Tonight I almost finished installing the step. After banging and bending the welded steel step gusset plate, I finally got it close to the contour of the fuselage. The little gap I had at the bottom, I filled with an .063" shim that I can rivet through. Next, I fabricated the two backer plates that are going on the inside of the fuselage as well as the nylon ring that will hold the inboard part of the step assembly. I finished up by priming everything. Next, I will need to prime that patch of fuselage which resides under the step assembly, especially since we are dealing with steel and aluminum here. Wherever they touch, they will generate dissimilar metals corrosion.
