3.0 Hours -
Today, I managed to get three hours of work in on the airplane in between football games and a trip to the hardware store. I bought a hole saw set to use in fixing the leaks in my fuel tank. I’m planning on cutting 3″ holes in the baffle and using 4″ covers, so I played with those sizes of hole saws a bit just to see how well they will work. They’re a bit like a fly-cutter…a lot of noise for a very small cut. At least the hole saws aren’t as scary as the fly-cutter!
Later, I disassembled the right leading edge so that I could start the final prep of all the parts. I deburred all of the holes, in both the skin and the ribs, using my Avery deburr tool. I then dimpled the ribs, and as many holes in the skin that could be reached with the pneumatic squeezer. The remaining holes in the skin had to be dimpled with the c-frame. I also deburred the edges of the skin using a vixen file to knock down any notches, and then I ran a Scotchbrite wheel over them.
Dimpling the right leading edge skin with the c-frame.
Close up of dimples in the LE skin. These were all done with the squeezer.
Next, I scuffed all of the mating surfaces for priming. Previously, I would have primed the entire rib, but I’m starting to realize that the primer is really overkill. So, I’m now just priming the mating surfaces. This equates to the flanges of the ribs and the rivet lines on the skins.
After scuffing, I cleaned everything off with acetone and started priming. I quickly ran out of the NAPA 7220 primer that I had remaining, so I switched to some Duplicolor self-etching primer that I had purchased. I’ve heard fairly good reviews on the Duplicolor primer so, when I found some on sale, I bought it. Even at full price, the Duplicolor primer costs less than the NAPA. As I sprayed it, I immediately noticed that the Duplicolor nozzle sprays a thicker coat of primer compared to the NAPA. The Duplicolor is also darker in color and seems to dry a bit slower. However, I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see if the Duplicolor is as durable as the NAPA 7220.
The Duplicolor primer (right) is darker and seems to go on much thicker than the NAPA primer (left). I'll have to wait until tomorrow to decide if the Duplicolor is as durable as the NAPA.
The leading edge skin and ribs are all finished and primed...time for assembly.
