Starting on the wings!

I have started on the right wing. I am modifying the spar a bit to extend the gas tank attach plate. I had to drill out the 3/16" rivets 13" past the standard RV-6 attach plate. The new gas tanks with be about 13" longer which should hold about 10 more gallons total or 5 gallons per side. I purchased Harmon Rocket III gas tank skins, baffles and leading edge skins from Harmon. Having the extra gas will be helpful when traveling long distances and give me peace of mind knowing I have an extra hour of gas to get down safely. I thought about using aftermarket aux tanks, but they are expensive, complex to pipe in and hard to mount. It's just easier to make the tank longer. I have to move some leading edge ribs around to fit up next to the tank ribs but it's not that tough. I set up the spar on my drill press and leveled it all up with a machinist level. Once I got things right on I would drill out the rivet with small 1/8" drills working up to #25 drill bit. I then punched the rest of the rivet out taking care not to auger the holes out. I then cut the attach plate and lined it up with the top of the standard attach plate using aluminum angle as a straight edge. I want the top of the wing (what you see all the time) to line up well and the bottom will be where it is. Once the plate was all lined up, I backed drilled through the spar holes. I also added some stiffeners under the plate with some bar stock and some angles on the back side of the spar. This will help with the extra load the gas tank will put on the spar/wing and also stiffen the spar, keeping it from twisting. I etched the plate and then dipped it alodine. I am dipping everything on the wing in alodine to help with corrosion resistance. I painted the plate and then bolted it back down to the spar. Using bolts it a little of an overkilled in this area but it's easier then trying to get set up to drive some 3/16" rivets. The ther reason I am using bolts is so I can remove this plate if ever need be.