[Michael Burbidge]

I need a little encouragement. I'd heard that fitting the tank skins to the ribs is tough. Finally after two hours of wrestling with one tank skin I got all ribs clecoed into the skin. After that much trouble I don't see how I will be able to go through that same process with Proseal all over the ribs.

 

[cln1owner]

Here's a trick I used...

Michael,

What worked well for me was to start with the skin just sitting on top of the cradle. Cleco the forward most hole in the bottom side of the rib, then the top forward most hole.

With the skin opened up you have room enough to angle the cleco "teeth" from the hole in the skin to the hole in the rib and get it in. Next, cleco the second and third top hole clecos, then slide it down into the cradle. With down pressure on the rib, you should be able to cleco the rest fairly easy. Once match drilled and dimpled it's even easier.

When it comes time to proseal the ribs, you will have the skin all the way down in the cradle, so you can't use this trick, but, the proseal actually helps the rib slide into place. No big deal.

 

[Steve Ashby]

Let not your heart be troubled

Once you wrestle the clecos in, things become much easier. The match drilling, deburring and dimpling process makes things go together much easier. Don't fret the proseal process either. It is what it is, a gray sticky mess. Just get a few boxes of rubber or vinyl gloves, some old clothes, plenty of ventilation, and start slamming rivets. Take it in small bites (say 2 ribs per session) and allow plenty of time for cleanup. Before you know it, you will be finished and qualified to brag to others how you conquered the black death. As an alternative, you can use the method where you proseal, cleco and then come back two days later to rivet. Some people have reported good results with this smear now and rivet later scheme. For now, just marvel at how much your biceps have developed after getting those ribs to mate up with the tank skins.

 

[fehdxl]

The other thing to remember is that after deburring, dimpling, etc; you'll put it all back to gether just as it is now. Then remove only one rib to smear with Proseal, re-install and final rivet. No worries, it'll be okay. -Jim

 

[RyanM]

Here is how I did it.

I did all the interior ribs at once. Buttered up each rib (and skin) with proseal, and cleco'd the bottom forward most hole first. Once I had all the ribs "hanging" I just worked my way towards the rear of the tank. This way you don't have to worry about the proseal getting smeared off.

 

[N941WR]

One more tip

Use Duck Tape to help keep the tank skin from spreading apart, even while in the fixture.

 

[mackd]

I need a little encouragement. I'd heard that fitting the tank skins to the ribs is tough. Finally after two hours of wrestling with one tank skin I got all ribs clecoed into the skin. After that much trouble I don't see how I will be able to go through that same process with Proseal all over the ribs.

Like others have said, the Pro Seal makes the ribs easier to slide into place. Also, the dimples make it much simpler to get the rib aligned correctly. Don't sweat it!

 

[rleffler]

Like David and others have stated, once you get the skins and ribs cleco'd for the first time, it gets easier. I just went through this myself last week.

My son and I worried about making a mess and how we would get the rib with sealant back in while the other ribs were cleco'd in the cradle. Another local builder told us not to fret and that it would be easy. We took his word and started the process.

They's right. Once you apply sealant to the ribs, they slide right in with out any resistance. Dimples help to align the holes, since they are covered with sealant, it takes a little manipulating to get the clecos back. But it wasn't that big of a deal.

We got three ribs during a couple hour session. We feel that now we got the process down, the rest of the ribs will go quickly this weekend.

 

[rv8_builder]

Ditto

Here is how I did it.

I did all the interior ribs at once. Buttered up each rib (and skin) with proseal, and cleco'd the bottom forward most hole first. Once I had all the ribs "hanging" I just worked my way towards the rear of the tank. This way you don't have to worry about the proseal getting smeared off.

We also did it like this.....makes it so much easier to assemble

Have a look at Rick Galati's method of fay-sealing the tanks in the following posts:

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=7602

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showpost.php?p=96615&postcount=5

We followed Rick's method and both tanks tested leak free