Van's Air Force
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fuselage riveting and firewall
- Thread starter miyu1975
- Start date
D-Dubya
Well Known Member
You can wait
I asked the same question many moons ago when I was at the same stage. Others that had gone before me said to leave the firewall edge/fuselage skin undimpled for now. You will later need to fit whatever cowling attach method you choose, and if you've already dimpled those rivet holes, it makes those pieces harder to fit. The hinges or cam-lock backing plate gets riveted in with the skin. So if you riveted it now, you've have to drill them out later. And if you're concerned about it, you can dimple two thicknesses of metal at the same time.
So we waited to rivet that on my buddy's plane, and it came out just fine. A little bead of sealant on the inside where the skin & firewall meet, then we squeezed all those rivets. Looks good, no leaks or nuthin'.
I asked the same question many moons ago when I was at the same stage. Others that had gone before me said to leave the firewall edge/fuselage skin undimpled for now. You will later need to fit whatever cowling attach method you choose, and if you've already dimpled those rivet holes, it makes those pieces harder to fit. The hinges or cam-lock backing plate gets riveted in with the skin. So if you riveted it now, you've have to drill them out later. And if you're concerned about it, you can dimple two thicknesses of metal at the same time.
So we waited to rivet that on my buddy's plane, and it came out just fine. A little bead of sealant on the inside where the skin & firewall meet, then we squeezed all those rivets. Looks good, no leaks or nuthin'.
On my 9A, the instructions are very unclear on this as well - but I reasoned that there would be a lot of work to be done up front with the firewall and cowling, and since there was no need to have those riveted right now I would wait. I did rivet the side skins to the entire fuse frame as called out, but I will leave the firewall clecoed to the bottom and side skins until I'm absolutely certain I know how it's all going to go together.
Do you have the fiberglass cowling yet??
The firewall mounted hinge segments will eventually get riveted (also prosealed...your discretion) to the firewall flange. But you may find out that you need to shim the hinge segments away from the firewall flange to accommodate the thickness of the fiberglass cowling. The shim thickness is determined by measuring the thickness of the cowling (at the firewall area) and taking into account the varying thicknesses of cowling, hinge segments. The end goal is to have the finished cowling outside surface transition into a flush fit with the aluminum skin(s) just aft of the firewall. Once you are comfortable with the determined shim thickness, these items can all be riveted together.
The firewall mounted hinge segments will eventually get riveted (also prosealed...your discretion) to the firewall flange. But you may find out that you need to shim the hinge segments away from the firewall flange to accommodate the thickness of the fiberglass cowling. The shim thickness is determined by measuring the thickness of the cowling (at the firewall area) and taking into account the varying thicknesses of cowling, hinge segments. The end goal is to have the finished cowling outside surface transition into a flush fit with the aluminum skin(s) just aft of the firewall. Once you are comfortable with the determined shim thickness, these items can all be riveted together.
