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I spent more time making the tools to assemble my LU-4 than I spent actually assembling it. Only change I made was to use MU bearing housings as they were cast steel and not aluminum. More robust.

Picked up a new dent since it left my hangar.
No sweat, it will buff right out - with a little heat and a big *** hammer.
I'm sort of disgusted; it was moved by guys who thought it was as tough as it looks.

Outer windshield frame is rusted out at the bottom. It is repairable, but I may have a NOS one at my hangar.

Rear driveshaft tube is rusted out, so I'll replace the tube.

All in all, condition is better than I expected.

Sorry for the delay Jim-nice picture!
Gary

Making a little headway on the 708. Got a NOS 5.83 ring and pinion last week, a decent passenger side door this week, and have a good passenger side running board on the way. Got two new tubes and flaps. Gonna buy two new directional tread tires (Coker 1050x16) this month so the truck can be rolled around the yard, and the other two next month after my wallet recovers. Still haven't made it out to the hangar to see if I have a NOS outer windshield frame there - I think I do, and a usable soft top frame. I'm still dithering over whether to install a temporary canvas top now, or build another hard top like the one I built for my 37. I'm leaning toward the hard top, but am choking over the cost of a sliding rear window out of a deuce, needed to duplicate the top I built for the 37 back in the 60s.

I think I'm going to get an extra pumpkin and build it up with the NOS 5.83 and a No-Spin differential so I can just plop it in when convenient. I won't need it anyway till I repair the rear driveshaft - the present tube looks like Swiss cheese. I'd have to shorten a 37 shaft to make it fit, so might as well just do a new tube for this one.

I'd really prefer the Interco Cobalt directional tread, but they aren't making it in 16" yet. Which brings up another question....
When I redo the 37, should I go ahead and put tubeless one-piece 17" rims on it?
Here are photos of the two tires - I much prefer the 17" Cobalts.

I've sat on my behind for the last decade because family medical issues were diverting my cash flow. My own health is pretty durned good for 83, but in the last 18 months I've had a minor stroke and a bout with cancer. And six weeks ago I broke my shoulder in a car wreck. Methinks the good Lord may be telling me to get my fanny in gear while I still can.

My goodness Jim! Hope I have half your spunk when I reach your age!
Those are both beasty tires, would work well in the snow up here in Utah. Costly for sure; I'm still holding a set of combat rims until I decide (and can afford) to mount a set of new tires.
Good luck-let us know what you decide!
Gary

Right now, I think my biggest problem is how to safely start the Piper J3 with my broken right shoulder (plane is non-electric, you start it by flipping the propeller).
I think I can stand behind the prop, next to the cowl, facing away from the plane, hold the front of the door frame with my right hand (for safety - to avoid going forward into the spinning prop if you fall - I haven't fallen yet in the 60 years I've been flying J3s), and flip the prop with my left.

BTW, pilot sits in the back seat in a J3.
This one is a 1946 model, four years younger than me - It's just a spring chicken.

JimC wrote: ↑Mon Jul 07, 2025 3:52 am Right now, I think my biggest problem is how to safely start the Piper J3 with my broken right shoulder (plane is non-electric, you start it by flipping the propeller).
I think I can stand behind the prop, next to the cowl, facing away from the plane, hold the front of the door frame with my right hand (for safety - to avoid going forward into the spinning prop if you fall - I haven't fallen yet in the 60 years I've been flying J3s), and flip the prop with my left.

BTW, pilot sits in the back seat in a J3.
This one is a 1946 model, four years younger than me - It's just a spring chicken.
IMG_1384.jpg

Wouldn't that be turning your prop backwards? If you are gripping the door frame with your right hand, and pulling it through with your left, you must be standing on the left hand side of the plane. I assume you are pulling downward. (Pushing up carries a much greater danger of ending up tangled in the prop.) This would mean you are getting a counter-clockwise rotation (as seen from the pilot's seat). I'm not very familiar with J3 Cubs, having only been in one once. Most US aircraft have a clockwise rotation. There are exceptions. Is the Cub one of them?

John
(ASEL, Comm, Inst, former CFI)

"Wouldn't that be turning your prop backwards?"

No.
Not to mention that there is no door on the left side of a J3.

John, I think you missed the part where I said I would be standing with my back to the boot cowl. When you do that, your left hand pulls down on the right side of the prop, rotating it in the correct direction. You then do an about face to the right to enter the plane.
About 90% of my starts in the last 60 years have been by hand propping, so I'm sorta used to it....

JimC wrote: ↑Mon Jul 07, 2025 9:21 am John, I think you missed the part where I said I would be standing with my back to the boot cowl.

Yep. Missed that part.

Well, I got that passenger side running board off, which let me open the crushed door so I can access the hinge bolts. Sun was getting low, so I kroiled them and left them to soak till tomorrow evening. I've got an undamaged door ready to go on temporarily (will have to pull it back off to strip, prime, and paint).

The running board is repairable with more work than I want to put into it right now, so I'm replacing it. When the idiots lifted the truck, their fork lift bent the running board, crushed the door, and broke the door window, it also pulled the front running board hanger out of alignment. Don't know yet if it is just a bent hanger, or a bent frame. I'm hoping for the former.