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[rebel-builders] Building a leak free fuel tank.. Rebel, Eli

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Wayne G. O'Shea

[rebel-builders] Building a leak free fuel tank.. Rebel, Elite, SR, Moose..

Post by Wayne G. O'Shea » Sun Feb 19, 2012 11:37 pm

..and if anyone is wondering what a tank skin should look like before you
expect it to seal and rivet tight. Here are some shots from today. Remember
that as soon as you've cleaned.. and cleaned.. and cleaned those skins with
acetone.... until the white towel stays white.. cover the suckers up! (no
matter how quick you think you're gonna work on them again). Next step is
prepping the wing structure one more time and then sealer and rivets to get
the stringers sealed in place ...and then we'll be placing the bottom skins.

http://www.irishfield.on.ca/gallery/tan ... brite1.jpg

http://www.irishfield.on.ca/gallery/tan ... brite2.jpg

Now I'm really starting to think I'm talking to myself here, other than Ted
and Ron following along..... ;O)

Wayne

----- Original Message -----
From: "Wayne G. O'Shea" <oifa@irishfield.on.ca>
To: <rebel-builders@dcsol.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 02, 2012 8:15 PM
Subject: Re: [rebel-builders] Building a leak free fuel tank.. Rebel, Elite,
SR, Moose.. breed doesn't matter.

Hoping everyone is still working hard..... the silence is deafening! ;O)

For those that didn't understand the "clip" terminology, to hold the
outboard tank rib in place, so you can seal the stringers and let them
cure
before placing the top tank skin... here's some pictures.

http://www.irishfield.on.ca/gallery/tankclip1.jpg

http://www.irishfield.on.ca/gallery/tankclip2.jpg

http://www.irishfield.on.ca/gallery/tankclip3.jpg

Wayne

----- Original Message -----
From: "Wayne G. O'Shea" <oifa@irishfield.on.ca>
To: <rebel-builders@dcsol.com>
Sent: Saturday, January 14, 2012 8:41 PM
Subject: Re: [rebel-builders] Building a leak free fuel tank.. Rebel,
Elite,
SR, Moose.. breed doesn't matter.

In addition to the previous tips...

The MOST important tip that I forgot about... from the time you start
prepping/scotchbriting, 'till the time you finish having everything done
and
sealed up.... do not let an "kids" into your shop. I find the worst are
over
the age of 70 !!! They need to touch and feel everything... and that oil
from hands is all it takes to make the sealer not adhere.

If you're not going to get right to sealing after prepping... be sure to
cover everything up to keep hands off it as well as dust/dirt.

Don't scratch your nose while working with Proseal !

ALWAYS have your air hose over your shoulder on it's way to the riveter.
It
keeps it from dragging thru Proseal and snagging on stuff you don't want
it
to.

ALWAYS have your tools handy to rip your riveter apart when it hickups on
you. If you have the tools ready it will work right thru the day.... if
not
it will jam.

Have a back up plan when your compressor launches on you half way thru
the
day... like happened to me today!

Wayne

PS.... I made a grown man cry last night after midnight! Sorry for the
restless night of tossing and turning Ted... I shouldn't have shown you
those pictures of how LITTLE Proseal I use to build a pair of Moose
tanks!
!! LMAO !!

----- Original Message -----
From: "Wayne G. O'Shea" <oifa@irishfield.on.ca>
To: <rebel-builders@dcsol.com>
Sent: Friday, January 13, 2012 6:15 PM
Subject: Re: [rebel-builders] Building a leak free fuel tank.. Rebel,
Elite,
SR, Moose.. breed doesn't matter.

Well there was a whopping amount of response to all those key strokes...
so
I can only assume you're all out there busily scrubbing aluminum with
Scotchbrite!! Missed a spot.. lol

More tips & tricks from today...

Where cheap clothes... coveralls or a work/lab coat that you dont' care
about, that has pockets for clecos.

Put on a pair of latex gloves.

Now put on another pair of latex gloves!

Measuring proseal/prc/sealpack/what have you is not a guessing game...
no
scooping some of this and a bit of that..... buy a digital scale.

Mix EXACTLY 10 to 1. It's simple. Throw a scrap piece of .025 about 4" x
6"
on the scale and hit Tare to zero. Coax, for example, 90 grams of the
white
gooey stuff out onto the aluminum and then put the lid back on the can.
Open
the catalyst and stir it up GOOD with a popcycle stick. Carefully add
EXACTLY 9 grams of it to the top of the white heap. Clean the stick on
the
side of the jar to get everything back in there and recap it. Then get
your
1" wide putty knife out and mix.. and mix.. and mix somemore 'till it is
absolutely consistant looking with no white streaks.

Spar to rib areas you can use your putty knife to lay down a strip of
sealer
about 1/16th inch deep. Everywhere else I use popcycle sticks for their
filleting abilty and easy of use. Tongue depressors broken in half down
the
middle have places to be used as well giving you one rounded side and
one
sharp corner.

Pre-plan what you are going to accomplish... lay all the parts out in
the
order they are going to go together. Give thought to what rivets you
need
and have them out in open containers to easily pick up one at at time.

For an example of the amount of material to use... I mixed 90 + 9
Proseal
to
start the day, along with 1 teaspoon + 1/2 catalyst of Epoxy cromate
that
I
mixed first so it could flash before I got going.

The epoxy was for the trailing edge, rib flange to spar, of the wing
ribs.
Between seams and to dip rivets to insert and pull.

The 90 grams of Proseal I mixed installed the outboard tank rib and the
two
center ribs... along with all three rear bulkheads except for the flange
of
the last one that mates to the root rib. This was enough material to
seal,
rivet and then smear a layer overtop to make sure the flange was sealed
tight... as where all the rivet heads. No need to use "tank" rivets
while
putting the ribs and such in...as you can seal overtop of them all. Be
sure
to rivet with manufactures heads on the INSIDE of the tank where ever
possible. Just makes life that much easier.

Now by the time I got this 90 grams used up and the three ribs and 2.5
bulkheads in place I was running out of workable time on this stuff and
I
was also out, but it was already tacking where I'd been...... so I'd
suggest
batches of about 60 grams when doing the tedious parts so you're not
throwing unworkable stuff out.

I then mixed another 60 + 6 to do the root rib, the last bulkhead rivet
flange and the fuel fittings and stringer fillers on the root rib. It
wasn't
enough.. I ran out with 2 fillers and the vent fitting to install. Mixed
another 60+ 6.... installed the last 3 items, smeared the tank side and
outside faces of them... and then built dams in a few corners on the
rear
bulkheads for future lid seal down with the remainder.

Total time to get one 3 bay tanks ribs/bulkheads and all root fittings
and
fillers in place... about 5.5 hours Even I was optimistic when starting
this
morning that I was gonna get both done... and I've done this many many
times. Guess I should have looked at my past work logs! Tomorrow...
tackle
tank #2 and then I can let it cure a few days and start on the top and
bottom skins. I'll take some pictures when I get to the "little clip"
stage
of that to positon the outboard tank rib so I can Proseal the stringer
fillers and spar fillers in place without the rib moving out of positon.

Wayne


----- Original Message -----
From: "Wayne G. O'Shea" <oifa@irishfield.on.ca>
To: <ted@vafm.org>
Cc: "Murphy Rebel Builders List" <rebel-builders@dcsol.com>
Sent: Wednesday, January 11, 2012 7:45 PM
Subject: Re: [rebel-builders] Building a leak free fuel tank.. Rebel,
Elite,
SR, Moose.. breed doesn't matter.




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