Platenut on wrong side of Spar

[sglynn]

I screwed up and put the platenut and reinforcement plate on the wrong side of the right elevator spar. And I've already closed the skin. Any tips on the fix? Can I move JUST the platenut and not the reinforcement plate to the inside (rear) of the spar and leave the reinforcement plate on the outside (forward side)? Or do I need to drill out the entire reinforcement plate and most of the skin flush revits and move to them to the correct side (inside or rear) of the spar and then re-revite the reinforcement plat with pulled rivets? Hopefully I can drill out the skin rivets carefully without any damage.

[Mel]

Drill it out and do it right. Don't start taking shortcuts at this stage.
While I'm at it, this is a great place to encourage use of your EAA tech counselors before you close up any structure. The tech counselor will help you prevent these annoying little mistakes.

[sglynn]

Thanks, but please could you be more specific? Drill out both platenut and reinforcement plate, or just the platenut?

I haven't located an inspector in my area yet.

Thanks,

[Mel]

Drill out whatever is necessary to put the reinforcing plate and nut plate where the plans call for.