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Building tanks
- Thread starter Alphalpha
- Start date
I am a month in to fuel tank building. During that time I’ve asked myself a thousand times “What was I thinking?” When the Van’s rep called in December, asked if I was interested in slow build tanks, I was anxious to get building and said yes. Easily one of the worst decisions of my life. I guess I was thinking that my RV-10 tanks were straightforward and not too time consuming….I could do that again. Well, these are nothing like the traditional RV tanks. I will have at least 5X as much time into them. And they are so complex that the specter of leaks hangs over the shop continually. My heartfelt advice to anyone pondering this decision…go quickbuild. What was I thinking….
Wheeler, you look like you know what you are doing. The decision to depart from the kai and attach the clip hats to the end ribs first is a good one. Beware the next step of attaching end ribs to rear spar is challenging. The aft ribs make access to the rivet heads difficult, and keeping the set on the head is more difficult when they are greased up in sealant. The rib to spar holes didn’t line up well for me, and I ended up reaming most of the holes during the riveting process. Better to assemble dry and match drill (ream) those holes first. And the thin rib flange has a tendency to pucker. I use a ring of tygon under the bucking bar to prevent this. Good Luck.
Wheeler, you look like you know what you are doing. The decision to depart from the kai and attach the clip hats to the end ribs first is a good one. Beware the next step of attaching end ribs to rear spar is challenging. The aft ribs make access to the rivet heads difficult, and keeping the set on the head is more difficult when they are greased up in sealant. The rib to spar holes didn’t line up well for me, and I ended up reaming most of the holes during the riveting process. Better to assemble dry and match drill (ream) those holes first. And the thin rib flange has a tendency to pucker. I use a ring of tygon under the bucking bar to prevent this. Good Luck.
Last edited:
Alphalpha
Well Known Member
Yeah, I test assembled the left frame today. Then I went at the right actually riveting spar and ribs together. The inboard one is a mess because there is so much mass in that end of the spar it doesn’t drive enough force through to the bucking bar. Then add slippery black goo… well, I’m not proud of a few of those rivets.
I did buy modify an offset rivet set that gets into the flap track for the bottom rivet. It tends to want to swivel so I taped it to the gun.
This part of the build would be a lot easier with two people. I’m also going to do the left differently for that inboard to spar joint. I will leave the flap tracks off and use some draw down clecos to hold it until the rib to spar joint is cured.
I did buy modify an offset rivet set that gets into the flap track for the bottom rivet. It tends to want to swivel so I taped it to the gun.
This part of the build would be a lot easier with two people. I’m also going to do the left differently for that inboard to spar joint. I will leave the flap tracks off and use some draw down clecos to hold it until the rib to spar joint is cured.
