my worst building day

[erich weaver]

Well, yesterday I managed to install a grand total of four bolts on my -7A. It took me all day, allowing for a couple of breaks. Blood was spilled in the process, I ache all over today, and I have bruises all over my arms.

These were the bottom four close-tolerance bolts on the right wing on my -7A. Putting the bolts in wasnt bad, it was getting the nuts on them and tightened that totally sucked. To make a tough job even harder, I had previously run a wad of wires thru a hole in the landing gear weldment in the area where the threaded portion of each bolt exposes itself, and I really didnt want to rip these out and have to re-do them. Warning to others: Run your wires to avoid the area where the nuts on your bottom wing attach bolts will be!

I was able to get the four nuts on only after fabricating special nut-holding strips of aluminum sheet and finally getting each nut started on the threads after many many unsuccessful attempts on each nut. Im telling you, it was enough to make me wish I had gotten a tail dragger!

Next weekend, I move on to the bottom four bolts on the left wing. Cant wait - NOT! Still debating whether to yank all the wires in that area first, but am leaning that way, as I think it may reduce the blood and bruising.

Even without the wires in the way, I cant imagine how this job would ever become easy, but if any of you have some tips, my body would appreciate it.

erich weaver

 

[kentb]

Cheer up Erich..

My second wing only took about 1/3 the time to mount as the first one. I learned a lot about how far in to put the bolts before starting the nuts, etc. I had to move some of my wiring too, but after clipping the wire ties there was enough slack that I could move them out of the way temporally.
It helps to have a buddy standing by, they can hand you thing that you need and think up new swear words when you start running low.


Kent

 

[db1yg]

Those bottom bolts are a bear!! If I remember correctly the outboard bottom bolt is pretty close to the brake bulkhead fitting which makes it even more difficult. What I did find that worked for me was to use a 12" socket extension with a crows foot on the end to get to those pesky bottom nuts. Any way you do it is challenging---but you will forget all of these little difficulties the instant that beast jumps off the runway and climbs for the heavens like a home sick angel on its first flight!!!!! Ain't nothin' like it!!!!!

Cheers,

db

 

[DGlaeser]

Wing Bolts

I helped my son install his wing bolts. What worked best was super-glueing the nut to a popsicle stick to hold it in place and turn the bolt with a pneumatic wrench. When you tap the lower bolts in place, be sure to have them just barely through the hole - just enough to have the nut center on it. Then turn the bolt and push a bit until the nut starts. We also have a ground-down open end wrench (borrowed) to hold the nut for final tightening.

My suggestion, for those still building their fuselage, before the lower fwd skin is attached: Mount the gear fittings to the spar, and in the lower holes, put in hardware bolts far enough through to engage the nuts, but not the fiber. Then glue the nuts in place with GOOP. That stuff is tough enough to hold them in place, but will give a bit for final alignment with the real bolts. I don't know for sure if this would work, but I'd give it a try if I were ever to do it again! (My fuselage was well past this point when I helped my son)

 

[erich weaver]

Thanks for the tips guys. The pneumatic wrench would really be handy for spinning those bolts into the nuts once they are in place rather than using a ratchet with only a few degrees of swing possible and lots of skinned knuckle potential. Can you get the socket on a pneumatic wrench over the heads on those lower bolts ok? Seems like the bottom fuselage skin would get in the way.

Maybe Vans should just tack weld the nuts in place for us, or use giant plate nuts! You would have to be real careful about tapping the bolts in too far, but that would be cake compared to what I went through.

regards

erich

 

[DanH]

My considered advice is to drink lots of beer while you do the job. It will still get sore and bloody, but you won't care as much <g>

Fun aside, if you must turn the head on a close tolerance bolt to thread the nut, apply a good anti-sieze lube to the bolt shank and hole before insertion.

 

[N130WN]

Well, yesterday I managed to install a grand total of four bolts on my -7A. It took me all day, allowing for a couple of breaks. Blood was spilled in the process, I ache all over today, and I have bruises all over my arms.

[snip]

erich weaver

Those just getting started on their emp kit are envious of your problems. Count your blessings!

 

[Steve]

ANTI-SEIZE

Dan H,

"...apply a good anti-sieze lube to the bolt shank and hole before insertion..."

What do you recommend?

Steve Fabiszak

 

[joeboisselle]

Im telling you, it was enough to make me wish I had gotten a tail dragger!

erich weaver

Why? Then every time you drop something... tink-a-tink-a-tink... it rolls back to a bulkhead you can't reach. I've lost more rivets, bolts, clecos etc. off the back of a wing or accross the floor of the cockpit, enough to make me wish I'd gotton the -7a that I really wanted.