Today during three hours I made some more small works on the fule tanks. First I had to drill the nut on the fitting for the right tank fuel pick-up. This nut needs to be safety-wired so it has to be drilled first for the wire.



Then I drilled the rivet holes for the purge valves, the holes on the flanges are already countersunk.



Then I drilled the fuel cap holders, the holes on the skin get drilled and those on the fuel cap holder get countersunk. I choose to install the so-called "Deluxe" caps they look better and are lockable.



Then I installed the left fuel guage on the tank baffle. As the baffle is not as thick as the inspection hole cover supposed to hold the fuel sender, I used the cover to fabricate a reinforcing ring I'll mount inside the tank. The picture is taken on the inside of the baffle, I still havt or rivet the nutplates.



All the parts that will get Pro Seal during final assembly get sanded.



And to finis some plumbing work with the fabrication of the vent line and the fuel return line.

Some more small works prepping the tank. I riveted the nutplates for the inspection cover, drilled the vent line and return line fitting holes (the return line is there just in case it might be needed. I also begun assembling the fule gauges. Tomorrow, I'll install the tank caps, the drains and the left fuel gauge.

Today was a big day, first with Sabine we dimpled both fuel tank skins.The skins have also been scuffed at the place where the sealant will have to stick.



Then I fabricated some small parts, beginning with the inspection cover. The right and left cover are different because the left tank is equipped with a flop tube and so the fuel gauge has to be placed in the second bay. On the picture, the cover plate with the holes (to screw on the fuel gauge) is for the right tank and the plain cover for the left one.




The opposite end rib has a tooling hole that has to be closed. Van's suggests to use a big rivet, I have the rivet but not the tools so I did as others did before me : fabricate a small cover plate that will be sealed and riveted over the hole. That's how to make four holes to close one!!!!!



To finish, I made two small holding clips that will hold the vent lines in each tank.

Today, the left fuel tank got drilled : same steps as for the right one. During this time, Sabine deburred all the right fuel tank parts.

After some frightening moments yesterday, due to a miscalibrated levelling tool, I verified that my sekeletons are square and straight so as to be able to rivet the leading edges and the skins, and bolt on the fuel tanks.