LocostUSA.com

Update.

Run87k, there is a decent gap that even a helmet would not affect the intake. I took a selfie and checked while sitting in it.... the only selfie Ive ever taken, and for functional purposes only....

Otherwise, thanks for the comments guys, Im going to move forward with it accept its aesthetic mismatch with the rest of the car.

Monday I paid a visit to the chemical company that sells the acid I need to properly clean aluminum prior to painting. Apparently, they've never sold it in its metal cleaning form, so they're making it form me, should be done next week. That puts the side pod supports on the back burner till next week. I was hoping to have them primed today.

Instead, kept plugging away on the air intake and headlight lens forms. Tuesday was a write off with weather and my wife and baby home. The wood portion is done now. I like this method of sanding the MDF as much as possible before getting into more costly materials, urethane foam, filler and surfacing primer. Its just a huge mess in the shop with all the sanding... I use my backpack leaf blower to dust the place out afterwords. The lens forms need to be extended beyond there trim line so that distortion is minimized in the part. A support was made to allow this. Ive run out of construction adhesive, so another stall. the lenses will be bonded in, and the seams filled with polyester filler and a surfaced much like the rest of the plugs I've made.

Here's some pics.

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build log http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2142

Looks GREAT ! Good job.

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American 7 5.0 T5
Lotus 15 ish?
914/H6

B85, Thank you.. I still have to look up FIA inlet size.

Another few snow days here hampering progress, which means I usually end up cleaning up our driveway, and neighbors and driving Wifey to work. I did manage to get the upper side pod supports primed.

My acid cleaner finally arrived Monday. Its a blend of phosphoric acid, oxalic acid, and surfactants. I clean the parts with a scotch-brite pad and rub the solution in. It foams up and you can clearly see the aluminum brightening up. Parts are then wiped, rinsed with water, air dried, and final wiped with iso-propyl alcohol. I spray in two batches not wanting to mismatch near identical parts in some places. I have a method of leaving some holes in pilot size, radius'ing a corner differently to identify them, so they can only be installed one way. If you try and make everything the same, first you wont, and it will be confusing on how thing fit together because there so close in hole spacing etc. You'll note the pin punch's and drill bit used in propping up the parts when painting,. Ive tried every method, hanging, laying flat and painting one side at a time, and this one which I like best. The drills/punches fit snug in the holes and it become easy to hold the part while spraying. I need anchor nuts before I can install these, so I will place those on order shortly.

The headlight lens forms were glued up to its fixture, and filler applied. Ill need more resin and gel-coat before I can go much farther with this.

Here's some pics

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build log http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2142

Some small and time consuming progress to report.

Did as much side pod bracket assembly as I could without the the anchor nuts I need. I put and order at aircraft spruce on Tuesday, so I should have them next week. Overall Im happy with the fit up and the install should be straight forward. Ill be bonding the assemblies to the steel parts with polysulfide like everything else on thats steel to aluminum.

onto my next small project is the fuel filler door. I pondered ordering some piano hinge with the anchor nuts but decided to make my own hinge. I quite a bit of time was spent designing it on my cad program to eliminate trial and error. Overall I like it, I'll need to get a wing-nut Dzus fastener to keep it secured. Simple, yet time consuming to make.

Just a fab tip if your using carbide burrs for material removal, use some boelube of other cutting lube, it seems to keep the burr fairly clean and from gumming up with the softer aluminum alloys. Otherwise, I made some carbon sheet quite some time back which never really amounted to anything. I found a use for it on the fuel door. Carbon doesn't make sense to me on this type of project, its mainly a "for looks" thing to me. I see it appropriate here.

Heres some pics.

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build log http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2142

Air, could you make this just a little more complicated ?

Great work !

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American 7 5.0 T5
Lotus 15 ish?
914/H6

Thanks B85. If it was easy, I'd be done by now, for me that's half the fun.

Nut plate and some other hardware arrived on Friday, I wasn't expecting such quick shipping from aircraft spruce Canada. Props to them and their great service.

Started out my day with some clean up in the shop. I like to have a clean work bench when starting the next phase of a project. I dug out my sealant kits. Unfortunately one was way past its shelf life and rock hard. The other was still past shelf but useable. This stuff has a tar like consistency and my shop was cold so that didn't help. If you've never used aircraft fuel tank sealant, an easy way to mix it out of the cartridge is with a drill shank in a cordless drill. Makes quick work. I dont have a dispensing gun and my roller I used was never replaced so i spatula'd it on and it looks like it too I may pursue a dispensing gun, there unique to this type of system and pricey, but id like to make my sealant work prettier. Cheap masking tape does not help either.

Solid rivets were used as mush as possible, however for blind applications I use Cherry MS and Max types.

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build log http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2142

That is a rivet gun no wonder your work looks so nice.

airframe, is that sealant two part SAE AMS 8802?

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The B-3 build log: http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=13941 unfortunately, all the pictures were lost in the massive server crash

The beginnings of the Jag Special,
https://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19012
Again, all pictures were lost.

When I was sealing my Locost's fuel tank I used tank sealant from Aircraft Spruce which came in the same type of tube. I was able to use a standard caulking gun from the hardware store by using a zip-tie to secure the tube in the gun.

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-Andrew
Build Log
Youtube

Yes it is, Type B.. aircraft spruce will sell it as Chemseal, Flamaster or National Sealants CS3204.



I tried mine, but the plungers diameter was too large. A semco gun is on my ebay list now.



Thanks, I used to have a few more. I kept the G704B and GBP730 as they are by far the most versatile. A G83 could replace both of them.

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build log http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2142

Thought it looked familiar. We use gallons of that stuff to seal structures I design for my day gig. It's quite robust.

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The B-3 build log: http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=13941 unfortunately, all the pictures were lost in the massive server crash

The beginnings of the Jag Special,
https://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=19012
Again, all pictures were lost.

When you do solid rivets, how do you back them up? Do you have someone helping and holding the buck (I think that's what it's called) while you rivet?

You obviously know quite a bit about riveting. Any suggestions about where to seek out a good used gun for blind rivets of the Cherry type or similar?

Thanks,

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Damn! That front slip angle is way too large and the Ackerman is just a muddle.

Build Log: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=5886

Thanks, I worked in aircraft structural repair prior to my current career. . The back side of the rivet is "bucked" with a steel bar called a bucking bar. The rivet gun (think small jack hammer) sends impacts through the rivet and the bucking bar bounces of the back side of the rivet and thus compressing it. It swells in the hole and then forms a "shop head" on the back side clamping the two sheets together. If you have easy access to both sides, one person can easily install solid rivets. Two people are required when lets say riveting a repair doubler on a fuselage, one guy inside with the bar and the other outside with the gun. You can learn to work together without talking and know when to rivet more or less. Only really one way to learn it.

Otherwise, the other way to install them is with a squeezer, I posted some pics a while back of my squeezers Ive had. I only kept the small A squeeze and a manual C-squeeze. The limitation with these is the depth and the shape of the Jaw. The smaller the Jaws the bigger you can squeeze.

As for blind pullers, any inexpensive pneumatic riveter will install cherry MS and Max rivets. They worked fine and every shop I worked in had a cheap one in the crib. Once you get into the GBP, Huck, Cherry, Allfast tools, the versatility (and the price) goes way up!! the benefit is that the purpose built tools have the correct stroke and force to set rivets in all head styles, grips and materials. The ones for commercial rivets Pop, Marson, Avdel are designed for a wider grip range and less pulling force and do not have nearly the available pulling heads for restricted installations.

Personally, I would not pursue this type of tooling, its $$$ and if you buy used, you may need to rebuild it. The o rings are urethane and hard to find, hard parts, (pistons and shift valves) are in the hundreds and Jaws and saddles tend to be expensive too.. Never mind you may need to fabricate some special tools for dis-assembly. I rebuilt 4 G784's and had a set of custom wrenches made to expose the shift valve/piston that was $200 just for the wrenches. I rebuilt these tools previously for aerospace contractors after my stint in structures work. If you do end up sourcing an aerospace tool, just remember the grooved jaws in the pulling heads will not grip a smooth stem "pop" rivet. you'll need a special head for standard pop rivets. I paid 285.00 USD for mine, just the pulling head. I only have these tools because I used them to earn an income, they're are definitely not necessary for locost building.

Anyways if you serious about aerospace tooling send me a PM and ill steer you in the right direction and let you know whats compatible.

Andrew

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build log http://locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2142

Andrew, when you have the time, could you do an expose on the different rivets and the various ways to insert them also your recommendations for various applications and equipment available.

i'm sure this would be a usefull guide and appreciated by us all.

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this story shall the good man teach his son,
and chrispin chrispian shall ne'er go by,
from this day to the end of the world.
but we in it shall be remembered.

I would second that. Perhaps in a topic-specific thread in the fab section would be a good place to put it?

For myself, I know the only riveting I will be doing near-term will be the pop-style, blind rivets on my current build. However, I have two possible future projects in mind that would both involve monocoque structures as the primary feature with tube or RHS for sub-structures in specific areas. It would be great to expand my understanding of what can be done with rivets. For example, I didn't realize solid rivets were a realistic option for a 1-man operation and I'm not aware of the tools available to set them either.

Cheers,

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Damn! That front slip angle is way too large and the Ackerman is just a muddle.

Build Log: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=5886