Sunday, June 5, 2016

Left rib #7 - 4 hours

With a renewed sense of zeal from the flight on Saturday, I wanted to tackle getting another rib done. I was looking forward to doing the rib #7 as I could use the squeezer, rather than buck the rivets. I prep'd the parts same as before. MEK, acid etch, MEK. I then Mixed up proseal and stated in on riveting the T-410 plate onto the Rib #7. Then, it occurred to me that I didn't mask off to apply the fuel level lines that Eugene had recommended I install. Well I wasn't too far in, so I went to work.


I then applied proseal to the vent line grommets and installed them in each rib. Next I cleco'd the rib in.


I had taped off the fuel vent line to ensure that I did not get any sealant in the vent line. I then carefully slid in the vent line.

Well. Long story short....I much prefer squeezing rivets than bucking them. It's not a complete breeze. You really have to pay attention to the what you are doing as the proseal has a tenancy to lubricate the dies and when squeezing (if there is too much proseal) the squeezer wants to slip off the rivets when squeezing. So as a result, I did have to drill out and replace 5 rivets, but I soon learned that things go much more smooth when you constantly clean the proseal from the dies as you go. And like that I was done.


Once I was satisfied with everything, I then mixed up about 20 grams of proseal and thinned it with 10% of toluene. I scooped it into the large syringe and put a dollop on each rivet head.