, the adhesive cured very quickly and I had to get the clecos out (destroyed 4 in the process) and remove the tape before I could get any photos of the close out procedure. I was disappointed that I had tried to do too much at one time and probably caused myself more problems than necessary. I had planned to do each door separately but after mixing the adhesive and buttering the bond areas on the first door, I discovered that I had prepared way too much mixture. Instead of being smart and throwing the excess away I continued on to the second door. That was a big mistake and caused me to rush, the adhesive to thicken too much and I ended up with a big problem.

I have broken the door preparation into several sections to keep the individual pages smaller and give some logical sections.

	The door skins have to be trimmed to an etched line that is barely cut into the outer skin. I cut to just out side the line and carefully sanded to the line. I test fit the skin before doing the final trim. The lines proved to be surprisingly accurate for the outside shape but not for the window. (More on that later.)
	Fit of the skin was pretty good but did not quite fit as well to the compound curvature of the door and the fuselage. I used both tape and clecos to work the skin as best I could.
	This shows the close fit of the right door. The right side door came out with an excellent fit but the left side was a much greater problem. I only had a couple of minor voids to fill on the right side but had to cut and rebond the middle sections (front and rear) on the pilot side.
	The clecos were used to position the door skin but during close out I applied a very tight fitting tape around the outside of the door and the window and removed the clecos.
	It was very important to carefully sand the inner door panel as well as the inside of the door skin to ensure a uniform thickness to the glass to be bonded. This photo shows an area where overlapping glass caused an extra thickness to the glass.
	The window here has been marked and sanded to prepare the surface for bonding.
	An extra layer of tape has been applied along the bonding edge. This was supposed to facilitate the clean removal of one layer of tape prior to the adhesive curing. The adhesive I used cured much quicker than I expected and didn't do much to help.
	The extra layers of glass were added to both the vertical channels to provide an area for attaching the door struts. I located the position for the struts and installed the locking nuts in position instead of relying on machine screws. I also added additional glass plies across the bottom and top to add strength. Before close I buttered a thick epoxy/flox mix to fill the area between the inside and outside skin around the hinge area.
The inner door panel was placed into position and the bonding areas buttered with adhesive. The outside skin was also buttered and positioned using clecos. I then used tape to hold the skin in place for curing. It worked great on one door and not so great on the other. Not sure of why but I still believe the tape and a minimum number of clecos was the right way to proceed. As I mentioned above, the adhesive cured very quickly and I had to get the clecos out (destroyed 4 in the process) and remove the tape before I could get any photos of the close out procedure. I was disappointed that I had tried to do too much at one time and probably caused myself more problems than necessary. I had planned to do each door separately but after mixing the adhesive and buttering the bond areas on the first door, I discovered that I had prepared way too much mixture. Instead of being smart and throwing the excess away I continued on to the second door. That was a big mistake and caused me to rush, the adhesive to thicken too much and I ended up with a big problem.