I’m using Eric Newton’s website mybearhawkpatrol.com as a guide following the sequence he did with his Patrol kit. I also have his manuals for reference.
I fabricated the top straps for the fuel tank then attached them to the spars. Then I made two short straps with the pre-tapped steel rod pieces for the bottom straps. Since the fuel tanks go all the way back to the rear spar there isn’t as much depth to work with. I made the parts 2-1/2” long but ended up cutting them down to 2”. As I was laying out the bottom straps I realized the inboard strap is going to interfere with the drain plug hole as it is shown on the plans. So I switched the location of the inboard top and bottom straps. Which means I had to drill out the rivets I had driven in the other day. The top strap on the main spar was where I had to put the AN3 bolt anyway so that worked out. So with this change I had to add the weight of 3 more AN3 bolts. I primed the short straps and top straps with zinc primer. After the primer dried several hours I riveted the short straps closed.
I also installed the finger strainers and AN fittings on the fuel tank. The plans seem to indicate the aft line fitting a 90 turn to the rear but the fuel tanks in the kit are pretty tight to the rear spar so I used a straight fitting.
Mark sent the bearings I was missing so I press fit them into the aileron bell crank and aileron hinges.