Paint shops in the mid-south

ZeroPapaGolf

ZeroPapaGolf

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ZeroPapaGolf
Any suggestions on a paint shop within reasonable distance of Memphis? I have some new winglets that need to be painted to match.

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Thanks for the links. Mena Aircraft did the paint job on the rest of the aircraft about 10 years ago and did a fantastic job. If nothing turns up closer to MEM, we will use them again.
 
For just winglets, I might suggest just using a local auto body shop. It's my experience that they really enjoy painting aircraft parts because it's something different for them...a break from the mundane.
 
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We've been required to help with a number of partial re-paints lately. One of the surprises was that Imron (that has historically been one of the most popular aircraft products) has been discontinued. The new products have different color codes and specs, which can cause complications for things like N-number changes, re-striping, etc.

Be prepared for some head-scratching as a part of this process.
 
timwinters said:
For just winglets, I might suggest just using a local auto body shop. It's my experience that they really enjoy painting aircraft parts because it's something different for them...a break from the mundane.
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+1

Buy your own paints and take to any local hotrod/custom shop, failing that ask your local Benz, BMW etc high end dealer who they recommend.

For paint and upholstry rod & custom people tend to do better work IMO
 
And they know how to chemically remove paint, disassemble, weigh/balance and reassemble control surfaces?
 
dell30rb said:
Winglets are a control surface? :dunno:
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Exactly what I was going to say!

Your A&P does the assembly

You bring them the parts to paint, they paint them, ain't rocket science

Painting a fiberglass winglet aint different from a glass vette.
 
We had a set of Colemill Baron-58 winglets painted at Mena. Most of the paint peeled off the first time it flew in rain, so they did it again. Much better the second time. Small radius of winglet L/E is more prone to paint erosion than other surfaces.
 
timwinters said:
For just winglets, I might suggest just using a local auto body shop. It's my experience that they really enjoy painting aircraft parts because it's something different for them...a break from the mundane.
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Genius! I've got a friend who runs a top-notch body shop. I'll check with him in the morning.

wabower said:
We've been required to help with a number of partial re-paints lately. One of the surprises was that Imron (that has historically been one of the most popular aircraft products) has been discontinued. The new products have different color codes and specs, which can cause complications for things like N-number changes, re-striping, etc.

Be prepared for some head-scratching as a part of this process.
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Really? Crap on a crust. The rest of the plane is done in Imron. :mad2:

Edit: It's still on the DuPont website under aviation finishes. Are you sure it's discontinued?
 
acluffpoa said:
And they know how to chemically remove paint, disassemble, weigh/balance and reassemble control surfaces?
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They're brand new, no paint at all on them. And obviously not a control surface.
 
Our sentiments exactly. The Citation Encore project we just completed was painted almost exactly 2 years ago, so we had no idea that they probably used the last batch of Imron on it. The first inkling was when the guy who was doing the number change alerted us that we'd need a different batch of paint.

It's not that you can't get matching paint, if you take an inspection cover to the paint shop they can duplicate the color. It's just that for any future work you must be aware of the differences and be prepared to deal with the aggravation.

cheap weenie said:
Genius! I've got a friend who runs a top-notch body shop. I'll check with him in the morning.



Really? Crap on a crust. The rest of the plane is done in Imron. :mad2:
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As a followup on this....

My buddy with the body shop is going to paint them for $250 total, using Imron.
 
Just be sure they know not to grind off the rivets to give the surface a nice smooth finish. (That's what happened to a Zenith that uses the raised rivets, when given to an auto shop to paint.)
 
Be sure to tell him about paint erosion issues on the small radii surfaces. And ask around to determine if any clear-guard materials are appropriate.

cheap weenie said:
As a followup on this....

My buddy with the body shop is going to paint them for $250 total, using Imron.
Click to expand...
 
tinerj said:
Just be sure they know not to grind off the rivets to give the surface a nice smooth finish. (That's what happened to a Zenith that uses the raised rivets, when given to an auto shop to paint.)
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Those folks had obviously been in the paint fumes for far too long. They must have been real imbeciles
 
A twin-Beech restoration in Dallas suffered the same fate.
 
I would not use Imron if it was the last paint on earth.
There are better products out there, and will match just as good.
Imron is a product of the '70s, and when they took the lead out, it went to crap.
But IMHO it never was that good to begin with.
I would use either Concept, or PRC DeSoto, Shoot! Even Delfleet is better than Imron.
And if you're hell-bent on using a DuPont product, Nason is better than Imron.
 
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