Brief Description: Z Brackets-Fitting & drilling to Left Fuel Tank 1
I started by bolting all the z brackets to the left spar. I used about 4 thick washers on each bolt to stop the bolts going too far into the nutplates. They penetrated about 1/3 of the way into the nutplates whoch was more than enough to garauntee that they were correctly aligned and not about to move at all.
I then placed the fuel tank into positon and maneuvred it by hand until it was flush up against the neighbouring leading edge. I aslo cleco'd the bottom skin into position to check that all was in order on that side too. A quick check showed that whilst the tank was fitting flush aganst the leading edge, it wasn't that great in the tank-to-main-skin, with a gap of about 1/16". Needless to say, that tank was thus that much further forward of the leading edge too (ala dog tooth leading edge) . I couldn't squeeze it into position manually so I grabbed two "cargo tie-down belts" or whatever they're called. I used some cloths folded multiple times for padding against the tank and placed wood blocks against the trailing edge spar to keep the belts clear of the triling edge of the main skins and prevent any possible damage. I then slooowly cranked down on the belt's "pulleys", checking the alignment as I went.
(Thanks to Kitlog's 3 picture limit per entry, continued in next entry ...)
I used 4 thick washers so that the bolt only penetrated the nutplate 1/3 to 1/2 way.
All nutplates bolted to left spar
Fuel tank squeezed into the perfect position with some cargo belts. Take care not to damage skins.
