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Trim Tab hinge attachment...Help?

RV7ForMe

Well Known Member
I am having a very hard time to rivet the 3-4 rivets that go through the E-701L, E-606PP and the E-721.

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What did you guys use here? My Tatco 3" is no good here nor do I have a bucking bar that fits in here. I messed up 2 rivets and had to drill them out. Not making it any better so I stopped and need to look for alternative methods.

I appreciate the help.
 
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I think I pulled the hinge pin and squeezed with the tab off.

Thanks but I already was trying without the tab. It is just that the round part of the hinge is in the way of the squeezer head or anything else I have in the shop.

I guess It depends on how are aft the hinge is. Mine being a bit forward to match the TE
 
Squeezer

Sorry, i didnt inderstand the original question i apologize.
I was able to get in there with my "Main Squeeze" from Cleveland. If you dont have a longeron attachment for your squeezer, or a way to do these types of rivets, I think you will need one later on too. I am note familar with your squeezer to recommend the correct yoke or adapter.
I also put my hinge forward to reduce the gap and wAs able to make it. On some of these I ended up using the big disc anvil and offset the squeezer a little from the rivet center to get around the hinge bump; sometimes i even had to use a steel washer on both sides be cause the die(anvil) wouldnt cover the full rivet head.
 
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How I did it.....

See my blog post here:

https://bryansrv8project.blogspot.com/2012/02/442-hours-look-ma-no-more-clecoes.html

The important info that hopefully answers your question is in one paragraph. In short:
I used my hand squeezer, standard 3 inch yoke, with a reduced size flat rivet set against the shop head (1/8 inch thick by 3/8 inches, and the normal 1/8 inch by 1/2 inch flat set against the manufactured head on the top of the elevator skin.

Clearance was not an issue with this setup. I may have ground down my yoke a little bit as well. I'll see if I have pics of it while setting the hinge on the trim tab and post those as well.

From the blog post.....

I used the hand squeezer again with the standard 3 inch yoke, with the small 1/8" x 3/8" wide flat set for the shop head (minimum interference with the hinge eyelets), and the 1/8" x 1/2" wide flat set on the other side - same way I did the hinge on the trim tab. I was still really concerned about not having enough clearance for some of the eyelets, since some of the rivet holes are directly behind an eyelet, but between the thickness of the two 1/8" thick flat sets, plus the gap required between the sets to create the proper shop head, you really don't have to worry about it too much. Just go slow and make certain you do not apply any undo pressure on any of the eyelets and it works out fine.
 
Thanks guys.

Flipping the rivet set didn't work for me either. I actually modified a bucking bar with a little piece of steel and some double sided crazy tape. That did work.

However I have a problem on this particular part with the skin no lining up 100% flush so. I think that is the reason for the rivets falling over. Also while I do well at drilling out rivet the hinge is super soft. I had to use some ups rivets and I am not quite satisfied with the results as I have some little gaps between the materials. This must be the worst work I have done on the empennage and I know I cannot fix this without trashing an elevator. This is very frustrating!
The black spots on the rivet heads is just because I didn't polish the metal of the bucking bar.

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Deleted text. Posted to the wrong thread. Sorry about that.
 
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In regards to the original question, the builder did not have enough variety of rivet setting tools for the task. A single jaw for the tatco is not enough. I would expect 4 minimum. A 1.5", a 3", a longeron and a no-hole.

Additionally, get more bucking bar shapes ( shapes more important than the tungsten snake oil ) and some pieces of steel that you can modify to fit the situation.

Hello. You are probably right. I have been trying to get by without buying any yokes for the tatco because I do not like it at all.

Do you care to comment on the result at hand?
 
I was looking back through my log and I used a flat rivet set in my squeezer. One of the dies was about 3/8" high and it let me clear the loops on the hinge.

Hope this helps you.
 
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