Oshkosh is looming on the horizon, we’re headed out in a few days with Mr. and Mrs. Captain John. I wanted to get the right tank closed out, so John and I took a Saturday to seal and rivet the baffle and Z-brackets. This one went smoothly as well, but took us a couple of hours longer because we didn’t have the services of master prosealer Antony Parchment. As before, we used a 60cc syringe with the tip cut to provide the 5/16″ diameter sealant bead recommended by Van’s.

Happy to be almost done, I’m applying proseal with the syringe.

Almost as happy to be almost done – or maybe it’s because he know’s we’re headed for margaritas – John inspects my work with the obligatory magnifying glass.

The only real problem we encountered was setting the solid rivets that attach the inboard and outboard Z-brackets. We were on the verge of using blind rivets after a couple of the solids took a couple of tries to get right. It worked out in the end, but I definitely need to work on my bucking/shooting technique for #30 solids.

The next day, I buttered up the access plate (this one with a fixed pickup) and sealed/screwed it in place. With that, the tanks are done – except for leak checks. I’m keeping my fingers crossed…