Fuselage Center Section #9 - baggage floor and rib riveting

 Baggage compartment riveting.  

Ordered some long reach cleco's.  These puppies can get up to a 1/2" where all my older ones are only good for a little over 1/4".  The extra reach helps when dealing with this thick center channel.

Riveted the holes left over on the vertical bulkhead to center channel rivets that also go thru the baggage floor.  These get these different kind of pulled rivets.

Then I riveted the front flange of the baggage floor to the assembly.

Next I riveted the ELT bracket assembly together.

And installed the nutplates.

Finally riveted it to the ribs.

Then I riveted the ribs.

Baggage floor to rib rivets.  The ones that go thru the fuel tank pads are flush rivets.  UPDATE:  Do not do what I did and cut these out of the thinner strip that has the sticky tape on it.  This is the wrong strip to use!  Cut them from the thicker strip that does not have tape on the back!

So here I goofed up and installed the rivets backwards to the orientation called out by the directions.  Not sure why it matters but if they specify it, there is usually a good reason.

Figured it out after I had pulled these 6 rivets.

They are supposed to go in from this direction.

Riveted the flush rivets that go in between the nutplates on the baggage floor and the ribs.

This top rivet on the outboard rib gets a flush rivet.  Seems it is to provide clearance for the gear leg bolt or nut.

Riveted these standoffs to the ribs.

Fuselage Center Section #8 - Priming day

 Priming day again! 

Parts deburred and etched, time to spray!

So I ordered more Cherry Max rivets from Aircraft Spruce to fill the two remaining holes I had left over.  Unfortunately despite pre-lubing them, they were a different brand and even though the stem broke in the correct place, their tails don't look the same as the brand that Van's sells.  Therefore, I ordered some more from Van's in order to get the same brand.

Fuselage Center Section #7 - baggage area floor and ribs

 Starting to get the parts fitted for the baggage compartment.

They have you cut 4 spacer/anti wear strips for the baggage area floor that the fuel tank will sit on.  This prevents wear and tear to the tank skin. UPDATE:  Do not do what I did and cut these out of the thinner strip that has the sticky tape on it.  This is the wrong strip to use!  Cut them from the thicker strip that does not have tape on the back!

This is not a mistake but a little later you will see where I could have waited to stick these strips to the baggage floor. UPDATE:  Do not do what I did and cut these out of the thinner strip that has the sticky tape on it.  This is the wrong strip to use!  Cut them from the thicker strip that does not have tape on the back!

All 4 get match drilled to the skin. UPDATE:  Do not do what I did and cut these out of the thinner strip that has the sticky tape on it.  This is the wrong strip to use!  Cut them from the thicker strip that does not have tape on the back!

The inside ones align with the skin edge.  The outboard ones just get centered on the holes the best you can while keeping the strip perpendicular to the lip on the skin.  The holes end up being at an angle across the strip. UPDATE:  Do not do what I did and cut these out of the thinner strip that has the sticky tape on it.  This is the wrong strip to use!  Cut them from the thicker strip that does not have tape on the back!

Next comes machine countersinking the mounting holes for flush rivets. UPDATE:  Do not do what I did and cut these out of the thinner strip that has the sticky tape on it.  This is the wrong strip to use!  Cut them from the thicker strip that does not have tape on the back!

The directions have you "over countersink" the holes so that the flush rivet has no chance of ever toughing the tank skin.  UPDATE:  Do not do what I did and cut these out of the thinner strip that has the sticky tape on it.  This is the wrong strip to use!  Cut them from the thicker strip that does not have tape on the back!

All pulled flush rivets in the kit are 120° instead of 100° like regular rivets.  I purchased a special countersink bit for these holes.

Next was enlarging a hole to 5/8" o the one side of the baggage skin.

Done.

Next is dimpling the skin for rivets and nutplates.  Use the appropriate angle dimple dies for the type of rivet that ends up in the hole.

Installed the nutplates on the baggage skin.

Done.

Next comes the fab work on the ELT mount bracket parts.

Separating these standoffs. 

Deburring the standoffs.

Dimpling the baggage ribs for some nutplates.

A crap ton of deburring, hole finishing, edge prep, etc. for priming,

Fuselage Center Section #6 - aft center section channel riveting continued

 

Riveting the center section parts together.  Ran into an issue with the long CherryMax rivets and the fact that their lube is dried up causing the stem to break off prematurely.

So to prevent the premature breakage of the Cherry Max Rivet stems, Van's suggest you take them apart and lube them prior to pulling.

Put them in a hole and tap the stem with a hammer until it comes out.

This is what you will see.

Use some oil or grease to lube the stem.

Place it back in the hole upside down and tap the stem back into the rivet and the mandrel.

All done.

Don't do what I did and put rivets in the bottom row of holes.  I only did 3 before catching my mistake.

Drilled them out and moved on.  Problem solved.

The other side is done with the exception of 2 rivets.  I was short 2 because I wasted some on the previous bottom row.  Van's only provides a couple spares.