Joe Ruscito's Kitfox S7 Build

[PapuaPilot]

I’m working on the floor boards now. Can someone tell me what this cut out is for? In the upper left. It doesn’t seem to be for the weldment unless it needs some major sanding. Does something pass through here later?

And lastly, I seem to have gotten a rod end absolutely stuck on the aileron rod. It was a bit sticky going on due to some extra powder coat on the end of the threads but nothing extreme, got about half way on and stopped, now it is not budging. Any suggestions? Already put it in the vice with no luck, I’m concerned I’m going to twist off the thread.

I think the hole in the floor board is a possible place for electrical cables to pass through.

As far as the rod end:
- Try letting it soak in lubricant for 12-24 hours and see if it can spin off.
- If it is stuck because of powder coat you may need to heat it up locally with a heat gun/torch so that the PC melts temporarily. Be careful so you don't ruin the PC on the pushrod.

[JoeRuscito]

The sides of my center council seem to be a little high. Should they be cut down?

[Esser]

I trimmed mine down with a large bench belt sander.

[jrevens]

...
I’m working on the floor boards now. Can someone tell me what this cut out is for? In the upper left. It doesn’t seem to be for the weldment unless it needs some major sanding. Does something pass through here later? ...

I think it is probably just notched to allow the panel to fit properly and clear the square tubing that is the bottom of the door opening. Mine has the same cut-out. It may be a little larger than it has to be.

[aviator79]

-To free the rod end, try a 50/50 mix of automatic transmission fluid and acetone. Soak several hours or overnight. I learned this from British motorcycle gurus for unsticking old bolts. In your case, acetone softens powder coat, so I would think it will work well. Keep it off the powder coat you want to keep though!

The floorboard notch is jut to clear that square tube.

-My console sides were high and required trimming.

[colospace]

Joe, you have probably already figured this out , but go the the local hardware store for a variety of the approriate sized plain nuts to use for the put together , then take apart assemblies and save your good stopnuts for final assembly. Just flag them with some masking tape so you remember to reinstall the stop nuts when you are satisfied with the assembly. I can see you are becoming a homebuilder already as your ingenuity is starting to show. You will need this throughout the build process. Wait till you tackle the rudder torque tube assembly , it gave me fits, but make sure you get it to work nice and smooth with no drag , or you will regret it later( See note from Jon above). Bruce N199CL

I used hardware store hex nuts for a lot of temporary installations. I painted them with red fingernail polish to make them stand out as non-flight.

[JoeRuscito]

Thanks for all the help guys! So nice to come back and have all my questions answered! The red nail polish is a good idea. And I’ll give the acetone a try!

Here’s my next one. On to the rudder pedals. They required A LOT of sanding to get smooth. Am I supposed to add back any type of corrosion protection before riveting the assembly together?

[Frontier Fox]

To trim the side panels I used a utility knife and straight edge. Just marked where it needed to be cut, set the straight edge on and scribe it a half dozen times. Then set the scribed line on the edge of your bench and snap it off. Finish it off with a file. Easy Peasy.

[Esser]

Thanks for all the help guys! So nice to come back and have all my questions answered! The red nail polish is a good idea. And I’ll give the acetone a try...

Copious amounts of grease.

[JoeRuscito]

Do the center council rivets need to be countersunk? It looks like the ones supplied in my kit under the part number called out in the manual are not countersunk. I assume the upholstery later will be able to accomadate the head of a standard rivet correct?