Brief Description: Measure & Drill Z Brackets to Front Spar
I was a little nervous about getting everything lined up perfectly so that the fuel tank would be positioned correctly with no gaps anywhere. This actually turned out very well. I didn't follow Van's instructions though since they are very vague and do not gaurentee that everything will line up perfectly. Instead I followed Dan Checkoway's very detailed instructions that he had on his web site. This worked out great! Basically, I measured the center hole for the inboard Z bracket 1/16th of an inch further away from the web than center line to allow room for a socket wrench to fit over the bolt head. I did just the opposite for the remaining Z brackets - I drilled the center hole 1/16th of an inch closer to the web. This will allow more room later when it comes time to pop rivet these suckers to the bottom of the fuel tank. Otherwise there won't be room to pull these rivets. Once all of the center holes were drilled, I clecoed the Z brackets onto the front spar and made sure they were square. Once these were positioned properly and clamped securely in place, I drilled the remaining holes from underneath the spar, using the pre-punched holes in the spar as a guide.
Drill the center holes for attaching the z brackets to the spar
Make sure the z brackets are square to the front spar
Drill remaining holes using the holes in the spar as a guide
