Friday, June 17, 2016
Right Rib #4 - 2.5 hours
Well, I have to say that finally I am doing much better with getting consistently good results with bucking these rivets. I managed to crank out rib #4 in short order without the need to replace too many rivets. Only two on this one. Which, considering how the riveting has been going is pretty darn good in my opinion.
Wednesday, June 15, 2016
Right rib #5 - 2.5 hours
The right fuel tank rib #5 went in really well. Probably one of the easier ribs to install, but seemed more messy than the others. Lots of careful cleaning.
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
New fusalage parts
A while back I had the opportunity to get some new parts from Darin who had originally purchased them for his build a couple of years ago. Since he has moved onto an RV14 he was looking to sell his unneeded parts. So finally I scraped some funds together and bingo...I have parts for the future build.
Included are Longeron Dies for an RV7. An Andair Fuel Selector with the banjo fittings, Stainless steel cabin heat box, Matco parking brake, Grove master cylinders and some RV bits intersection fairings.
Included are Longeron Dies for an RV7. An Andair Fuel Selector with the banjo fittings, Stainless steel cabin heat box, Matco parking brake, Grove master cylinders and some RV bits intersection fairings.
Right rib #6 - 2.5 hours
Feeling a bit better now that we did really great work on Mike's S51 project. I decided to tackle the proseal on the right tank. Same process as before. Access for bucking is much better. Still had to drill out and set 4 rivets. 2 where a bit to crooked for my liking, 2 where just too over bucked (due to using a different bucking bar around the filler collar, its a heavier bar and it needs less time on the gun than if the other bar is used).
Still messy and a big cleanup is required.
Still messy and a big cleanup is required.
Monday, June 13, 2016
Safety wire the Aerobatic fuel pickups. - 1 hour
I've been a little zapped motivation wise. I'm not loving the proseal process. So I am not eager to blaze through it.
I did manage to get some help from my friend Mike who's not new to the safety wire world and he has taught me some tricks of the trade in the past. He was kind enough to help me with safety wire the fuel pickups.
After we did that, I gave him a hand on the S51 Mustang project and we really made some great progress on his elevator hinge.
I did manage to get some help from my friend Mike who's not new to the safety wire world and he has taught me some tricks of the trade in the past. He was kind enough to help me with safety wire the fuel pickups.
After we did that, I gave him a hand on the S51 Mustang project and we really made some great progress on his elevator hinge.
Wednesday, June 8, 2016
Torquing the Aluminum fittings. Setting up for the right tank - 3 hours
One of the jobs that needs to be done is to proseal and torque the aluminum fittings. This information is a bit tough to find. Information is located throughout the Forums, Van's Website, Van's manual, the AC43.13.1b, etc. Its not easy making heads or tails of it. For example some torque values listed in the vans manual is for the AN is for the AN818 nuts that attach the soft aluminum tubing to the aluminum fittings. But that wouldn't apply to the jam nut. Of course there is a multitude of information on the forums....almost too much information and many varying torque values.
Many hours of reading and researching go into the build and are not tabulated in the build log.
Basically what it boiled down for me is that I finally found some published torque numbers for an AN924 jamnut. That will allow me to install the Aluminum fittings onto the rib. I used proseal before I sandwiched the pieces together. Then I torqued the fitting, ensuring the correct alignment of the fuel vent elbow. I used tape on the fitting to ensure no proseal entered the fitting. Once I had smoothed the proseal. I removed the tape. I did both end ribs this way.
I was ready to cleco the right fuel tank together
Next on the agenda was to torque the aerobatic fuel pickups to the Aluminum bulkhead fittings. Again... bit of a research session to figure out what is the proper torque value. I finally settled on the Torque specs found on Van's Website for hoses with aluminum fittings.
Using the crowfoot adapter at 90degress I torqued the fittings to spec.
Many hours of reading and researching go into the build and are not tabulated in the build log.
Basically what it boiled down for me is that I finally found some published torque numbers for an AN924 jamnut. That will allow me to install the Aluminum fittings onto the rib. I used proseal before I sandwiched the pieces together. Then I torqued the fitting, ensuring the correct alignment of the fuel vent elbow. I used tape on the fitting to ensure no proseal entered the fitting. Once I had smoothed the proseal. I removed the tape. I did both end ribs this way.
I was ready to cleco the right fuel tank together
Next on the agenda was to torque the aerobatic fuel pickups to the Aluminum bulkhead fittings. Again... bit of a research session to figure out what is the proper torque value. I finally settled on the Torque specs found on Van's Website for hoses with aluminum fittings.
Using the crowfoot adapter at 90degress I torqued the fittings to spec.
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.
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.
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