We noticed yesterday, after we had drilled the 4 corner bolt holes in the firewall for the motor mount, that the 2 central bolt locations stood off approx. 1/8th ". (See image #1) We had decided that we could use a washer as spacer but I called Van's to be sure. We then found 2 washers of the right size and primed them. We then drilled the 2 center mounting holes (see Image #2) and took the motor mount back off to work on riveting the hinges. I had seen on the Van's Air Force forum that they were nearly impossible to rivet with the mount in place. We riveted the lower flange & then studied the plans carefully and began to lay out the most efficient use of the limited amount of hinge that Van's had sent. Claude, having worked in an aluminum door factory years ago, was instrumental in this exercise. While he was doing that, I shaved off one of the bolts protruding through a nut plate used to hold the fuel pump in place. This was contributing to the problem with stand off. The lower nut plate can be seen in Image #2 after the bolt was cut off with the Dremel tool. I also did some wiring of the right wing strobe light. ....We still have not been able to get the wheels on yet for lack of help lifting the plane to put it on a high saw horse. It is quite heavy now that the wings are on as are the tail feathers. Maybe we can get this done soon!
