Well, its been flying since 2004 and I guess it was overdue for some tank maintenance.
Left tank began leaking a month or so ago. I tried to ignore the very seepy leak.
never a drip on hangar floor. It just evaporated. But definately leaking. I pulled the fairing and looked at the likely suspect, the inspection plate. It was all good, even with the original cork gasket.
coming for the rear tank plate.
So I removed the tank to get to the problem area. I sure was dreading reattaching the tank with the bolts and Z brackets that are difficult to reach.
I was able to see the problem inside the tank from the inspection plate hole. Leak was in the bottom seam in the bay nearest the fuse.
fresh ProSeal and pressure test and its back on the plane, Yesterday.
I was afraid the spar attach bolts were going to be a problem aligning the Z brackets and the spar holes and starting the bolts with the limited access.
The two brackets in the wing inspection holes were a Piece of cake. Others not so much.
Tool To Buy: Harbor Freight stubby 1/4 inch air ratchet with a 3' stinger hose
1 1/2" long 1/4 drive wobble extension
Removes the -3 bolts nicely and works in a place you can't reach with hand tools.
I changed out the bolts for machine studs. Like these
https://www.mcmaster.com/threaded-rods/high-strength-steel-threaded-rods-8/thread-size~10-32/
I used 1/4" longer ones in the center nut plates to index the center hole in the spar and 1' long studs in all the other nutplates.
The tank slid right in place with a little nudging from the leading edge.
The self locking -3 nuts were easy to start and snug up with the air ratchet.
I had good success with this method and thought it might help someone in a similar situation.
Left tank began leaking a month or so ago. I tried to ignore the very seepy leak.
never a drip on hangar floor. It just evaporated. But definately leaking. I pulled the fairing and looked at the likely suspect, the inspection plate. It was all good, even with the original cork gasket.
coming for the rear tank plate.
So I removed the tank to get to the problem area. I sure was dreading reattaching the tank with the bolts and Z brackets that are difficult to reach.
I was able to see the problem inside the tank from the inspection plate hole. Leak was in the bottom seam in the bay nearest the fuse.
fresh ProSeal and pressure test and its back on the plane, Yesterday.
I was afraid the spar attach bolts were going to be a problem aligning the Z brackets and the spar holes and starting the bolts with the limited access.
The two brackets in the wing inspection holes were a Piece of cake. Others not so much.
Tool To Buy: Harbor Freight stubby 1/4 inch air ratchet with a 3' stinger hose
1 1/2" long 1/4 drive wobble extension
Removes the -3 bolts nicely and works in a place you can't reach with hand tools.
I changed out the bolts for machine studs. Like these
https://www.mcmaster.com/threaded-rods/high-strength-steel-threaded-rods-8/thread-size~10-32/
I used 1/4" longer ones in the center nut plates to index the center hole in the spar and 1' long studs in all the other nutplates.
The tank slid right in place with a little nudging from the leading edge.
The self locking -3 nuts were easy to start and snug up with the air ratchet.
I had good success with this method and thought it might help someone in a similar situation.
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