Left gear weldment

[jlfernan]

I had tough day today with my left gear weldment. The arm that extends foreward and attaches to the side skin fits, what I feel is, too low. Compared to the right one, the bottom of the flange with the two #30 holes which need to be drilled thru the skin, sit even with the bottom of the
F-7101, web -gear attach, where the right one is about 1/4" up. Spoke to Joe at Vans who suggested "jacking" it up to a better height, then drilling the holes. Unfortunately, when drilling the forward hole, I ended up 1/32" too high and ended up making an oval hole on the flange. After a bit of filing, I was able to then drill the the #12. Not perfect, but should(hate that word) be OK. I mentioned to Joe about now having bolts with tension on them, he said not to worry, that it will just make everything stiffer. Also, while removing the bolts during the fitting process, some were tight and had to be "unscrewed" the threads left some scratches inside the holes drilled thru the spar which kind of annoys me. Any thoughts? This website needs a psyhcological assistance section for us having sleepless nights!

[jlfernan]

Here's the difference in height from the outside. Only 16th of an inch. But just want to be sure there won't be any problems with the longeron F-917-L beneath them.