Primer Wars and Alodine...

Let me start this off by saying that there is a LOT of information out there about what to prime, how to prime, different types of primer, blah blah blah. There was so much info, I got information overload. When that happens, I just usually settle back in to  KISS mode (Keep It Simple Stupid).

I bought my grandfather's 172 that he sold in 1982 when he lost his medical. It was a 1973 model, that lived its entire life in the pacific northwest of the USA. Mind you it had been in a hangar all of its life, so I took that into consideration. I am building an airplane that will cost just shy of $200K, so of course I will put it in a hangar once it is built. How does this have anything to do with primer?!?!?! Well because I'm here to tell you, I went through every single inch of that 172, and there was not a speck of corrosion on it. And, there was not a speck of primer on the Alclad parts.

In the last few months, I've read all of the "primer wars" discussions on Van's AirForce. After disseminating all of the data, I am just not convinced that a plane in Oklahoma, built with Alclad aluminum, needs every single inch to be primed. If I lived in Florida? You bet... But I live in Oklahoma.... The wind up is this, some Van's builder spend way too much effort, time and money building this airplane they think their great grandchildren will fly. It ain't gonna happen. I'm building a 40 year airplane. anything beyond that is someone else's problem. If my little 172 had ZERO corrosion after 46 years on Alclad parts, I'm sure as hell not gonna waste my time priming that stuff....

So, if you are still reading, here is my setup. I figured that if I could Alodine the small parts that were non-alclad, I would be almost as good as priming. So here is what I put together. I bought 7 gallon buckets on Amazon. It came as a set of four, for like $78.00. I set it up and LABELED each bucket. I have the Alumaprep 33 acid etch in the first bucket. In the second, it's the distilled water wash. The third bucket is the Alodine, and the fourth is the distilled water wash.

It's convenient and it fits under my table. For the parts that aren't Alclad, I can use this setup.

When I have a part that is too big to fit in the Alodine setup, I built this little collapsible table out of PVC and chicken wire. I used a bunch of zip ties to make the chicken wire taught. The whole table took about an hour to build. It neatly stores behind my little storage shed when not in use. I just wanted something I could setup quickly, and then store out of sight when not needed. 

I bought some zinc chromate primer at the same place I bought the Alodine. I drove to their shop to avoid the CRAZY EXPENSIVE hazmat shipping charges. If you are near Oklahoma City, Big Mike will get you all set up at Advance Aircraft Coatings. CLICK HERE

.75" PVC, the top is glued together, and the legs are not. (I move it to the grass to spray)

 Note how nicely it stores away. Just pull it out when you have parts to shoot, then tuck it away when not in use. Easy peasy....Note the nerf ammo, my son is a crack shot...