The lower part of the door on our 1978 172N has de-bonded.
I believe the cause of this could have been the arm that holds the door open being sprung too tight at the fully open position (as you open the door you will feel a momentary resistance until its fully open). I tried to fix this before, but realized I would have bend the spring to reduce the tension, not an easy task
What is the procedure to repair these 2 issues? Where do I get the the supplies if I need them?
Pictures of the door below, from the bottom looking up (a little out of focus, unfortunately).
I would clean up the surfaces, by scraping with sharp knife followed by an MEK wipe. You need to remove all of the old adhesive.
Apply a coat of A4 Metalset epoxy to the joint. Tape a strip of polyethylene to the front and back of the door to keep the epoxy from bonding to the 3/4 square wood strips or 1x1/4 aluminum flat stock which you will clamp along the bottom of the door. Let it set for 24 hours. remove the clamps and the plastic film. Clean up the bottom edge of the door with a knife, Dremel tool or a not too agressive file. Good for another 100 years.
Forgot to add a caviet to my post. I've used the process I
described to bond non aircraft aluminum panels with excellent results. i would not presume to be smarter than Mr. Cessna who may have a factory approved repair method. You may want to check with him first.
