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Tank Z brackets

s10sakota

s10sakota

Well Known Member
Just a few steps into the fuel tank construction, the manual wants me to bolt the Z brackets to the spar.

I'm wondering if these Z brackets have to come off later again? The top of the Z Bracket gets riveted to the back of the fuel tank so it will need sealed with pro-seal.

So if the Z Brackets do come off again, did you guys just re-use the bolts again later? Obviously I will only use two of the three bolts for now.

I'm not sure I understand exactly what 's going on with these brackets. It's a lot of work to bolt all of these on only to remove them later!
 
s10sakota said:
Just a few steps into the fuel tank construction, the manual wants me to bolt the Z brackets to the spar.

I'm wondering if these Z brackets have to come off later again? The top of the Z Bracket gets riveted to the back of the fuel tank so it will need sealed with pro-seal.

So if the Z Brackets do come off again, did you guys just re-use the bolts again later? Obviously I will only use two of the three bolts for now.

I'm not sure I understand exactly what 's going on with these brackets. It's a lot of work to bolt all of these on only to remove them later!
Click to expand...

What's this re-use the bolts?! Throw them away and get new ones!

I'm kidding of course, they will come out and be re-installed more than once in the process. I found a fitting for a 3/8's socket with the electric drill, they came out quick. With that same drill, I installed all the bolts each time thinking I might get a better fit in the end. Whether it mattered, I don't know, but the brackets did fit perfectly after tank cure.

I have the least difficultly if the plan is followed step by step - no deviations. Sometimes the instructions make no sense but if the current task is understood, I tell myself, just do it and move on, it will make sense later and always does. i don't waste time second guessing - there have been many airplanes built and the plan is generally quite bullet proof.
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. I've been following Mike Bullock's excellent website (as well as a lot of others) and I'm using the infamous Dan Checkowy (sp?) method also.

Although, I did what the manual said and drilled one 1/8" hole in each flange. On the other flange, I have drilled the three 3/16" holes and riveted the nutplates to the Z bracket. Those Z-brackets are now bolted to the spar with two bolts each.

Next I clecoed on the tank baffle and all the 1/8" holes lined up perfectly except one. One of them is a half of a hole off. So, I will replace that one Z bracket with a new one and not pre-drill the 1/8" hole.

All of this is for the left wing. I can not do the right wing now because I don't have enough nutplates for the other Z-brackets. I'm missing about 18 of them. That concerns me because either Van's didn't give me enough K-10003 nutplates (I think that's the part numebr off hand), or I used the wrong the nutplates somewhere else on the spar!

I don't think I used the wrong nutplates. So, I'll have to order more nutplates, and then hope that all the pre-drilled 1/8" holes line up with the tank baffle on the right wing. If not, I'll have to replace those Z-brackets also.
 
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Hi Mark,

checking if you used the correct ones on the rest of the spar sounds like a good idea, much easier to correct now than later. I counted every nutplate when I invetoried the kits (couldn't keep my hands of all the shiney new stuff) and never had nearly as many as 18 of somthing missing
 
Yep that's the plan today. If I did use the wrong ones, they would be the ones on the spar for the access plates. I sure remember triple checking that I was using the corrent ones, but....
 
UPDATE: I did use the correct nutplates in the spars, and to make a long story short...I found my nutplates :eek:

However, I do have to replace all of the Z-brackets on the right wing. Why? because I followed the Van's manual. I drilled one 1/8" hole in all of the brackets before fitting anything (just like the manual states!!!) and they are all off by a 'smidgen'. Since I want nice holes with a tight fit for the rivets to prevent any fuel leaks, I would feel better replacing them and following the Checkoway method.
 
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