Stinson Station Wagon, NC9391K Restoration

Stinson Station Wagon, NC9391K Restoration

The restoration of a 1947 Stinson Station Wagon owned by our grandfather, Fritz Womack.

Fritz with the Stinson in 1967

Stored in the hangar for over 40 years.

Loading it up to take it home

Arrived at home.

Family members helping to strip the fuselage bare.

Sandblasting the fuselage in the back yard.

Primer applied

Waiting for paint to dry

Ready to take it home.

Priming the rudder

Paint applied to the rudder

Elevator half cleaned and ready for primer

Primer applied

Paint applied

Before and After floor

Owner produced replacement flooring.

Floor fitting

Floor heating vent

Cleaned and ready for Primer

Fitting the door

Painted door

Elevator feedthrough

Going back together.

trammeling the wing

Panel before….

Original wiring harness

New wiring harness

Instrument panel

Wiping down the wing

After rib stitching, first coat of filler.

Paint applied

Registration number on the bottom

Door panel fitting

Door knob fitted

Tail wheel

External door handle

Door fitting

Bottom cowl painted

Cousin Doug stopped by to check progress

Loaded up for trip to the hangar

Hangar arrival

Wings on at the hangar.

Rudder and elevators installed

Fueling up to check for leaks…no leaks.

Pushed out of the hangar to clean the hangar

View from the top.

3 Comments Posted on August 1, 2021August 1, 2021 Uncategorized

Wing continued

Fabric is shrunk and poly brush is going on

Both side have their first coat

Fabric screws/washers installed on both sides. 65 each on the bottom; 53 each on the top.

Top rib tapes are on. Finishing up the bottom.

2 Comments Posted on July 31, 2021August 13, 2021 Uncategorized

Covering the Starboard Wing

Bottom fabric going on.

Measuring for the 2” overlay of top and bottom fabric.

Glueing down the fabric.

First of three temps for shrinking the fabric.

1 Comment Posted on July 21, 2021 Uncategorized

Wing Covering

Ready to cover the bottom. I will start coving on Saturday.

Tape over the screw and rivet heads

Snapping a chalk line for the fabric

Chalk lines up close.

1 Comment Posted on July 19, 2021 Uncategorized

More preparation for covering.

P-K screw rusting. The top of the screws always look ok. It’s when you loosen it up where you get the rust under the screw head. All of them are being replaced like I did on the other wing.

All the screws are out and corrosion prevention applied under the leading edge.

Leave a comment Posted on July 18, 2021July 18, 2021 Uncategorized

Corrosion photos

Some aluminum oxide corrosion on the nose ribs under the leading edge aluminum. After removing it I applied zinc chromate as an anti corrosion layer.

Before

After

Before

After

Leave a comment Posted on July 18, 2021July 18, 2021 Uncategorized

Fabric fitting

Rolling out the fabric and cutting it to fit.

Unrolling

Unrolling

1 Comment Posted on July 18, 2021July 18, 2021 Uncategorized

Flap hinge brackets

After

After

During

Before

Removing paint

1 Comment Posted on July 18, 2021 Uncategorized

Still working on the wing

I ran short of fabric so I ordered more and it’s here, so I will start covering the starboard wing this week. Finishing up the wiring, cables, and screw replacement.

Before

Cleanup

New screws

Before

Now

Fuel tank strap hold down bolts

New aileron cable attached.

New wiring and wire grommet for position light.

1 Comment Posted on June 16, 2021June 16, 2021 Uncategorized

Removing Surface Corrosion

Two types of corrosion here. Surface or oxide and galvanic corrosion. Steel screws used to hold down aluminum sheets to aluminum ribs causes galvanic corrosion between steel and aluminum while oxide corrosion is caused by oxygen and water reacting to the aluminum (basically). Not all of this is corrosion. Some is just fabric glue and zinc chromate.

Surface oxydation shows up as white powder

Surface corrosion removed

Corrosion inhibitor added

2 Comments Posted on June 1, 2021 Uncategorized

Progression

Just a few photos for you that think things aren’t getting done, I’ve added some before, during, and current photos here.

Loading it up

Cabin

Just the frame

Frame Painted

Seat frames

Seats and interior

Panel in

Fabric on

Painted and striped

Wings on

And now the wings

So it’s come a long way.