Getting the gap seals fit up was another project I thought would go really quickly, but ended up filling the entire day with work on little details.
The manual indicates that the gap seals can be installed with the flaps deflected fully upwards. I decided to just take the flaps off. This gave me the opportunity to run a #30 drill bit through the hinge holes, and wander it around a little bit to open the holes up just a bit which resulted in a smooth as butter operation of the flaps.
Cutting the seals to length and getting the rivet holes in place was simple enough. When I reinstalled the flaps I found the seals are about 3/16" to long and they interfere with the flap. Trying to hold the flap and at the same time hold the seal in place to determine how much to trim was an issue. The manual says to use double sided tape on the seal, but I wanted to be able to do several test fits and getting the seal properly located on the rivet holes makes a big difference in the final length.
I ended up connecting the teleflex to the flap horn, and then on the other end I used short peice of 1/4" tubing and a 3/16" washer as a spacer, and I adjusted the nut to get a level flap position.
There isn't enough room for Cleckos to hold the seal with the flaps in place, so I bent the stem on some rivets and used them to temporarily hold the seal in place.
I started with a short piece of scrap seal material, and trimmed it until it fit tight with the flap. Using this, I used my band saw with a fence to remove the same amount from the actual seals. This tight fit was then adjusted using a wood plane to remove about 1/64" per pass. In the end, I came out perfect!
Getting the flap seals cut and clecko'd .
Spacer to hold flap in level position.
Bent rivet holds seal in place for test fit of gap.
