Firewall

The firewall is done except for the recess (easier to mount the rudder and brake pedals without it). I back-riveted most of the rivets, except the ones on the flange of the 601J angles. Since I couldn't reach those with the backrivet piece, I used my small tungsten bucking bar and mushroom set on the gun to do it. The rivets are not as nicely done as the others, but it is acceptable.

Started riveting the stiffeners to the firewall. Did as much as I could with the squeezer. Tomorrow time for back-riveting.

Countersunk all the stiffeners, and gussets. Scoffed the parts with scotchbrite, cleaned them with MEK and primed them with SEM self-etching primer (I bought some rattlecans in the local auto store). Very nice stuff which gives a really smooth finishing.

Tomorrow have to make sure that I don't squeeze the rivets around the recess yet as it will be easier to work on the brake pedals without the panel. I might also want to go with a flat panel as I don't need the recessed panel for the H6. Might be a nice spot to mount the water heater.

Deburred all the gussets, spacers, stiffeners and the firewall. Dimpled the firewall with the C-frame.

I spent most of the day on my guest bathroom remodeling project, so not too long in the shop tonight. I did match-drill all the firewall holes and clamped and drilled the 601J L and R brackets on the firewall. I used a small c-clamp to keep the assembly stable for drilling, including a small deburring wheel on the forward side of 601A-2. This worked out great! I used a #40 drill bit (tried and tested) to keep the specified 3/32 inch distance from the bottom stiffener.

Also started to de-burr bits and pieces in preparation for priming.

Using my new bandsaw I cut the 601J angle to size. Like cutting through butter! I think I made the right decision to buy this thing as there are many parts to be manufactured on the fuse.

I also cut the 601P spacers and match-drilled them to the 601D stiffeners.

Again using the bandsaw I cut the 601E stiffener to size, clamped it to the firewall and match-drilled the rivet holes.

Last but not least I did some match-drilling of stiffeners with a #40 bit. Tomorrow I'll do the rest.

Edge deburred some of the pieces on the firewall and clecod it together (again), this time with the new stiffener that Vans send me.

The firewall stiffener came in the mail today. As soon as I'm done with the wings, I'll go back to the firewall.

Officially started work on the fuselage today beginning with cleco'ing the firewall together. Unfortunately I found out that stiffener F-601N-R was drilled wrong and doesn't fit. I made some pics that I will send to Van's that show clearly that all the predrilled holes are somewhat shifted.

Here is a picture of the whole firewall. This is fun!