Touch-up proseal on side steps - 2 hours

 I need to touch up the proseal on the side steps. I do not want water to sit on the top of the side step flange, so the best solution is to have a good fillet of proseal on the top and sides of the side step. I don't enjoy working with proseal so lets just get this over with.

 I applied a health fillet of proseal around the side step. As well I used a syringe to get proseal tucked into the corners. 

 A bit of proseal as well along the bottom skin of the wing area.

 Then I bunch of cleanup with a rag and MEK. Yuck I hate this stuff.

Since I have a little time on my hands. I also installed all of the ends on the control rods and push tubes. I torqued all of the Jam nuts.

 UPDATE - Don't bother installing the control rod ends and jam nuts on the F-789 pushrod. In order to fit the rod into the fuse they must be removed and installed once the pushrod is slid into place.

 

 

Fabricating the F-789 Elevator push tube - 2.5 hours

 The last push tube to finish is the F-789 elevator push rod. Again I used Autocad to work out the rivet spacing 

The lines are marked on the tube, and drilled in the drill press. 

The same prime and paint process was used, and by the end of the evening I have the push tube primed and assembled and late evening I was able to spray a couple of coats of final color. 

During the day, a local builder Tracy Trathern who has a beautiful RV-7A dropped by to look in on the project. He also dropped of an ELT that he was selling. So I am now a proud owner of an Artex ELT 345. I will need to figure out how to mount this on my plane. 

More fabrication of the pushrods - 3 hours

 Todays build was not that long. Just the logistics of this particular build, need to finish this aft pushrod in order to finalize the forward elevator pushrod. 

The manual has you confirm correct position of the pushrod in that the bottom bellcrank bolt is entered in the opening (using a socket) when the elevators are perfectly neutral/aligned with the horizontal stabilizer. Once this was set. I made my reference lines, measurements and began cutting the pushrod accordingly. Van’s dimension is extremely close to spot on. 

 

I then could drill the aft end of the pushrod for rivets. Now….priming the inside of that tube was an incredible pain. My quart can of 1K primer that I used on the wing tubes was rock solid cause it sat so long. All I have now is 2K epoxy primer. I mixed up a small amount and dumped it into the tube and worked it back and forth. WOW is that stuff heavy. It’s so thick inside trying to do it this way. Eventually I abandoned this idea and cleaned the entire tube out with MEK and a rag, pushing it through a few times with a long stick.

Instead I used the self etching rattle can primer. Using the included narrow nozzle and spraying down the tube from each end. Not 100% prefect. But at least its not super heavy. 

I could then install the primed ends into the tube and rivet. 

 

Once riveted and a bit more primer. I gave a final paint coat later on in the evening.

Started fabrication of the elevator pushrods - 3 hours

 I need to fabricate the two elevator pushrods. I cheat a bit with figuring out my rivet spacing by drafting what I need in AutoCAD. Drawing the diameter of the pushrods, then getting the circumference. That makes it really easy to print out a piece of paper with the needed rivet dimensions on it. That is then transcribed to the one end of each pushrod and I’m ready to drill.

Now comes the fun part. I want to make sure Van’s dimensions on the control rods are correct before I cut and drill the other end of the pushrods. The only way to do that is to install the rods and then take measurements. I managed to get everything installed and set up for the aft elevator pushrod. Looking good.

 

I’ll call it a night and start in when I’m fresh in the morning.

Finished drilling the elevator horns - 3 hours

After talking to Vans Tech support. I will take some time to move the existing pilot hole I drilled further in. Realistically I can move the pilot hole 1/64" (0.015625"). That would allow a final edge distance of 0.320" on the opposite control horn. 

 I drew a 3/16" hole using a circle template on the existing pilot hole that I can use as a guide to help me "move" the pilot hole inboard.

 After a lot of time, carefully filing the pilot hole and checking with various increasing # drill bit shanks. I successfully moved the pilot hole down and I am left with a #14 hole. Using an oak block clamped in between the horns, I used a #14 drill bit by hand and turned a pilot hole in the opposite horn. Sure enough...I have now a marker for the hole that measures 0.0320". Not perfect...but a darn good recovery. 

Then I very carefully reamed both holes to 3/16" and the AN3 bolt fit is tight. 

Drilling the elevator horns - 1.5 hours

I need to drill the elevator horns for the pushrod. My horns are fairly aligned, but I would say the left side horn is the one further back. So I marked the hole according to the dimensions on the drawings.

I started drilling the hole first to #40, then up to #30. Then I made my spacer block and drilled in a drill press to get a good drill jig. Placing this in between the horns, I marked the next hole by twisting the drill with my hands.

This is when I noticed a whoops. 

Turns out the other horn is a tad lower than the other one. And surprise, surprise the tallest one is the one I chose to drill. Making the other hole with less edge distance than the other 

To be exact the measurement on the other horn will be about 0.305" as opposed to 0.375" as stated on the plans. Better call Vans.

When I called Van's Tech support Monday morning, we went through a few options of what I can do. Even adjusting the "height" of the elevators was an option if the pivot point isn't drilled. I asked about welding. Vans response is it's possible. But the disadvantage there is that the power coating needs to be removed for welding and a new coating be applied. Very important on these weldments as they can easily start to rust. Ultimately tech support felt I was going to be just fine with my particular issue. Although I didn't have 2x edge distance (0.375") I was better than 1.5x edge distance (0.28125") and it was still very safe.

 Personal note: I can take a file and walk that pilot hole down, allowing my new pilot hole to gain a few thousands in edge distance. Theoretically if I do it perfect I can move the pilot hole 1/32" (0.03125")....realistically I'll likely be able to move the hole 1/64" (0.015625"). That would allow a final edge distance of 0.320"

Installing the F-781attach plate and finished drilling the VS - 4 hours

 Started in this morning by preping and priming the F-781 attach plate. After about 3-4 hours of dry time, I decided it was good enough to rivet onto the VS. 

I started to open up the two upper #40 pilot holes in the VS rear spar. Now, here is the part that sucks. Unfortunately I cannot use a drill jig to drill these. Rather than completely disassemble and drill in the press or on the table with a drill jig. I choose to drill them by hand and ream to 3/16" in place. And the bolts are a tiny bit loose. Especially the right one. Crap

 

So talking to Vans Technical support, we determined that the best course of action is to use an NAS6603-4X bolt for this right hole. Its an 1/64" oversize and will allow me to hand ream the bolt for a perfect and snug fit. We also discussed using NAS close tolerance bolts for the left hole in lieu of the AN3 bolt as the NAS bolts are consistently just a couple thousandths larger in diameter than AN3 bolts and have a tenancy to snug up some of these areas where bolts easily slip into holes.

Moving onto the elevators, I need to start drilling the elevator horns. Fortunately I have not cut the ends of the HS stabilizer allowing for a prefect alignment of the elevators 

One item that I want to do is install nutplates in the elevator tips which will allow me the ability to install extra weight in the elevator tips if needed in future balancing. The existing tooling holes are perfect for an AN3 bolt.

Next I temporarily installed an elevator in the HS and now started to scratch my head on how best to drill the pivot hole. I need a 1/4" bushing to protect the bearing. A trip to home depot was a bust, however I stopped in at Hobby Wholesale and they have a whole selection of various brass tubes. Sure enough they have a 1/4" brass tube that will allow me to drill a pilot hole.