[prkaye]

I'm not yet ready to fit my steps, but for fun today after rolling the canoe I took one of the steel steps and slid it through the hole in the fuselage. I noticed that the flate plate of the step won't sit flush against the side-skin, because the skin is curved in this area. Does this mean I somehow got my step-hole in the wrong location (i don't see how... it was a pre-punched hole that had to be enlarged)? Otherwise, how does one get the flat plate of the step weldment to mate agains the curved skin??

 

[kevinh]

Does this mean I somehow got my step-hole in the wrong location (i don't see how... it was a pre-punched hole that had to be enlarged)?

Nope - the hole is probably in the right place.

Otherwise, how does one get the flat plate of the step weldment to mate agains the curved skin??

You ain't going to like this - but you need some careful banging with a hammer (while leg is off the fuse). It took me a fair amount of work to get it to match the shape of the fuse.

 

[terrykohler]

Phil:
You'll need to do some careful bending of the welded flange to get a perfect fit to the fuselage. Make sure you use heat (a hand propane torch is sufficient) when doing this or you'll likely damage the weld joint. Also, it's a good idea to prime the fuselage where the step will be mounted and also prime the entire step. Zinc chromate is as good as anything for the job.
Terry

 

[flion]

You can also do a little trimming here as you likely won't be putting rivets on the curved portion. As for alignment, the step should be level and no fore/aft sweep, though the latter is not critical. If the top and front edges are flat against the skin, it's good.

 

[David_Nelson]

A little heat and little helper...

Hi Phil,

When it came time to fit/install the steps, I used a propane torch and a small adjustable wrench to apply little bends to the flange as necessary. In my case, I tried to keep the amount of heat to a minimum but still enough to allow bending the flange w/o too much effort.

I thought I had a picture of how it all turned out, but I don't.

Take care,