Redoing My Glareshield

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callegro

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Callegro
Hi guys,

I was talking to my avionics guy about a new audio panel, and just for the hell of it, I wanted to get his input on the Glareshield. Aesthetic-wise, I would love to redo it. However he thinks it would be difficult because it is two pieces (the eyebrow and actual Glareshield). I would love to somehow line it with leather to make it look pretty. What do you guys have to say?
 

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I had a similar situation on my 182-RG and here's what I did.

The eyebrow was the worst. So I pulled it off, and had it recovered. While it was off, I cleaned up the... upper panel (not sure what that area is actually called). After cleaning, it didn't look too bad. And mine looked similar to the condition yours appears to be in. Once the eyebrow was reinstalled, the whole thing looked a hundred times better.
 
So if I were gonna go with a completely new glare shield, who would I go to? My mechanic? Or more of an aircraft interior guy....I'm just wondering about the removal of the windshield. My avionics guy said that it would be a hassle due to the handholds, the avionics cooling, etc....not sure if that makes a difference.
 
I had the windshield out for replacement on a 177. Bought a brand new plastic "eye brow", installed new lighting in it, recovered the top of the dash, repainted all the metal bits that screw on over the fabric. I wanted to play with some carbon fiber so I make a thin flexible snap-on "veneer" to cover the front edge for fun. There's no way I could afford top pay someone to do this stuff.








IMG_0283_zps9zkwcowz.jpg



 
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rbridges said:
wow, Brian, that looks great.
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Thank you. Fitting the new plastic aftermarket FAA/PMA eyebrow/glareshield was not easy. I ended up buying two after ruining the first one molding the carbon fiber trim on it. Since I learned some things the second one installed easier and better.

 
callegro said:
Hi guys,

I was talking to my avionics guy about a new audio panel, and just for the hell of it, I wanted to get his input on the Glareshield. Aesthetic-wise, I would love to redo it. However he thinks it would be difficult because it is two pieces (the eyebrow and actual Glareshield). I would love to somehow line it with leather to make it look pretty. What do you guys have to say?
Click to expand...

Considered what kinds of fabrics they use on motorcycles? Those extremely odd shaped seats need a durable stretchy fabric, like 4-way stretch vinyl and put it on using some sort of contact adhesive like 3M brand 1300L or 1357. Many different ways to do things.
 
You may or may not need a few razor blades and acid brushes. You might want to research it since I'm just a phony. :D

A gallon of acetone, MEK, or toluene with cotton rags wouldn't hurt either.


(The phony is an inside joke, I'm sure Tom will be by shortly)
 
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I'm thinking of removing my glare shield....and coating it with duct tape and release (wax or grease). Do the layups....remove the carcass and trim. Looks easy enough.
 
I just waxed it, it worked ok but the runs that gravity pulled towards the forward edge (when sitting in the airplane) pretty much trashed it.

Reference the picture of it sitting the car trunk lid, that's the position it was when adding fabric and resin initially.
 
Checkout_my_Six said:
I'm thinking of removing my glare shield....and coating it with duct tape and release (wax or grease). Do the layups....remove the carcass and trim. Looks easy enough.
Click to expand...


I used West epoxy, a couple of heatlamps you'd buy at Tractor Supply from the livestock section. I had slow, medium, and fast hardener. As one layer started to gel I'd mix more, get the cup warm to about 120 F under the lamp to keep everything flowing well, removing air bubbles as much as possible, and keeping the finish from getting cloudy. You start to get a feel for how long you should leave it the cup before smearing it on with tough depressors to keep it from running all over the place. I wanted it to gel quickly after applying it to the part when building up coats to hide the weave.

I cleared using http://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-s-2k-aerospray-high-gloss-clear.html, it worked well. In fact I could wet sand it and still shoot another coat using the same activated can.

 
Before I bonded the windscreen in place, I put some of Pep Boy's finest black carpet on the glareshield, secured with 3M spray adhesive. I painted the shield black underneath so there was no possibility of any shiny aluminum peeking through the seams. No issues at all with reflections in the windscreen, and Velcro sticks like crazy to it. So a couple of GPS pucks and a spare mechanical pencil are attached that way.

The upholstered edge is from Classic Aero...really a nice finishing touch. That carbon fiber trim in a previous post looks nice, but the stuff splinters into shards on impact. Not sure I'd want my face hitting that in a crash.

 
There are STC FAA/PMA fiberglass glare shields out there, I wouldn't want my head hitting those either.

That carbon trim I made is about as flimsy as I could make it.
 
Checkout_my_Six said:
no worries....he'll be by shortly, after his noon nappy, to tell you how whatcha did isn't legal. :D
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I'll then start a debate about how the Flight Manual, 100s of pages of paper if not thousands, should be burn tested to meet regulations on part 25 airplanes. (Its part of the airplane, required to be on board how can we not be required to burn test them or the supplements added?)
 
I installed this one from Aircraft Spruce. It looks like leather, feels like leather and looks great. I had to take both sides of the windscreen out to do it but it was well worth it.

Glareshield.jpg


Getting the windshields out wasn't that bad, getting them back in was a bit of a pain. And before Tom gets here to tell us all how we're illegal, taking them out without a mechanic present isn't a crime. Putting them back in without one is punishable by death. I used an "approved" glare shield from an "approved" manufacturer and no animals were harmed during the operation.
 
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Timbeck2 said:
I installed this one from Aircraft Spruce. It looks like leather, feels like leather and looks great. I had to take both sides of the windscreen out to do it but it was well worth it.

Glareshield.jpg
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An Ashby?
 
(whispering) I don't know what that is. It's on my Cherokee and I don't remember the brand name of the glare shield.

If you're referring to something in the picture, that isn't my panel, it is from the Aircraft Spruce website.
 
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