Champ Inside tube cleaning

My experience, having scrapped a couple ancient Cub fuselages, is that in general the inside of tubes is in really good shape. If they start to rust inside, you will see it on the outside. Then it is cut and weld!
 
How about the insides of the leading and trailing edge tubes on the Champ stabilizers, rudder spar tube, and the fuselage wing carry thru tubes ???
 
Brake cylinder hone. Yes, good idea to polish those up and coat with long lasting grease. Not familiar with the wing carry through tubes, but sounds deadly if corroded.
 
I'd use a 10ga. swab to clean any debris out of the tubes but I wouldn't want to use anything that would scratch up the inside of the tubing or remove any protective coating already there. Then swab some grease in there.
JMPO
Chris
 
After cleaning tubing with what ever weapons we can, usually brushes and sand blasting, the standard is boiled linseed oil on the inside of the tubes. Warm the oil up, pour it in the tail feathers and roll around, then stand the pieces up so that the excess can drain out. Over time the oil will dry to a wax like protective layer.

I like to lay cardboard down, for this tends to make a mess, and once it dries on the floor takes extra elbow grease to clean.

Airtractor pumps hot linseed oil through the entire fuselage of their planes, and Agcat uses it in the tail section of theirs every few years. Good enough for large ag planes spraying corrosive chemicals, good enough for my little wannabe spray plane (My 7gcbc came with a restricted cert for ag spraying)

last point.... if you ever have welding done, let your welder know. The oil will flash when the arc hits it.
 
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