Today I leak-tested the left wing fuel tank, and with a passing result, I then reinstalled the tank onto the wing.
I seem to have misplaced my two fuel strainer fittings, so I have ordered two new from Vans. Unfortunately they are on back-order, so I have no idea when they will arrive. Without those fittings I had to resort to filling those holes with something with something else. At first I tried duct tape, but then switched to a latex plug that I have from my powder-coating equipment. It slowly leaked, but that was ok since I was using soap and water to test for leaks, and maintaining pressure wasn’t needed. I just gauged the air pressure by watching the bubbles form around the latex plug. It worked out well, and I didn’t find any leaks anywhere on the tank.
With that done, I wasn’t sure how hard it would be to reinstall the tank onto the wing. I rigged up a strap to help give some support, and I was surprised at how easily it went back into position. I was able to get bolts through the spar and into the outermost and innermost z-brackets with relative ease, then I torqued them up and the tank was in position. From there I located and installed the remaining bolts, final torqued them all to 25 inch pounds (plus 10 for thread friction), and applied thread seal. I left off the lower bolts from each position to allow me to install adel clamps once the wiring runs are complete.
