Category Archives: Fuel Tanks

Time: 4 Hours

I set out today to get the inboard ribs sealed and riveted along with a few other little tasks. I re-cleaned the parts and the skin from any oils my hands may have gotten on them while moving things around. Then I mixed up a batch of ProSeal after setting out all the required tools I would need. My plan of attack was to do both tanks at the same time and start with rib flanges. After buttering them up and sliding them into position I grabbed the pneumatic squeezer and set all the rivets. This went fairly fast but it was still messy. With those set I grabbed the rib nose reinforcement plates and the attachment brackets. I put a thin layer of ProSeal on the mating surfaces of both of those and clecko’d them in place. The plans call for AN470-7 rivets here and after I set one realized they were a little to short so I moved up to -8 rivet. My second rivet I made a really bad smiley face on the head and split it. So out came the drill and punch set to remove it. This process is a pain under normal conditions but with sticky ProSeal everywhere it’s that much worse. Once removed I had to clean all the parts to remove the drill shavings. Being careful all the rest if the rivets set real nice.

I then grabbed the flop tubes and placed them in their spots and threaded the AN nut’s on and torqued them to specs. Now I needed to seal up the nose of the ribs inside and out and create fillets along the edges. The Semco gun makes this an easy task.

I also grabbed my 9/16″ crowfeet and attached it to the torque wrench to get the fuel vent lines.

As a little added security I placed a little ProSeal under the rubber O-ring that is on the end of the flop tubes. This cushions the weight of the flop tube as it moves around and I wouldn’t want it to come off. I also added a little sealer to the hinge pins of the trap doors, the baffle will prevent it from coming out but a little ProSeal will keep it from moving and rubbing.

So I have to install the inboard fuel capacitor plate and wire it, install the anti-hang up guides and clean up some edges and I will be all set to install the rear baffles.

Time: 2 Hours

I’m still waiting on the delivery of more ProSeal from Van’s so no sealing today. But I did get out and do a little work on the tanks as the sealer has almost cured. I wanted to get the fuel vent lines in and attach the outboard capacitor plates. First up was to install the capacitor plates to the second to last rib. They are attached with 3 screws that are covered with a plastic sleeve and 4 plastic bushings. These keep the plates and screws from touching any part of the ribs.

Before I put the vent lines in place I cut a groove in the flange of the 7/16″ plastic bushings that hold the vent lines. This groove allows the capacitor wire to pass thru the bushing with the vent line. I then placed that wire thru all the bushings and then slid the vent line in with them, once I rivet the inboard rib I will bend up the end by the fuel cap flange so that it is at the highest point possible.

Then I rotated the bushings to twist the wire around the vent line. When I have some ProSeal mixed up I will add a dab on the wire/vent line to secure the wire.

In the second fuel bay I will install the inboard capacitor plate. When I do that I will cut the wire from the outboard plate to the correct size and add a terminal. The wire from the BNC connector on the inboard rib will also get attached here too making the plates run in parallel.

I then clecko’d the inboard rib to check the vent line connection and all looked good!

I leave for a 2 day trip to Cincinnati tomorrow and hopefully the new ProSeal will be hear when I get back. That will give me a good 3 day weekend to seal up these tanks. On a fun note my Milbar safety wire pliers that I won on eBay arrived today as well as the first can of .032 wire.

Time: 2 Hours

After my weekly breakfast with a fellow builder, Lee (one of this composite guys building a LanceAir), I set out to clean up the Hangar. I plan on letting the ProSeal set up a bit before I install the inboard ribs since I have to work in the first bay between those and the second ribs. So I organized the Hangar a little and replaced all the tools I had out. I also cleaned up the skins and the outside of the outboard ribs where I had been a little messy. Whit those tasks done I had only one more thing I wanted to complete, two big piles of cleckos on a couple of paper plates where I had put them after removing during the riveting process. They were covered in ProSeal and were pretty messy. So I sat down with the can of MEK, gloves, respirator and a bunch of rags to clean them all. There must have been 300 of them and everyone had ProSeal on them. I really just wanted to get the sealer of the body of the cleckos as it just looked bad. I did try to get most of it off the working end but wasn’t too worried about that end as I have read that the dried ProSeal will actually help them grip in the future. It only took me about 2 hours to get everyone clean and put away.

I then grabbed a couple of my folding TV trays and set them up in my office to put the parts on that I finished yesterday. I figured that they would cure that much faster in the warm house and since it’s just me I don’t have to worry about the ProSeal smell, which I don’t mind. I also brought in the tanks as well for the same reason. I setup my electric radiator space heater to keep the room nice and warm and shut the door to keep my cats out of sticky sealer that they would no doubt find their paws in.

Hopefully all the parts will be ready by next weekend and I can seal the tanks up by then. I have ordered a few more of the pre-filled tubes of ProSeal to make that process easier.

Time: 6 Hours

Today started out the fabrication of the fuel tank vent lines. These lines will allow air to replace the fuel in the tanks as fuel is being used. These lines come as a coil so I started out by straightening the pieces so that I could measure the correct length.

With a length of tubing cut I grabbed the flaring tool that I borrowed from work to make one end flared so that it will connect to the elbow fitting at the inboard rib.  This tool makes this job pretty easy and makes really nice flares.

With the flaring done I grabbed the ferrels and nuts and slid them on the tubing up to the flare. I then grabbed my my tubing bender and made a couple of bends around 15° to make the offset from the second rib to the inboard rib, both came out really nice.

I then started preparing several items so that when I mixed up some ProSeal I could get a bunch of tasks done. First up was to mask off the edge of the outboard skin so that I wouldn’t get sealer where the skin matches up with the splice between the tank and the outboard leading edge.

I then mixed up some ProSeal and loaded a 2.5oz disposable Semco cartridge. I also mixed up some to use a popsicle stick with. My plans were to seal and rivet the reinforcement plate to the outboard ribs. Then I would seal and rivet the anti-hangup guides to the access plates. Next I would torque and seal the fuel vent line elbow to the inboard rib as well as the BNC connector. Then I would seal the outboard fuel capacitor ring terminal/wire to make a sealed connection and protect the wire.

With those tasks done I grabbed the outboard ribs and buttered the flange with ProSeal then clecko’d them to the skin. These rivets were easy to set with my pneumatic squeezer. With all those rivets set I grabbed the Semco gun and laid a good bead on the inside of the rib to make a nice size filet with a large popsicle stick. I then put a good covering of ProSeal on the outside of the flange, flange rivets and the rivet heads of the reinforcement plates. A little messy but I don’t want any leaks here.

It was another good day in Hangar!  I really like these days when things are just going really smooth and I get a lot of tasks done.  I will let these parts cure for a few days before installing them to try to keep the mess down.  I’m getting real close to the big finale of closing up the tanks and getting to do the all important leak test.

Time; 4 Hours

Today I completed the same process on the right fuel tank as I did yesterday on the left fuel tank. This side was just as messy as the other side! Tomorrow I will work on the inboard and outboard ribs which will include The Flop tubes and the fuel Vent lines.