[G Swartley]

I'm looking for information on an idea I saw a while back.

A builder while building his tanks did the Proseal and 100% cleco his ribs in. Then a day later he riveted it together.

The intresting thing is he used a nut on the cleco to increase the hold power. What size is the nut?

A 6 fits but outter diameter is small, 8 and 10 dont fit the cleco to stay centered. any ideas.

 

[alpinelakespilot2000]

Probably just as well, you could make some half-inch square washers out of alum. sheet. Say .063 or something. Drill a #40 hole through them. The only trick would be making sure you didn't let it cure so long that you couldn't pry those washers off before riveting. Good luck.

 

[Rick6a]

I just did this again a few days ago, I'll show you what I did. To help secure the ends of the ribs, I took a small strip of .063 stock and drilled a series of #41 holes in it. I then took the stock over to the bandsaw and cut out several small squares with a hole centered in each. I recommend a #41 drill bit because that enhances the holding power of the cleco slightly better than a #40 hole.

 

[rv8bldr]

Hi

Myself and a couple of other builders in my area have done this, but without the additional backing plate. We just prosealed the ribs, put a cleco in every hole, and let it sit for a couple weeks. We then riveted the holes, and prosealed the shop heads really well.

No leaks, and no mess.

Your mileage may vary...

 

[alpinelakespilot2000]

Everytime I read about your method and see your pics, Rick, I wish I could have a do-over on my tanks. They would definitely be a lot cleaner looking inside and out!