January 16, 2008 - Cowl Support Strip, Riveting Top Skin |
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| Because I want my cowl to go one and off easily, I splurged and bought a full set of Camlocs. That means I have to make supporting strips for them. Which means I had to come up with some 2" wide .050 thick aluminum strips. I quickly found out I would have to buy a sheet and cut the strips myself. Spruce only sells 4x4 sheets which was way more than I needed, plus would have been unwieldy to cut. Someone on the VAF forum mentioned that AirParts Inc sold 1' by 4' sheets so I ordered from them for the first time. Here's the sheet. | ||||||
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I started with the right side of the
firewall. I cut a 2" strip with the band saw, then match-drilled it
to the firewall
flange.
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| Next I countersunk each hole, as the firewall flange is dimpled. | ||||||
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The strip fits much better after
countersinking.
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| Lynnette and I did some more riveting on the forward top skin. We riveted the top rib and stringers, then the left side. I bucked by leaning through the right side. | ||||||
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| Then I clecoed the right side back down. I'm going to have to get in the fuse to buck the remaining rivets. | ||||||
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