Fixing a to wide fuselage
On my early 8A kit, after riveting the fuselage together, I discovered that my cockpit sills were 3/8" or 1/2" to far apart. I only learned this when I went to install the Wd-814 on. I did a LOT of measuring to figure out what the problem was. I was lucky, that I had another 8 builder who only lived a few miles from me. I measured his fuselage width dimension where the Wd-804 goes. His was correct [31"] and my Wd-814 fit his fuselage properly [as did his] I fixed my problem by fluting all four of my F-804C vertical bulkhead pieces. In this way I was able to correct an error that would not have been repairable once the Wd-814 was drilled on. [At least not without ripping out the F-887s!
Vans had advised me to simply stretch out the Wd-814 to fit. Even I KNEW that was wrong, as it would create more problems down the line. The canopy will not fit correctly if the cockpit is to wide or to narrow. Remember, the carpenters, roofers, plumbers and electricians all work to hide the mistakes of the bricklayer who lays the foundation. Ignore a problem now, and it will bite you in the a$$, later!
You can see that the Wd-814 does not meet the left F-887, after being drilled and clecoed to the right F-887. Tape measure shows this, too.
Cave man method of getting the fuselage to the correct width, using a carpenter's clamp and blocks of wood. The Wd-814 was stiff enough that simply installing it brought the fuselage width within 1/16" of being correct. However, that left the structure under tension, which is not best practice.
The solution was to flute the F-804Cs [all 4] on their inboard edges. After doing this, I could remove both the Wd-814 and the carpenter's clamp and the fuselage was the correct width at this point. These flutes are not visible after the F-804N caps are installed.
Right side F-804Cs after being fluted. The silver bar is the carpenter's clamp. Simply fluting this area cured the entire problem.
Charlie