Once I had the Turtle Deck cleco'd in place I spent a few weeks getting the Engine Pylon installed before being comfortable enough to rivet the Turtle Deck in place.
This work took place in 5 sessions over two months. My pneumatic rivet gun was acting up (eventually figured out that it just needed cleaning and a top up of oil in the main cylinder) so I used the manual riveter. This was great for the aluminum 1/8" rivets but was a bit tougher with the 1/8" steel rivets which are placed at the forward and stern ends of the longitudinal joints. I also placed the sandwhich of aluminum and wood arch plates inside the front opening of the Turtle Deck. I gave up on the new manual Chapter 13 for this as it called for templates I didn't have and Cable Tie Mounts that not only did I not have but PA couldn't sell me nor could local electrical shops (another challenge for another day). Instead, for the arch installations I followed Section 17 of the old manual and it worked out pretty well. I bolted them in place but stopped before riveting them all together as I want to see how the arch contour of the Turtle Deck fits the sliding Lexan cockpit pieces first.
