Now cutting the 1.5" diameter hole caused a bit of head scratching. I had asked my buddy Mike what he thought and he suggested a hole saw but cut in reverse rotation (forward rotation would chew up the aluminum). I didn't think this was too bad an idea. I had decided to cut a piece of oak with the 1.5" hole saw to help as a guide...that worked really well.
I was left with a nice clean hole. I used the small diameter 3m wheel and then a dremmel with scrotchbrite to smooth the edge. I then fitted the stiffener ring that I had fabricated and centered it on the hole. I checked twice to ensure correct orientation as there is only one way that the senders will fit. One I was happy with how it all lined up I drilled all of the holes for the nutplates.
I cleco'd the sender to the rear baffle and then set it on the tankoffset by one bay so the sender was sitting in the first bay. This way I can check max and min travel.
Just like before in the mock up. The travel to the top of the tank is excellent. A little more than 1.8" clearance. But on the low (or empty tank travel) the float holder wire contacts the tank stiffner.
Noticing that the contact is made at almost the end of the empty tank travel, I decided to cut a portion of the float wire with side cutters and smooth it out on the 3M wheel.
Now I have full travel with good clearance from the stiffener. The right tank is now ready to proseal. Time to finish the left tank. With exactly the same procedure as the right tank, I finished fabriction of the left tank.
I started to counter sink the fuel flanges for the tank die dimple. once I was happy with my depth I had stopped for the night. Then I received a text from Darin building the RV-14. Did I see the latest Service Bulletin for the wing? My heart stopped. I ran over to the laptop and looked it up. Soon a realized that I was in the clear. I had not reached that part yet on the rear spar and can easily incorporate the newly recommended stiffener for the aileron hinge.
Next stop proseal!!!
