Aligned center wing spar with predrilled holes and marked flange centerline. Drilled and clecoed aft row of holes starting in the center and working out.
Used a wood spacer to ensure slot in center spar was evenly open. Then drilled forward row of holes.
Set firewall in place. Aligned centerlines and rivet line with predrilled holes. Used scrap wood to brace firewall. Drilled and clecoed in place.
Dismantled to re-orient workshop for next stages. Set major pieces on floor. Re-stored remaining pieces in other areas of the garage. Dismantled 4X12' work bence. Clearly marked pieces and hardware for the main 4X8' section. I assume I will rebuild in once this effort is forced to move to a hanger.
Bought 2 metal folding height adjustable saw horses and an adjustable saw support strut at Lowes. Set the saw horses at 27" (may want to lower later to 24"). Minimum height for the saw stand is 27". Used 1x1"x8' aluminum tube for support. Leveled using shims at each saw horse as required.
Put cockpit floor on saw horse supported tubes and aft fuselage on saw stand and tubes. Placed a shim at the front edge of rear fuselage skin IAW assembly manual. The aluminum tubes sagged a bit so moved saw horse to position directly under shim location. This forced me to relevel the support tubes. I then started leveling the rear section to make the top edge of the rear skins level. Started by using a hand level but then shifted to a self-leveling laser level. This throws out a height adjustable level laser line. I put the line on the top most rivet of the forward rivet line and then raised the tail end until the laser line cut thru each of the top rivets. Locked the saw stand. Marked the height so I can periodically check for slippage. Then confirmed level with a 24" digital level. Perfect! Highly recommend the laser level. I got mine at Harbor Frieght on sale for $30.
Clecoed firewall in place. Braced with 2 - 780mm 1x2s IAW assembly manual. Clamped floor skin to firewall.
