05 August 2013

Wings: Fuel tanks. Left tank fay sealed.

I decided to redo my fuel tanks.  See here for why.  The entries specific to the redone tanks are here.

Progress on the left tank continues.  I fay sealed the ribs into place Sunday night and riveted them in tonight, solo.  Only took 2.5 hours.  On each rib, I removed every other cleco, cleaned out the holes, dabbed in sealant and bucked them.  Then did the same with the remaining clecos.  After the marathon was over, I removed 7 rivets because I didn't like their shop heads.  I ended up using two Rivets of Shame since I didn't drill into the head deep enough, "stripping" the head when I tried to pry it off with my punch

Cleco'd and sealed rib.  Turns out the flutes in the ribs are great little channels for fluid and subsequent leaks, so you have to be sure to fill them generously with sealant.


All left ribs cleco'd and sealed.


Left tank bottom with ribs and stiffeners riveted.  Tank attach assembly and J-stiffener sealed and cleco'd in.

 

Top view showing how different the sealing looks on both sides of the ribs.

 

The syringe gun was very useful for applying sealant to the shop ends on the ribs and their nose flanges.  It's very hard to get back there without making a mess sans gun.

Picked up a flaring tool for the vent lines and later fuel lines.

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