Today I attached and safety wired the trim tab to the left elevator, trimmed and applied silicone to one of the trim tab molex connectors, and fitted the counterweights.
The trim tab fits perfectly, and the hinge is snug against the rear spar. I safety wired the hinge pin into place. I ended up redoing the safety wire after I took this picture, getting a tighter fit and a few less turns
Next job was to trim the corners off a molex plug, then seal it with silicone. This will be exposed to moisture, so the sealant is important. I bought some electrical-grade silicone sealant to ensure it doesn’t react with the wiring in any way.
Then it was onto the final step in the elevator plans, attaching the counterweights. I drilled out the holes to #12 using my drill press, then deburred the holes. I marked and trimmed the weights using a hacksaw and emery file. This was easier than I anticipated, and I soon had the weights ready to attach.
Starting with the right elevator, I bolted on the weights, then torqued them to 28 inch pounds. I used some thread marker to ensure I can tell if these ever back off. With that, the right elevator is finished!
Installing the left elevator weights was more challenging. After some trial and error, I realized that there is an alignment issue with the holes on the tip ribs. These holes are 0.03 inches too far apart, which is causing the bolts to splay out, and preventing them from being able to attach the inboard weight. I carefully filed the bottom hole to allow the bolt to pass, but ran out of time to secure the weights.