pawnshopmike
Staff member
Holy smokes that must have been a lot of work. Looks cool though.
Holy smokes that must have been a lot of work. Looks cool though.
WHEEL PANT UPGRADE
From past experience I wanted to make two improvements on the wheel pants used on 100cc airplanes.
The first is the ground clearance between the wheel and the wheel pant. Often the bumpy grass fields that I visit are not adequate to give a proper ride causing the wheel to drag.
The second improvement was to make the wheel pant "Stronger" so it would not crack as so many do. I stole this idea from a post on FG but made a modification to make the job easier. It's a simple idea of adding expanding foam to fill the void in the front and back of the wheel pant.
I used some White Rose wheels ( BLING) that I salvaged from my CARF Extra 330SC crash. They are a 1/2 inch in diameter larger, but because of this extra width, I was forced to open the bottom of the wheel pant for the necessary clearance. A Dremel tool with a fine sanding drum does the job easily. I mask off the edges that I want to sand too and I have a perfect line to aim for.
To control the expanding foam ( I used a 2 part system) I added to the wheel pant for additional strength, I made myself a wooden block that is a 1/4 inch thicker and wider than the wheel. This gives me just enough clearance for the wheel to spin freely inside the wheel pant. To stop the foam from adhering to the wood I covered it with my wife's Press & Seal. I find that this works better than the traditional "Cling" type wraps.
It takes a little bit of force to pull the block out of the wheel pant, but the shape was "PERFECT" with no voids and a smooth finish. I applied a primer coat to the interior so any exhaust residue would not harm the foam.
I like to use 1/4-20 Allen Head Cap screws as axles. They are super tough, cheap and the unthreaded section acts as a great bearing when used with a sintered bronze sleeve inside the wheel. I also use sintered bronze sleeves on each side of the wheel pant for that extra support.
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