Started Fuel Tanks

I officially started the fuel tanks this past weekend and then became very busy this week, resulting in a delayed post. I plan on keeping track of the hours I work on the tanks specifically. I want to do this because I've seen people log over 100hrs on these things and I want to know how that happens. I'm sure it will add up pretty quick.

This past weekend I made all the little stiffeners that go in the tanks. Clecoed together a majority of the parts and then drilled them out. As I was unwrapping the protective blue plastic from T-1005-L Tank Attach Bracket I noticed a 0.25" crack in a hole that is in the bend radius. Not good. So I called Vans and they will be sending me a new one. I will definitely be deburring these holes very well as there are probably a lot of small barely detectable cracks along the edge. It's a really poor placement of a hole along a bend radius unless you drill after bending. I also installed the fuel caps, which was easy. I used a little bit of double sided sticky tape to ensure they didn't move while drilling the first two holes. It worked out well. I hope to get back at it this weekend. I also have two quarts of Proseal coming from Vans.

Date Time
17 2.0 started fuel tanks, cutting stiffeners, clecoing parts
18 4.5 fuel tank work, clecoed ribs, drilled out parts, clecoed fuel cap