After getting the top wing skins in place and the left wing j-channel fitting perfectly, I moved to the right wing j-channel and discovered the short and the long J-channel is about 1/16 too high. I can see thru the dimple jchannel and out the top of the wing but it is too far out of alignment to fit a cleco.
I talked to Vans twice today, this morning they suggested to lightly bend the j-channel or as a last resort, take a dremel and remove a little of the material in the slot where the j- channel sits on the rib.
After experimenting with a piece of scrap , I tried bending the j channel and then tried adjusting the flange, neither worked. It appears that the j-channel is hitting the channel cutout at the point illustrated below. Comparing the right and left wing, the right wing jchannel dimples are slightly higher than the left.
This afternoon, I called back to Vans and they told me I could trim out the notch on the rib that is preventing the jchannel from going lower to capture the dimples in the wing ( had I drilled them accurately the first time, I wouldn?t be in this situation). The second option they said would be to reorder new j-channels.
My dilemma:
1. Do I take a dremel and remove a little ( approx 1/16?)of the rib cutout that is preventing the jchannel dropping into place ? Hopefully, having the J- channel dimple line 1/16 ? Higher than spec on the wing won?t affect the structural integrity nor will the rib integrity be affected by the shaping with a dremel. With the exception of two ribs, all are accessible with a dremel. The other two can be altered with a chainsaw file.
Or
2. Order new j channel, put it in place with cleco clamps, mark the holes thru the top skin, and use a drill press to final drill the # 40 holes then dimple.... quite a bit of work, and I would have to hope that the new holes holes and dimples match up. If the skins weren?t in place, I would order new j-channel.
Picture #1 depicts the offset. Blue dot is where the center of the j-channel hits the wing skin dimple.
Picture #2 depicts the area that would be removed to facilitate the nesting of the jchannel
Maybe someone has a better idea. Thanks
I talked to Vans twice today, this morning they suggested to lightly bend the j-channel or as a last resort, take a dremel and remove a little of the material in the slot where the j- channel sits on the rib.
After experimenting with a piece of scrap , I tried bending the j channel and then tried adjusting the flange, neither worked. It appears that the j-channel is hitting the channel cutout at the point illustrated below. Comparing the right and left wing, the right wing jchannel dimples are slightly higher than the left.
This afternoon, I called back to Vans and they told me I could trim out the notch on the rib that is preventing the jchannel from going lower to capture the dimples in the wing ( had I drilled them accurately the first time, I wouldn?t be in this situation). The second option they said would be to reorder new j-channels.
My dilemma:
1. Do I take a dremel and remove a little ( approx 1/16?)of the rib cutout that is preventing the jchannel dropping into place ? Hopefully, having the J- channel dimple line 1/16 ? Higher than spec on the wing won?t affect the structural integrity nor will the rib integrity be affected by the shaping with a dremel. With the exception of two ribs, all are accessible with a dremel. The other two can be altered with a chainsaw file.
Or
2. Order new j channel, put it in place with cleco clamps, mark the holes thru the top skin, and use a drill press to final drill the # 40 holes then dimple.... quite a bit of work, and I would have to hope that the new holes holes and dimples match up. If the skins weren?t in place, I would order new j-channel.
Picture #1 depicts the offset. Blue dot is where the center of the j-channel hits the wing skin dimple.
Picture #2 depicts the area that would be removed to facilitate the nesting of the jchannel
Maybe someone has a better idea. Thanks