Ok, so while I’m getting better at the whole Proseal thing, I’m not a fan. Also due to some of my dislike of the whole process I really was not in the frame of mind to start the camera. I’ll attempt to better capture my struggle with the next tank, but no promises!
At this point I have basically finished up everything on the first tank with the exception of the rear baffle. I also have a handful of rivets I need to remove and reset as they didn’t go in flat or the shop head didn’t form correctly. Once that is done, I’m going to put the tank into storage for a month or so to allow the proseal to fully cure.
Some notes on this section. The fuel drain does not fully seat into the flange. At first I thought this was due to some proseal in the threads or something else, but no this is normal and don’t force it to thread in too far. (Snug then just a little more!) Installing the fuel vent line was a little bit of a pain and required some fiddling to assist in getting the fuel float installed. The plans give you an example, but does not really reflect reality! Same goes for the fuel float.
For the fuel float, spend time to understand how everything gets assembled before you cut anything. I originally thought I was completely hosed, but I think I did ok. VANS no longer sells replacement wire / floats as the MFG no longer offers replacements (changed in early 2018). The end of the wire is a “L” and goes through the sender and clips into the arm. That should make sense when you look at the sender.
I initially made the 4-1/8 x 4″ bends per the plans, but then had to make some really funky bends to get the wire and float to clear the vent tube / ribs. I tried to get my float and sender to fully bottom out on the bottom of the tank just before full deflection on the sender. I think I’m basically full deflection with the float against the skin, and I’m against the top of the tank before full deflection in the full position. Double checked with a multi-meter to show 240 Ohm empty and 50 Ohms full.
Last items I need to do before I put the tank into storage is proseal the vent fitting and fuel sender and install the fuel supply fitting and fuel return fitting (no proseal). I’ll then cleco the rear baffle in place and put it away.
After the holidays I’ll probably jump back to the Leading edges to fix a few rivets, finish up the Leading Edge lights and plexiglass. Then maybe the top skin on the Left wing depending on weather and my ability to spray primer.
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