P. Ponk installation specifics

[Mark Harwood]

I have the pponk beef up mod in my possession. I am supposed to install the mod the 2nd week of Jan with a mechanic. This will be his(and my) fist pponk effort. I took a quick look through inspection holes in floor to see "the bolt" of concern. I did not remove inspection plates on bottom of plane as it was 9 deg F and I was not dressed for it. My quick look at the situation left me with a couple of questions.Hopefully you experienced guys can answer some questions to make the project go a bit smoother.
1. Is it reccommended to remove gear leg completely?
2.is it possible to get the smaller bolts in without drilling new hole? How?
3.is it possible to get all six of the smaller bolts installed through 1 1/16" hole? How?
4. is there a special drill motor that attaches to the threaded drill bit that came with the kit?

Thanks, Mark

[jrenwick]

Mark,

You can install the kit without removing the gear legs at all. We did mine by lifting the front of the airplane by the engine mounts with an engine hoist (they're cheap at Harbor Freight).

There's a round inspection cover in the cabin floor close to the gear attachment point, through which you do most of the work. The 1-1/16" hole is just for putting a wrench on the big bolt.

If I remember right, we used a right-angle drill of some kind to drill the six horizontal holes. (It was a few years ago.)

Otherwise, it was just following the instructions that came with the kit.

Best Regards,

John

[davevramp]

1 Is it recommended to remove gear leg completely?
Yes I removed mine to clean strip magnaflux and repaint. I wanted to take a good look at the 50 year old gear and bolts.

2. Is it possible to get the smaller bolts in without drilling new hole? How?

I looked at this for a long time I did not want to drill a hole in the cabin floor. But glad I did.

3. Is it possible to get all six of the smaller bolts installed through 1 1/16" hole? How?

Yes you must use a 6 or 8 inch HEMOSTATS I would not start the job with out it. Saves 2 to 4 hr, it can be done the holes without it but your hands and back will not look the same.

4. Is there a special drill motor that attaches to the threaded drill bit that came with the kit?

No, you can buy 2 drill bits from PPonk, but you will need a small 90 degree drill motor. Sharp drill bits are a must, or high air pressure Have a vacuum handy with a piece of small heater hose to get the small drill fillings. Also if you drill the holes spend some time with a half moon file to clean the sharp areas.

I hot tanked the landing gear to remove the paint. Flushed with lots of water then cleaned with an acid wash and again a lot of water. Do not leave any caustic on these legs. Inspect. You will find that the upper side of the leg are full of mil scale. The under side have been shot peened to relieve any stress. I would suggest that you do not do any grinding or metal removal on these legs.

if i can help r you want to talk pm with phone #
good luck
dave

[Mark Harwood]

Dave,
Was the hole you drilled in cabin floor the 1 1/16" ? If yes then I would guess drill inline with Main bolt so you can reach three holes either side with hemostat?? I will google hemostat to see just what this is? How far inboard should this hole be? I believe I have some small wilkie buttons on the bottom that may access the nut for main the bolt as Jrenrick mentioned. I will look tomorrow. I got the short drill bits from pponk and they are threaded on the non cutting end. There must be a drill motor of some sort that I am not familiar with that accepts such a bit. Thanks for info!! Mark

[jrenwick]

Mark,

I think you want a drill like this:


I found this at http://www.aerotools.com/live/rightang.htm, and there must be lots of sources for such a tool.

Best Regards,

John

[GAHorn]

.... I got the short drill bits from pponk and they are threaded on the non cutting end. There must be a drill motor of some sort that I am not familiar with that accepts such a bit. Thanks for info!! Mark

What you are describing are "threaded shank" drills. The advantage to such drills is they do not require ordinary long chucks most drill motors have. Instead they adapt to a special threaded "spindle" which drives the drill bit. You do not have to buy a new drill motor, you may also purchase a right-angle drive only, with the threaded spindle that will drive that type drill.

Most drills/adaptors use 1/4-28 spindles but very small ones can also be obtained with 10-32 threaded spindles. Be certain which you need when ordering.

The reason those were supplied with the Pponk kit was in anticipation that such drills and drill motor would be used due to the small area within which to work.

See page 74 of the aerotool catalog:
http://www.aerotools.com/live/Aero%20Tools.pdf

[jrenwick]

Mark, if you google "angle air drill 1/4 28" you'll get several hits for the drill you need. You might want to try to borrow one though -- they run $200 and up.

Best Regards,

John

[GAHorn]

You might also consider removing the chuck and installing a spindle on a cheap angle drill such as this one for $15 from the chineese tool store:


or simply shorten a jobber bit to do the job with the existing chuck.

[jrenwick]

You might also consider removing the chuck and installing a spindle on a cheap angle drill such as this one for $15 from the chineese tool store:
...
or simply shorten a jobber bit to do the job with the existing chuck.

Removing the chuck would work if it has a 1/4" 28 male fitting. If I remember right from doing this job, there isn't room for a chuck. That's why Pponk supplies the drill with the threaded fitting.

John

[johneeb]

This is the tool I used while doing the PPonk mod on my 170. Spruce lists several sizes (seen link below) with the 1/4-28 thread model listed for $71.25. You wouldn't want to go into business doing a lot of PPonk mods with this tool but I know, if you are carefull, it will do one for sure and probably a few more.

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/t ... edrill.php

[HA]

a snake drill is what you really want, you can get cheaper ones but here's a link to one:

http://www.ustool-new.com/store/cart.ph ... tail&p=810

it will use the threaded bits

[jrenwick]

a snake drill is what you really want, you can get cheaper ones but here's a link to one:

http://www.ustool-new.com/store/cart.ph ... tail&p=810

it will use the threaded bits

Not necessarily. A friend of mine who installed the Pponk mod found that his snake adapter wasn't up to the job. HA, have you actually used one of these to install Pponk?

Best Regards,

John

[HA]

Hi John- nope, I've never done a Pponk mod, I was just throwing out a tool suggestion for drilling in weird spots that I've used on other projects over the years. I've worn out a couple of the things and when I was doing a lot of sheetmetal I loved them. You do have to spend the money to get one that will stand up to any serious pressure, cheap ones won't last long at all.

However, any info I toss out there would obviously be trumped by first-hand knowledge of the actual job from those of you who've done them. And I'm pretty sure I won't be installing it on my 172 any time soon, ha ha.

Hans

[Brad Brady]

right angle drill from Spruce.jpg

This is the tool I used while doing the PPonk mod on my 170. Spruce lists several sizes (seen link below) with the 1/4-28 thread model listed for $71.25. You wouldn't want to go into business doing a lot of PPonk mods with this tool but I know, if you are carefull, it will do one for sure and probably a few more.

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/t ... edrill.php

John, These are up to $71.25 now? I have three of them......they last about one P-Ponk installation. .....but are very well worth the money......I think the last one I bought was $20.00.....a snake which, I have is not usable in the installation!

[Mark Harwood]

Thanks for all the help! I'll check out these options and find something that will work. Mark