Rudder Pivot Bolts

[jiott]

How do I tighten to the proper torque, or even tighten them at all, thru the small cutouts specified in the manual? I have the speedster tail on my SS7. I have just spent 3 hours getting the pivot bolts in and the nuts started a few turns.

Is there some neat trick, or maybe a special tool, or am I stuck enlarging the cutouts by quite a bit in order to get a small wrench in and able to make 1/8 turn? The cutouts will be ugly. Is there a good way to cover them up?

Jim

[kmach]

Its been awhile since I tightened those nuts, if my memory serves me well I needed open end wrenches with a 45 degree angle on the head to make things work. I know after purchasing some different wrenches the task was not that difficult, at first I thought it would be impossible with the standard wrenches I was trying to use. hope this helps

[HighWing]

Is there some neat trick, or maybe a special tool, or am I stuck enlarging the cutouts by quite a bit in order to get a small wrench in and able to make 1/8 turn? The cutouts will be ugly. Is there a good way to cover them up?

Jim

Jim,
My take on the cover up part is - after paint probably not. I made cover plates for my home brew gap closure on my Model IV, but it involved bonding a joggle behind the fiberglass to support the plate and threaded inserts bonded inside to secure the plates. Wrenches - I have made/modified several wrenches to do such things as tighten the nut behind the throttle, hold the fitting on the heater core to tighten the hose fittings and find the bolt heads under the spinner bulkhead, etc. It does help to have a welder.
Lowell

[jiott]

Thanks for the help.
I drastically modified a couple of open end wrenches by grinding notches into the handle so I could get a little more swing on them. Then by working two wrenches at a time (top & bottom) I was able to get 1/16 turn at a time. After about an hour per bolt I finally got them tightened. No way I could use a torque wrench, so I just got a hand feel for the proper torque on a practice bolt and used my calibrated feel on the rudder bolts. Hope that is OK.

Jim

[Esser]

I havent done this yet, but it sounds like a job for a crows foot.

[kmach]

I don't think there is room for a crowfoot, modified or special open end wrenches,( i believe with 45 degree angle head) and patience is what it takes.

[jiott]

Definitely no room for a crows foot.

Jim

[jcloninger]

I wanted to make the cutouts in my fairing as small as is consistent with access to install and tighten the hardware. I found a useful tool for installing the bolts in tight slots. The tool is a medical artery forceps. The one I bought I found on Amazon. It is called a "DDP Hemostat Tuffier Artery Forceps." The url for it is: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0756GWDQD/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. It cost under $10 and does a good job of holding the bolt using the ratcheting action of the forceps while I'm maneuvering it into position. The tool is also strong enough to allow sufficient force to be applied to work the bolt down into its hole. Pictures attached, though I could not figure out how to rotate the one showing the tool in use on the rudder to make it upright.

[darrellpralle]

I used a craftsman ratcheting box end wrench, did the job in 10 min per bolt.

[Renard]

I would hesitate in covering them as I had one break. It appeared the metal on the bolt was crystalized. Lasted about 500 hours. Not supposed to be but possibly a 3rd world knockoff part. At any rate I had to replace the bolt and looking at them has become a definite part of my preflight.