January 31, 2018
Jasmine 41
Wednesday
During the morning, I masked off the fresh white paint to isolate the field areas, following the paint lines I’d laid out previously; then, after final preparations, I applied the first of two coats of white nonskid paint.
Although I’d removed the old lenses, gaskets, and sealant earlier, the deadlight frames required some general cleanup to prepare the bonding surfaces and improve the appearance. Now, as needed, I cleaned out the grooves and scraped/sanded clean the various bonding surfaces (for the lenses and on the back side, where the frames would rest against the cabin trunk), and removed any final bits of old sealant (silicone) from the exterior of the frames, along with some light buffing with fine sandpaper. The corresponding inside trim rings were generally in good condition, but all benefited from some minor cleanup and light buffing.
The four opening ports from the forward cabins, also aluminum, were covered with lots of sticky butyl-type sealant from their removal. For each set, I removed all the old sealant from the surfaces to prepare them for new sealant and reinstallation, and otherwise generally cleaned up the frames and trim rings with fine sandpaper and soft wire brushing to improve appearance. Later, I removed the old screen frames to make installation of the ports easier when the time came.
Total time billed on this job today: 6.75 hours
0600 Weather Observation: 8°, clear. Forecast for the day: Sunny, increasing clouds, 23°