Finally after all those preparations and small tasks, the body is coming together for a last and final time and it's rivetting time.
First I squeezed the two upper rivets holding the outer seat rib to the F-705 bulkhead on both sides. This would be difficult to do with the skin on. (The outer 2 rivets in the picture above the an3 bolt.
I discovered some weird form in the rivets I set earlier on the firewall gussets and drilled them out to replace them.
The shophead of the rivets had some line on the outer side and I was afraid that this would be a crack on the rivet. As it's very difficult - if not impossible - to replace these once the skin is on, I decided not to take any risks and replace them.
My theory on the origin of these marks is the following: due to the thickness of the primer, I have to use longer rivets then called for on the plans. Due to this, my squeezer can't set them in one go as it's lacking the initial power. The squeezer only can apply it's full and strongest power on the end of the stroke and the rivet is that long that it's not far enough in to squeeze with full power. Therefor I have to turn it back a turn of 2 and set. Then I reapply the 2 turns and set a bit more to final size. It's in this re-settting that the like in the rivet head occured.
Anyway, I replaced them and looking all good now.
Then I squeezed the angle clips to the firewall. As the clip was allready rivetted to the side stiffener, this gave a funny looking picture with those 2 arms up.
Re-assembled the forward fuselage with clecoes and turned her over as this is easier to rivet. You leave the bottom skin off until last.
Hugo came by to give me a hand in rivetting. We started of by shooting and bucking the lower flange on the center bottom skin of both outer seat ribs.
As usual, Hugo was shooting the gun and I was bucking. I am a freak when it comes to rivets and their shop shapes and sizes. I'm probably exagerating again but better safe than sorry.
Then we shot both sides rivets on the F-704.
Lazy shot due ack of light but it gives an impression on the quality of the shop heads. It was two years ago probably since the last time I used a bucking bar and allthough I was very nerveous when we start, things went very smooth and the shopheads turned out very well.
Other side
After Hugo left, I had some energy left and bolted down the lower aux longerons to the steel engine mount brackets. Torqued these AN3s to 25 inch/lbs and sealed them.
They might interfere with rivetting the bottom skin but we'll deal with that when we get to that. Good torque on these was very important for me.
One down, many more rivetting sessions to go.