Quote Originally Posted by rv9ralph View Post
You definitely went the full measure to alodine the parts. One method of soaking the parts is to fabricate a trough by laying 2 pieces of lumber (your choice) a few inches apart blocking the ends with a couple more blocks of wood, then covering with plastic to create a trough, then fill with the chemicals. Another method is to spray the Alodine onto the material, keeping it wet until it has done its work, then rinsing. To dry, blow off with compressed air.

To prep the material, you can clean with alumaprep, scrubbing by hand with scotch brite. Instead of using an orbital sander, get a pneumatic angle grinder with a 3" rolo disc mandrel. Use rolo disc scotch write pads to do the work.

Ralph
Another good option is an appropriate length of PVC pipe with a cap glued on one end. Insert parts and Alodine, cap the open end, hold a rag over the cap to catch dribbles, and commence sloshing.
I did consider making a trough and also the PVC pipe idea (which I plan to use for my spars). It occurred to me that I know about the PVC trick but I'm not positive there is no chemical reaction issues with the PVC, and I should probably make some tests, certainly before I dip my spars.

Door angle day
I've been needing to set aside a few hours to bond and rivet my door angles and side stringers. I started the other day but got hung up on making sure the side stringer prep was complete.

This afternoon I finally took the plunge. I prepped surfaces with an alcohol wipe down, Cleco'd all the parts in place and clamped where necessary (mostly the piece along the bottom edge of the door). I went through both the series 5 and 7 manuals to get my rivets ready. My Milwaukee rivet gun worked perfectly.

I mixed up 120 grams of Hysol and got to work. Having both sides assembled and clamped for best orientation was very helpful in the heat of putting gooey parts together. I could refer to the other side and know right were to put it all back together. Saved me more than once. I loaded up one of my fat syringes and reloaded it when I switched to the other side of the plane.

I learned right away on the overlapping parts that once the Hysol squeezed through the hole it was a challenge getting the Cleco back in, but it all came together.
For the corner where forward end of the side stringer tucks behind the door angles I started with the stringers Cleco'd only at the 2nd hole from the front, with the aft end supported part way out the horizontal stab braces. That way they put no outward load on the door angles, making part alignment easier.

Once both sides were glued and re-Cleco'd I retured with the rivets. I pulled each Cleco, wiped it with an alcohol rag and dropped it in a cup of acetone, then "shot" the rivets one at a time. One rivet on the right side didn't draw the parts together very well, so I scrambled to drill that one out and do it over.

I didn't know if I would have enough time and/or Hysol to get to the side stringers but I did. They went pretty quickly as it turned out.

When all the rivets were in place I cleaned up the squeeze out, then came back with the rest of the syringe and filled in some of the gaps. I had to set up a few heat sources in my cold garage to make sure I was at least in the 70 F range, then I cleaned up my Clecos.
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The rope was used to pull the two stringers together once I riveted them along the sides of the fuselage. The preload they put on the door angles pushes a gap I didn't want to fill later. I'm quite sure it will be rock solid once the Hysol kicks off.
The short pieces of pool noodle visible at the back corner of the side windows pushes the lower angles outward, leaving the gap I'll need for those side windows.

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I'm keeping it semi warm in my garage so the Hysol cures as needed. Tomorrow I should have time to spread some Superfil, and possibly get the bottom stringer in place.