August 13, 2009: P. 29-02 Upper Firewall Assembly

P. 29-02 started and almost complete. You know, one of the challenges with the 12 is that the plans are so well written and complete, that when something is forgotten (in the plans) or assumed by Van's, it puts builders into a tailspin. For example, on 29-02, step 7 instructs builders to "dimple then rivet nutplates" to the antenna shelf. It doesn't tell you to MCS the shelf or dimple it. Also, it might make sense to delay riveting the shelf to the firewall until after p. 29-03, step 7 where you are supposed to smear firewall sealant around the perimeter of the firewall parts.

Everything went well with this page, with some headscratching on the 26" hinge (step 2). The drawings indicate that both ends of the hinge will end in eyelets. Not so. You've either got to have an eyelet on the inboard end or outboard end. I choose the outboard end. Another small challenge that I did not see until after installation is the ends of the upper fwd fuse doubler sticking out (pardon the technical terms). Had I anticipated this I would have pre-bent the ends. However, in my defense, I thought Vans had a reason for not alerting you to this. I primed the cowl hinges with 7220 and installed. Tomorrow I will complete this page by finishing steps 7, 8 and 9.