Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Fuel Tank Continues








Yesterday, had a problem. Installed the fuel tank in the fuselage and then attempted to fit the filler neck. It was TOO long. After calling some of my fellow RV-12 builders and talking to Gus at Van's, it appears my fuel neck is about 1/4" longer than the others have received. Also, noticed the flange on the filler neck was perfectly flat. Others have received a fuel neck where the flange was pre-bent to the compound curve on the turtle deck skin. The joy of receiving one of the first finishing kits. Solving this issue took the most part of the day.

Today, shortened the filler neck a bit and then formed the flange on the filler neck to the turtle deck skin with a set of seaming pliers/visegrips. Ended up with a good fit, less than 1/32" all the way around.

Drilled the fuel neck flange to the turtle deck. I inserted the fuel cap to ensure I had alignment. Then, marked the flange on the top of the fuel tank. Match drilled the flange to the top and marked it with alignment marks before disassemling and deburring. Ensure you clean the fuel cap of all of the shavings.

Used a Unit-bit to drill a large hole in the center of the tank top flange, then tried a set of snips which cut a really rough cut. Cut a nice circle using a sanding drum in the Dremel. Looks pretty good!!

Fabricated the clips for the fuel return line using some scrap. Did not find a piece of Al in the parts list.

Time Today - 6 hours