TANK COMPLETE!
I am happy to say that the fuel tank is now (nearly) complete. Today I riveted on the rear baffle. Man o man what a chore that was. Thank goodness I only have to do it one more time.... have to say it was the worst part of the tank process.

I cleaned up the tank, primed the outside of the baffle, marked the position of the brackets and double-checked it on the spar, then tackled the beast.

TIp #0: Mark the orientation of the z-brackets and double-check it. I'd hate to think what you'd have to go through if one got put on backwards!

TIP #1: GET A PARTNER. This is almost a must.

Planning ahead, I read up on Dan's site to see if there were any gotcha's I should plan for. He basically said the same thing I'm saying.. get help. He also pointed out a couple of things I hadn't thought about. (Using solid rivets on the root rib.)

TIP #2: Get a 60cc syringe to proseal with.

I had seen on Andy Karmy's site that he used some 60cc syringes to apply proseal when sealing the tank. I orderd a half dozen in anticpation of using them but ended up not on the ribs. For the tank baffle, you put a bead of proseal just forward of the rivet holes and then drop the baffle in place, pushing the proseal as it goes, creating a good seal. Van's suggests using a plastic baggie and cutting the corner off. That didn't seem to appealing to me, so I mixed up a big batch of proseal and put it in the syringe. WORKED GREAT! Laid down a near perfect bead.. no fuss, no muss.

TIP #3: It takes a lot of proseal!

My first batch of proseal was 60 grams + hardner. That did about 3/4 of the bead. Had to quickly mix up another batch of proseeal (50 grams). (Remember, I have 3 extra fuel bays, so for you stand tank buildes, the 60 would have been enough.)

Got the proseal down and then slid the baffle in place and proceeded to cleco EVERY hole. This is where the partner comes in. There are a ton of holes (more in my case). Got those in place. Since Sandi had to leave, I had her help me buck the root rib rivets real quick. I then started putting the z-brackets on. Kinda thought I should get those first. I had a very hard time getting the pop rivets to go in. I finished 3 brackets and got too frustrated, so I started the skin-to-baffle rivets. I don't think the instructions call for it, but I did dab some proseal in the holes on the bottom row as none had oozed out. Thank god for the pneumatic squeezer, it made it go quicker. Finished the bottom side and then finished the top side. (Not terribly happy about them.. they stick up just a bit above the skin.. not a smooth surface. I think the proseal was enough to make them sit proud. ) This is also where your partner could help out. They could remove the cleco's, dab some proseal while you squeezed.

TIP #4: Make your countersunk holes just a tad deeper than necessary to account for the proseal.

Now back to those (*@!*$& brackets. This time I took the ends of the rivets on the scotch brite wheel just enough to give them a pointier tip. This made all the difference in getting them to go in the holes. I managed to get them all put in place.

Dan made a smart comment on his site about turning the tank nose up so the proseal will settle onto the baffle. Did this and then started on some cleanup.

From the time I mixed the proseal until I put the last z-bracket on was just under 3 hours! I was beat!

(Time: 5 hours)
- posted by Matthew @ 11/16/2003 09:55:29 PM