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Flyin4Fun

Member
I have a leak in the left fuel tank on my -4 and I need to know how to remove the tank to repair it. I have removed the fairing, all of the screws in the skin and the leading edge fuselage mount bracket. I have disconnected the fuel lines and the vent.

As far as I can tell it should be loose but I cannot budge it. Are there any other attachment points?

Thanks,
 
I think you have removed all the attaching hardware unless the builder did something unusual. The tank is probably wedged tight, corroded with the main wing or in some other way stuck in place. It should remove without much difficulty but you may have to carefully help it loose.
 
Tank Removal

Its been a couple years so you probably have solved your problem, but for those who are researching this thread to solve their problem in the future:

I had the same issue. It turns out the "dimples" (where the skins are dimpled under the tank attaching screws along the trailing edge of the tank and the tank to wing attach at the outboard end of the tank) remain "engaged" even after the screws are removed. You need to disengage the interlocking dimples. This can be done by sliding some aluminum strips under the tank skin from the trailing edge of the tank skin and separating the dimpled skin from the recessed holes in the attaching bracket. Its a good idea to put masking tape along the area of the wing just aft of the tank so you don't skin up the paint sliding the aluminum strips in. This strips (.020 to .035 or so) about 4" wide and about as long as the tank work well.

Generally these strips need to be pushed in almost up to the second row of screws (in the area where there are two rows of screws). Then a little jiggling will break the tank free from the "stickiness" that develops over the years. Take the fuel cap out and you can grab in there to give some pulling along the outboard end. Be ready, when it breaks free it will come fast.
 
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