Yoke Bearings

The Yoke bearings allow the yoke to slide in and out and turn while still providing firm support.  They are mounted between pairs of steel channels directly behind the instrument panel.

The original bearings were made of phenolic as shown in Photo 1.  Some folks make their bearings of nylon, which I suppose would give slightly less friction but faster wear.  I chose to stick with the traditonal phenolic material...cheap, light, functional.  You need 1/4" thick phenolic and since it's sold by the square foot you'll have to order 1/4 of a square foot (6"X6") enough to make 6 bearings!  You'll also need a 2 foot length of 1/4" rubber channel.

The bearings are 2" X 2 3/8" so start by cutting a 2" X 6" slab off your 6X6 chunk of phenolic.  Ordinary woodworking tools work fine on phenolic, so a bandsaw will serve.

Mark the hole locations (draw an "X" to find the centers), then drill 3/4" holes.  If you use a spade drill like I did, drill 1/4" pilot holes first.  (Photo 2)  Smooth the inside and the edges of the hole with a round file.  Check for fit on the yoke shaft.

After cutting the bearings off the 6" slab, fit pieces of the rubber channel around the outside of bearing.  (Photo 3)  The rubber channel will dampen vibration to the yoke.

Slide the bearing/rubber assembly down into the slot formed by the steel channels and secure it with #6 X 3" screws top and bottom.  (Photo 1)  If you have trouble sliding the bearing/rubber assembly into position, try putting the rubber channels in first and then slide the phenolic bearing into the rubber.

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Link to Yoke Centerpieces,  Tank Installation,  Instrument Panel Repair

Fuel Tank Test and Installation

There are at least two ways to test your fuel tanks.  One tank test method is to fill the tank with compressed air and see if any air leaks out.  The air leaks are detected by brushing a soapy water solution on the outside of the tank and watching for bubbles.  Hook the tank outlet to a pressure regulator set on it's lowest setting...about 5 psi.  Rubber band a latex glove over the filler opening.  (Photo 1)

A more practical test for the small time aircraft restorer is the old water test.  Simply fill the tank with water (plug the drain openings), and wait.  The photo above shows my two tanks filled with water on my patio after after about 2 hours.  As you can see, the wing tank had no leaks at all.  But the main tank is leaking around the filler neck.  Next step: drain the tank and repair with JB Weld.  It takes about 2 days for the inside of the tank to dry completely.

The Taylorcraft main tank is installed with two 1/4" steel X rods that pass through tubes in the tank.  It is important to cushion the tank mounting.  Use two 22" long pieces of 1/4" automotive fuel line over the X rods to give a very snug yet resilient installation.  see Photo 2

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link to Fuel Caps,  Fuel Gauge,  Fuel Valve

Decals

Decals can be decorative items like the Taylorcraft logo shown here, or can be functional items like instrument panel placards.  Either is easy to make yourself on an ordinary inkjet printer.

You'll need decal paper and spray varnish.  Decal paper is available from Bel decal for about $8 for 10 sheets.  Get a mixture of clear and white paper.  The spray varnish is available at WalMart.  You'll want to get "Krylon Crystal Clear", the gloss spray works great, but you might want to get some Matt finish spray too for doing your flat finish instrument panel.  It's about $3 per can.

I wanted to make a T-craft logo for the center of my yoke centerpieces.  I first made a scan of the old logo.  (Photo 1).  It was scratched and faded, so I printed an enlargered version (5X) on photo paper.  Then I went over the black portion of the logo (on the photo paper) with a Sharpie felt tip marker.  (Photo 2)  I also touched up the white parts with typewriter correction fluid (White-out).  While I was at it I made the outer black ring thicker and more defined.  The resulting cleaned-up drawing (Photo 3) was then scanned back into the computer.

I printed the logo on clear decal paper.  I increased the contrast to about +60% and decreased the brightness to about -30% to get the black parts completely black.  I set the size at 1.7 inches, slightly larger than the original 1.2 inch logo.  Careful! The ink stays wet a long time on the decal paper and I ruined several decals by touching them too soon.  When the ink does dry (30 minutes?) spray the decal with Krylon to seal it.

When you're ready to transfer the decal cut it out carefully with sissors.  (Photo 4)  Drop the decal in a bowl of water for 1 minute and then slide it off the backing paper onto the finished surface.  You'll have a couple minutes to move the decal around into exact position and to press out any bubbles or creases.  After the decal dries give it a couple more coats of Krylon to seal it onto the surface.  (Photo 5)

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Link to Yoke Centerpiece

Instrument Panel Repair

The original T-Craft Instrument Panel is becoming a rare bird.  They are often "improved" by adding additional instrument holes, electrical switches, radios, GPS units, digital clocks and other horrid junk.  Also common is the panel that is concave.  The original panel was apparently made of aluminum sheet that was too thin and they easily dent inward and are almost impossible to pop back out.

It's hard to beat the original design...simple, clean, light, functional.  Some folks will take out the old panel and replace it with a new, thicker flat panel.  Not original and doesn't look antique...but not a bad solution to the panel problem.

Another typical "repair" is to cut out the entire middle section of the panel and then add an insert that is made of thicker aluminum.  Photo 2  The insert shown has holes for 6 (!) 3 inch instruments, enough for a IFR T-craft!

A better fix for the concare panel is to add a aluminum angle across the back.  Photo 3 shows a 1 1/2 aluminum angle bolted onto the back of the panel.  The reinforcement angle is 15" long and 1/16 thick.  It has two cutouts for the oil pressure and temperature gages and is fastened through the front with black instrument screws.  This simple repair is invisible from the cockpit, retains the original panel design, yet gives the whole unit a remarkable lightweight strength.

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Yoke Centerpiece

My yokes came without the plastic centerpieces, and indeed they seem to be getting hard to find.  I saw a Taylorcraft yoke, with centerpiece, on eBay and bought it thinking I could make a copy of the centerpiece.  But when it arrived I saw the plastic was warped and deformed.  So I was faced with making a mold from scratch.

I started with a 3inch styrofoam ball like is used by hobbyists to make Christmas ornaments.  I cut the foam ball in half (Photo 2) on the band saw, sanded the radius slightly flatter on top, and then epoxyed it onto a plywood board.  I cut three sections of broom handle and epoxyed them to the plywood in the position of the yoke spokes.  Photo 3 shows the resulting plug.

After giving the plug 3 coats of wax, I covered it with fiberglass to produce the mold. (Photo 4)  I wanted threaded inserts in the finished part so I made a core for the mold as shown in Photo 5.   The core is a piece of 1/4 plywood cut to fit into the spoke cutouts in the mold.  Three 8-32 screws hold 3 nuts in the correct position in the mold.

The layup procedure is to wet out two layers of glass in the mold, then pour 1/4 inch of resin with finely chopped glass in the bottom of the mold.  Next the core is inserted.  After the resin sets, the 8-32 screws are unscrewed leaving the nuts trapped in the 1/4 inch resin-glass layer.

The parts are removed from the mold, sanded and painted.  The backing pieces receive no nut inserts but are drilled instead.  Use the mold core as a drilling template.  Photo 6

You can trim the edges of the centerpieces with a strip of vinyl electrical tape, then screw them in place on the yokes.  Photo 7

The little aluminum inserts are made by clamping aluminum disks between two steel washers Photo 8, and then hammering the edge down around the washer.  Photo 9 Then the insert (with its decal!) is epoxyed in place on the centerpiece.  Photo 10

Link to Yoke Bearings,  Decals, Fiberglass Molds

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Fuel Gauge

The Taylorcraft fuel gauge is about as simple, light, and reliable as can be made.  It is simply a cork on a rod that sicks up through the fuel cap directly in front of the windshield.  It's identical to the J-3 Cub fuel gauge.  They are expensive to buy, but cheap and easy to make. ( Photo 1)

The original unit (Photo 2) had a couple of small design flaws, which we will correct on our new gauge.  First, the cork is literally a cork like comes out of wine bottle.  The cork (1 1/2 corks really) was coated with shellac to make it last longer, but when exposed to modern ethanol blend fuels they will quickly fall apart.  The solution is to use a synthetic fuel float designed for modern fuels.  They are available from Synder Antique Auto Parts as the Ford Model A fuel float.  You need two.  They cost $4 each.

The second problem with the original fuel gauge is the fuel cap itself.  The original had a cork gasket that, again, will deteriorate when exposed to modern fuel.  And the original caps are prone to rust quickly.  The solution is to make your fuel gauge/cap out of a tractor gas cap.  Tractor caps ($6) are designed for use with ethanol blend fuels and have an excellent gasket.  We can keep the cap from rusting by sandblasting and painting it with epoxy primer.

So, gather your parts.  Two Model A fuel floats, a tractor gas cap, 2 inches of 1/4" copper tube, and two #4 washers.  You'll also need a stainless steel welding rod, 3/32 diameter ($2) and at least 16" long.

Solder (silver solder or braze) one washer on the welding rod about 3 1/2 inches from one end.  Install the fuel floats and then solder the other washer on the end of the rod leaving a 1/4" gap between the washer and the now-trapped floats.  A little trick to keep from melting the floats when soldering the washer onto the rod: cut a 2" circle out of poster board, poke a hole into the center of the circle and then soak the poster board disk in water for a minute.  Push the wet disk onto the rod so it rests against the float and protects it from the heat.  When done soldering, simply cut the paper disk away. (Photo 3)

The fuel cap is prepared just like wing tank caps.  (See the "Fuel Caps" entry).  The difference is that the copper tube is only 2" long, with about 1" extending above the cap.  Blast and paint the cap.  Install it on the rod, check rod length in your tank, and then cut to length and bend the end of the rod. (Photo 4)

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Link to Fuel Caps,  Fuel Tank

Documentation, Organization

I use digital photos, but have found them of limited use...I seem to always take the  photo from the wrong angle and often I can't find the photo I want when I need it.

I keep a disassembly log that includes drawings and notes to myself.  My log is an ordinary school notebook.  (Photo 1)

I use a clip board to keep a running list of the parts I'm going to need.  I replace all AN hardware so the list gets rather long and complex.  As my budget permits, I order supplies from Aircraft Spruce and cross them off the list.

I label parts with masking tape and a sharpie marker.  I always label up, down, fore, aft, etc. so I can get the parts back in the right position.  (Photo 2)

I use 3X5 cards to schedule tasks ("Blast and Paint Gear Vees" for example).  I arrange the cards in order and post them on a project board on the wall of my shop.  (Photo 3) As I complete a task, I take the card off the project board and gleefully toss it in the trash.

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