I asked Mike a friend of mine over to give me a hand with
the rudder. Mike has way more experience than me and he suggested perhaps
trying to set the rivet with a Cleveland Tools Big Squeeze. He says that he
prefers it over a pneumatic squeezer as it allows him to control the squeezing
of the rivet, and also allows him to stop squeezing if the rivet is starting to
bend or shift. He says that's its slower, but he finds that he likes it way
more. Mike suggested that we give it a try on the stubborn rivet I have on the
rudder.
Well what can I say...It worked exactly as he described. We slightly
bent the top tab of the rudder spar to help with accessibility. I held the
rudder and a flashlight as Mike works the Big Squeeze. The rivet was perfectly
set!
We then worked a bit on the Vertical Stabilizer to drill out
some of the oops rivets that I had used on it. Originally I used a 4-3.5 oops
rivet to replace a 3-3.5 rivet which is incorrect. I needed to use a longer
oops rivet length due to the oops rivet having a larger diameter shank
diameter. While removing a rivet, I bent one of the tabs on the rib where it
attaches to the front spar. No big deal, I pulled out my 3145 RTV adhesive and
put a dab on the tab. I then clamped it and I am waiting for it to dry. This
will allow the tab to sit back tight against the spar until I can set a rivet
through it.
Mike has some really great tips and is an inspiration to get building again.
