One of the recommendations in the 27 years of RVator is to proseal the rubber rings to the brass leads as they have a tenancy to come off over time. One of the concerns with this step is to not get any proseal on the fuel pickup openings. So I taped off what I could, wiped everything with MEK and then used a toothpick to get proseal in the grooves. Then installed the rubber o ring. Then I smeared the sealent to get good coverage. Then I figured it would be best to wipe the proseal such that the rubber is exposed as the wear point. I did not want the proseal coming off with the rubbing and getting into the fuel.
It was now time to get started on the ribs.The manual instructs to cleco the entire fuel tank assembly in the cradle to help ensure a straight tank. So I started with the left tank.
As suggested the first rib to start was 2nd last outboard rib (rib #6 counting from closest the plane). I unclecoed the rib. And wiped the area with MEK. And re-wiped. Inside and out.
I then wiped the the rib with MEK and placed it in a Rubbermaid container. I sprayed it down with the diluted Clean-Brite and let it sit for a minute. I rinsed with clean water, wiped with MEK. I mixed up about 35 grams of proseal and then slathered the skin with sealant. Then I slathered a coat on the rib. Installed it, and cleco'd the rib. Now for the riveting which I am dreading. Most scary is getting the nose rivets first....Just a tough angle for solo bucking. As I recently finished bucking the leading edge, I felt ok with these rivets. Straight away, I could see that back rivet tape was not going to work here, so I abandoned it in favor of just using the rivet gun right on the aluminum. Although, I began to notice that some of the rivets didn't kike to sit nice and level. About 3 were sitting a tad canted to one side. Annoyed, I pulled out the drill and drilled them out. Very annoyed trying to drill with the shavings and proseal and keep things clean. After some work I managed to get the offending rivets removed, wiped/cleaned, dab of proseal and set new rivets. Finally...first rib done.
Rivets are not perfect which kinda bug me. They are not bad by any means, but not as nice as the leading edge rivets. I'm beginning to think that the combination of a deeper dimple hole (as I used dimple dies) and the slippery proseal accentuates any rivet that is not sitting 100% perfect to buck a degree or two angled. Grrr...I'm a bit annoyed with this. Not to mention that everything gets pretty darn messy with the proseal.
