drilling outboard tank Z brackets AFTER leading edge is riveted on

I'm building replacement tanks for my 7. The outboard leading edge assembly and all wing skins are riveted on. Has anyone else come up with a method to drill the outboard Z brackets to the baffle when building replacement tanks? During Vans initial assembly sequence, the leading edge can be removed as it is not riveted in place yet to get to the outer Z brackets.

Thanks,

I would clamp them to the tank/baffle in a close enough position and set the tank on the spar and mark the bolt holes through the spar from the access hole in the lower skin.

If the bolt holes are close enough for edge distance, I would then rivet the bracket to the baffle where you clamped it.

If they are not close, adjust as needed, then rivet the bracket to the baffle and then set the tank in place and drill the bolt holes using the spar as a guide.

Remove the tank, install the nutplates to the bracket, reinstall, and bolt down.

Hope that makes sense and good luck.

Good call... I'll check your method tonight. thanks for the description.

SilverEagle2 said:

I would clamp them to the tank/baffle in a close enough position and set the tank on the spar and mark the bolt holes through the spar from the access hole in the lower skin.

If the bolt holes are close enough for edge distance, I would then rivet the bracket to the baffle where you clamped it.

If they are not close, adjust as needed, then rivet the bracket to the baffle and then set the tank in place and drill the bolt holes using the spar as a guide.

Remove the tank, install the nutplates to the bracket, reinstall, and bolt down.

Hope that makes sense and good luck.

Click to expand...

update

Jason - I tried your suggestion (a very good suggestion indeed). However, back drilling the Z bracket in the outboard area is a blind proposition with all of the skins on. My angle drill is a bit too bulky to allow for a good line up on the spar web holes with skins on. I ended up making hole transfer points by chucking up -3 bolts on a lathe and turning them to a fine point. I placed these into the spar holes so they would indent the center of the hole to the base of the Z brackets when tapped with a dead blow mallet.

so in short, drill the bracket to the baffle as you suggest, cleco, then use hole transfer points for the base of the Z brackets unless you have a very slimline angle drill. I could not see the drill bit in the wing when I tried to ensure it was 90 degree. YMMV.

This method worked well for those of you needing to replace a tank down the road on a finished wing.

SilverEagle2 said:

I would clamp them to the tank/baffle in a close enough position and set the tank on the spar and mark the bolt holes through the spar from the access hole in the lower skin.

If the bolt holes are close enough for edge distance, I would then rivet the bracket to the baffle where you clamped it.

If they are not close, adjust as needed, then rivet the bracket to the baffle and then set the tank in place and drill the bolt holes using the spar as a guide.

Remove the tank, install the nutplates to the bracket, reinstall, and bolt down.

Hope that makes sense and good luck.

Click to expand...