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Sealing Firewall Rivets
I have searched the threads but my question covers a finner point.
Pg 29-05, Step 4 says "Cover the heads of each rivet on the firewall with a thin layer of fuel tank sealant". The operative word is cover the "HEADS". LP4-3''s - Does this mean just to cover the top of the head thereby filling the center of the pop rivet head? - or do I need to seal the periphery around the head also? Technically you would be correct to just "cover the top of the head". Using a bright tungsten light I do not see any light coming through these rivets. Keep in mind we are talking about vapor and liquid traces at low pressure where as the tank rivets are looking at up to 120 pounds of fuel pressure trying to seep around the rivets. Any thoughts on making this a "neater" job. Saw one site where builder punched holes in pieces of masking tape to mask the rivet heads. |
Mask and Paint
I have a gasket hole punch set I used from Mac Tool. Punch the tape on a piece of wood and set over the rivet, seal and remove tape. I then painted the firewall. Looks nice and clean.
You can also sharpen a short piece of tubing for punching masking tape and do the same thing. |
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Roger, I'd seal around the perimeter of the rivet also, just to eliminate oil seepage. |
I used the punched-out mask technique for some of the isolated rivets. For the long straight runs of rivets like on the firewall seams, I used long strips of plastic tape on both sides of the rivets /seams with shorter cross pieces of tape. When the tape is removed, the result is a nice neat series of square sealant pads over each rivet - in some cases blended neatly into the seam sealant. Masking tape is a great way to cut down on ProSeal mess.
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Thanks, your comments are helpful!
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Paint
I have used the PPG single stage Concept over PPG DP50 Epoxy primer. Same for the cockpit.
By the way, it is easier to prime the panels before sealing. I actually preped and primed before installing all fuselage panels. |
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Jeff |
Office Depot / Staples / Etc.
I used the donut shaped thing-a-ma-jiggys that you use on notebook paper. Can't think of their name right now. The reinforcement donut-shaped, self-adhesive deals that you'd put over the three holes in a piece of notebook paper, before putting the sheets into a 3-ring binder.
After the ProSeal set's up, just peel them off. Works great! * I started by using some that were paper-based. When trying to remove them, they tear and it is MUCH harder to remove them. Then I found some that were a plastic-based reinforcement. They peel off in one piece. |
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I think IN the USAF we called them paper A**holes... Bob |
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