I looked at the Loctite 565 I had been using and dscovered that the bottle is clearly marked Loctite 545!  So that it is actually what I have been using.  I use it indiscriminately on threaded fittings for oil and hydraulic fluid, and I mention this because it is apparently intended for fine threads and not coarse threads (?!?).  I do not use it on flared fittings.  It appears that it is a "locking" variety which cures and hardens -- not a "stay liquid" product like a pipe dope.

 

I seem to recall being unhappy with the teflon-containing sealant sold by Aircraft Spruce.  That was definitely a pipe dope product.  This is a hardening liquid like regular Loctite.  I have been very pleased with it.

 

I cannot give you in-service results, as I am still building.  However, I have pressurized my hydraulic system many times and have had no leaks where I have used the Loctite.  (We won't talk about the improperly flared fitting that burst on initial pressurization and made a Godawful mess.  We aren't talking about that one...) 

 

I am closing in on the title for "longest construction project" but may have to settle for first runner up.  Picked up the kit in February 1994 and drove home while Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding were duking it out in the winter olympics.  Hope to get it to the paint shop this summer and in the sky before Christmas, but I have said that many times before...

 

- Rob Wolf