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Rear Seat Lap Belt Bracket Corrosion

Lt Dan

Well Known Member
I decided to remove my rear seat belts for thorough cleaning after an unfortunate barfing incident while giving a Young Eagles ride...

When I removed the lap belt from the side attach points I discovered surface rust on the brackets as depicted in the attached pictures. I removed the brackets and plan to take a wire wheel to them, then prime and paint them to prevent further rust. I have a few questions I wanted to run by the forum, as I am handy, but not a builder, nor A&P, and these are what I would deem safety-critical pieces of hardware.

1) Is removing the surface rust with a wire wheel, painting, re-installing, and putting back into service a perfectly safe and acceptable practice?

2) What would cause rust like this? There isn't a speck of rust anywhere else on the airplane. Could it be a case of incompatible metals?

3) Shouldn't this kind of thing be caught at every Condition Inspection? Maybe it was observed last time but I'm over reacting...?

I have Hooker Harnesses if it makes any difference.

Thanks for the insight!
Dan
 

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1) yup - wire wheel, prime, paint as desired - that’s just surface stuff.
2) I’m guessing they were installed as bare metal, and got some moisture on them. Even painted, they are going to get scratched and expose bare metal which can rust.
3) Sure, it should be caught, but also it isn’t very significant at the point you caught it, so clean, prime, paint and look for it next time.

Paul
 
By the looks of the photo those were never painted or treated at all. That bright orange rust is a giveaway.

I've had great success on steel with Rustoleum Self Etching primer... holds up well with a thin coat that won't chip off as easily as some.

Brush, clean with solvent, prime and then paint.

Build on! :cool:
 
In my experience, any bare steel is going to rust. And still may eventually show some spots if primed / painted.

Then again I live in the Pacific North-Wet :rolleyes:

As for what to do: +1 on the previous responses.
 
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