Rear floor installation

[tjhickey]

I will be the first to admit that I don't know what is the right, or even
the best way to install the rear floor, but I will try and and describe what
I have been doing.
After completing the bulkhead assemblies, and the placing and drilling of
the exterior skins, I was very careful to use a plumb bob, and a large
square to keep things as "proper" as possible. I then turned the tail cone
upside down, now resting on the roof, and clecoed the roof to the table top
so as to hold it down and flat. I then riveted the bottom skin, avoiding any
rivets in the outer most holes where the rounded wraps must go.(note: you
need to not rivet the last rivet in the row that is next to the rivet row
that holds the corner wrap on. If you put a rivet there you will not be able
to cleco the bottom skin to the table top and fit the wrap. The wrap is
extra wide, and needs space to slip under the skin. I then turn the tail
cone over, bottom now down, and began fitting the corner wraps. I drew a
line down the center of each wrap lengthwise, and then positioned the wrap
so that the centerline fell at the center of the curve in the bulkhead. At
this point, before drilling any holes in the wrap, I note that one should
have those wooden supports clamped in place on each radius of the bulkhead
being fitted. These wooden jigs hold the bulkheads in alignment. And, I
should note that it is helpful to bend the outer flanges of the bulkheads to
a plus 6 degrees on the bottom and top, and about plus 9 degrees on the
sides. The tail cone is tapered, and bending the flanges a bit will improve
the fit.

After the wrap is positioned with the centerline in a happy place, I started
drilling the bulkhead tab closest to the centerline on one bulkhead, and
then drilling the same tab location on the next one. Then I drilled the
second closest hole in both locations. I then alternated from bulkhead to
bulkhead, from the centerline out. until I got to the skins. Then I drilled
the wraps using the pilot holes in the skins, starting in the middle of the
space between the bulkheads, and alternated until complete.

I trimmed the wrap to within 1/8 inch of final size, and then clamped the
wrap to the table, and used a straight edge and small router with a pilot
bit to trim to final width.

Thanks to Ron Shannon for the tip on using a 1 inch belt sander to sand the
wraps to final length.

I did this to both the top and bottom wraps.

Now..... note that I never noted putting rivets in the top and sides of the
skin. That is because I didn't. Now as I am working on the bottom channels I
can un-cleco the right side, take off the top corner wraps, and have very
good access to working on those channels and clips. I have the bottom of the
skin clecoed to the table, and I use some bags of lead shot to hold the skin
tight to the table top.

When doing this you need to have the bottom wraps in place, because they
hold the bulkheads in alignment fore and aft.

Also, right or wrong, I took some duck billed pliers and straightened that
little 1/8" 45* flanges on the bottom skin so that the channel could push
right up against the 90* bend in the lower skin. Leaving that short flange
in place made it tough to get the channels all the way to the outside.

Also, I drilled one hole in each end of the channel flange in contact with
the floor, and after the channel was in position, I drilled through the
bottom skin. When complete I will turn the cone over, and draw a straight
line between the holes and drill and rivet the channel.

If the above is un-clear, (English composition is not my strong suit) feel
free to call me. I caution all that I can't guarantee that I have not made
some fatal error in what I have done, but as I look and work on it, it seems
to make sense to me. (using the famous excuse, "Well, it seemed like a good
idea at the time.")

I have completed the center and right side channels, and am now working on
the left side channels. I can see a little trouble coming because the center
clips from the right side now have to do double duty and mate to the center
clips on the left side. This means I may have to do a little work with a
small mirror to get things lined up.

That is my story, and I am sticking to it.



Tim Hickey
2658 300th St
Montrose, Iowa 52639
319 463-7047
319 795-2684





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