Craig23

Craig23

Well Known Member
Hi everyone,

I couldn't find any info about this when I searched, but I seem to remember it is a fairly common problem. I began building my F-803 tonight, and got it set into place in the fuselage. When that was done, I found that there was a gap between the F-821 skin and each side of the F-803B. At the widest point (at each longeron) the gap is approx. 1/8 inch. Did any of you have a creative solution for this problem? My first thought is to put shims in the gap so the skin won't distort when I rivet. Here is a photo of the gap on the right side.

panelgap2ix3.jpg
 
I'm finishing up my 2nd and 3rd RV8 QB's in the last 1 1/2 years.
Serial #'s 82473, 82688, and 82689, Probably some of the last original non-prepunched QB's. I had(have) the same gap on all three of these planes, shimmed it, squeegee some epoxy/micro over the shim, paint.
 
Craig

As the previous poster said this is a fairly common problem in the past. My gap was very small, a bit less than 1/8.

You can make metal shims. You can use "liquid shim". There are alot of options.
 
Gap between skin and panel

Craig:

I had this same gap in my -8. Sorry I don't have any photos to share, I think I took some in my pre-digital stage and can't find them at the moment. I made shims for each side by sandwiching together some thin aluminum strips in a stepped fashion and holding them together with JB Weld. Then drilled and countersunk them. The gap for each side was slightly different width.

Don't lose too much sleep over this no matter what you do. The exterior of this area will be covered by fiberglass and filler after the front windshield is put in place, so you can smooth any rivet deformations at that point.

Chris
 
You must log in or register to reply here.