The dreaded fuel tank, a pleasant surprise

[kevinh]

Hi ya'll,

So I had been dreading seeing how my fuel tank / filler neck / upper firewall fit together. After reading so many horror stories about getting the tank to fit. OMG - I must have lucked out and got an especially nicely molded tank. It isn't strapped in yet, but the test fit looked really good. With nice clearance for the cap etc... It really helped to have all of your tips about mounting the glareshield as high as possible.

Related question: How long did ya'll wait before riveting in the firewall and glareshield? I'm generally a fan of keeping keeping access open as long as possible but as I move onto the windscreen and putting on the gear it seems like I can't wait much longer...

[MichaelFarley56]

The fit of your tank looks great! I must have lucked out as well; mine fit just fine back in the day with no issues.

As for the firewall and glareshield...this is just my two cents so take it for what it's worth, but when you need to rivet the firewall go for it, but I'd hold off on the glareshield as long as possible. Having access behind the panel as you wire things up will really be helpful. If I were to do things over, the last two panels I would install would be that bottom tailcone skin and the glareshield (obviously waiting on the windshield as well in that case). Well, now that I think about it, having the fuel tank in place to fabricate the fuel lines will be necessary, so I guess I'll adjust my statement to say that I wouldn't install my glareshield permantely until the panel was just about done and wired up.

Again, just my two cents! If you'd rather lay on your back in the seat and work on things upside down, that's your choice!! :)

[kevinh]

Thanks Mike - that helps a lot! -Kevin

[dirkverdonck]

Hi,
First I added nutplates to install the glareshield and made the panel removable so I will be able to access wiring and instruments without removing rivets!
I temporarily installed the fuel tank to do the plumbing work, removed it to do the wiring and installed it all again afterwards. Also, a plexiglass firewall was installed at that time to allow to gestimate the best location for the firewall penetrations and the installation of all the stuff on the 'hot side' of the firewall.
All that took a little time but the end result is a firewall which does not look like Swiss cheese and everything is in the right place. Do it once correctly and you'll be happy for the time spent afterwareds.

[Bryan Cotton]

Dirk,
Cool idea!
Kevin,
My glareshield and filler neck are not riveted yet. I see no rush to do so!