They are in! And man am i tired.
The only puzzler that came up had to do with the thru-bolts. We found that the tapered heads were bottoming out on the hull before drawing the outside mounting plate fast against the hull. A slight countersink of the holes is all that was needed, but ABT's otherwise impeccable instructions said nothing about this and I was worried that we might have the wrong bolts, backing plate, or both. But a quick call to ABT confirmed we had all the right parts and just needed to relieve the holes a bit. They are a great company to deal with! In 10 minutes we were back on track.
The first side took 2.5 hrs, much of which was spent sorting out techniques for applying and containing the 3M 5200 sealant. That stuff will get on anything and everything, and attempts to get it off usually result in it spread over more stuff, not less. But by 2:00 it was in, torqued down, and cleaned up. Just in time for a late lunch.
The second side went faster as you might imagine - probably 1.5 to 2 hrs - but after 4 tubes of 5200 sealant they were in!
The pictures show the gray inter-protect coating from the other day, followed by the awlcraft bringing the work area back to matching the rest of the hull. Next are the actuators in place on both sides, then some outside views. The tape and packing material on the shafts protects them until the fins are ready for installation. In the shot from the bow you can see the shafts on both sides of the hull.
With this, I think all the messy work is done. As long as I don't create a hydraulic leak, it should all be clean work from here on out.
Tomorrow I'll start putting the bulk head back together and mounting the hydraulic components.
The only puzzler that came up had to do with the thru-bolts. We found that the tapered heads were bottoming out on the hull before drawing the outside mounting plate fast against the hull. A slight countersink of the holes is all that was needed, but ABT's otherwise impeccable instructions said nothing about this and I was worried that we might have the wrong bolts, backing plate, or both. But a quick call to ABT confirmed we had all the right parts and just needed to relieve the holes a bit. They are a great company to deal with! In 10 minutes we were back on track.
The first side took 2.5 hrs, much of which was spent sorting out techniques for applying and containing the 3M 5200 sealant. That stuff will get on anything and everything, and attempts to get it off usually result in it spread over more stuff, not less. But by 2:00 it was in, torqued down, and cleaned up. Just in time for a late lunch.
With this, I think all the messy work is done. As long as I don't create a hydraulic leak, it should all be clean work from here on out.
Tomorrow I'll start putting the bulk head back together and mounting the hydraulic components.
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