Rudder Pedals Assembled

The rudder pedals are reassembled and ready to install once I find the missing center bearing block. . . . . . . . The bearing is a cast part. split in half with 2 holes for the tubes. The part number 0411264 is cast on the side of each half. The Top is -3 and the bottom-4. I'm missing the bottom. From the parts I have I can't tell that they were machined as pairs since all the halves line up well. It's obvious from wear marks which were the installed pairs, but otherwise there is no misalignment. Therefore if I could find even just a bottom it would probably work. . . These springs are the rudder pedal return springs which keep the pedals from falling toward the seats. They were a little rusty and at some time after the factory slobbered with paint. It was quicker to clean them up and epoxy prime them then look for new ones. I stretched them, between some clamps, enough to hold them open to grit blast and prime them. Once they are well cured I'll release them and they'll be ready to install with the pedals. The next job is the brake master cylinders.

Ready To Assemble Pedals

All the parts are cleaned up and repainted. I found some nice aluminum colored Rust-Oleum to paint the cast pedals and their links. I epoxy primed the inner (brake) shafts because one was developing some rust even though they were cadmium plated. I also lightly greased the inside of the rudder bar to protect it without paint. One thing I would do differently is not painting the stubs on the rudder bar where the pedal tubes slip on. One light coat of epoxy primer would have been fine. They just fit to tight otherwise. They're all back together. I'm also missing one of the halves of the bearing blocks that mount to the floor structure. Hopefully it fell in the shop where the pedals were removed several years ago. No one even has any listed anywhere on line.

Rudder Pedals

I'm changing the brakes to Cleveland brakes and need to get some shorter bolts for the axles, so we're on to the rudder pedals. I was going to just grease these and reinstall them. I keep finding enough cracked and corroded parts that I decided to take these apart to clean and inspect them. They are primary flight controls after all. We have the optional Right Seat brakes which is nice. So far the only problems I see just in taking them apart is some rust and the Oilite bushings for the brakes are dried out and the tubes were very sticky to turn.

The bushings just press into the the rudder bars and hold the brake shaft in. It has a step on it which made it easy to press out the bushings. That may have been it's purpose since the arms on each end hold the shaft in.

Now that all parts are disassembled, bagged or tagged I'm ready to start cleaning to inspect. The parts book really helps to figure out how all this works.

Wheels Ready to Assemble

All the parts are painted ready to reassemble, after the paint drys a little more. New brake pads had been installed so I have new o-rings, felt seals and bolts. The wheel bearings will be repacked. It will be nice to put this plane back on it's own legs.

Priming Wheels & Parts

Business has finally slowed enough to get back to the landing gear. All the parts are cleaned and the first coat of epoxy primer sprayed.

I found a nice little airbrush at Michael's craft store for $25. It is set up to work with expensive little air cans. With a piece of 1/8" tubing and a couple fittings I modified it to work with the air compressor or my little portable air tank.

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I cut off the can fitting at the end of the thin tube on the brush. Then I opened one end of the 1/8" tube, with the tube fitting I used on the other end, so I could slip the small tube into it. A little super clue and some heat shrink tubing over the joint and it is tight past the 50 psi limit for the brush. With a quick disconnect fitting on the 1/8" tube I can hook it up to any air source. It works very well with 30 psi at the regulator and about 6 ft. of tubing. It atomizes the primer very fine so you get a nice smooth coat. I mix the primer in an 8 oz. jar so it pours easily into the small jar on the brush. I put any extra in the freezer until the next coat can be sprayed. I found it takes about 2 months in the freezer before you see it even start to thicken so a couple days in the freezer slows the epoxy's reaction enough to save wasting much primer.