Fuel tank cover plate, more brake pedal prep

20 Jun 2006: Two of us, 4 hours each. Tonight we riveted the nutplates and the anti-rotation bracket on to the tank cover plate, and sealed all the rivet holes and seams with Tite Seal, which is what we plan to use for the gasket that goes between the cover and the tank bulkhead. This was recommended to us over Pro Seal as being just as secure against leaks, and much easier to remove if that is ever necessary. It's not ideal for sealing up rivets like we did tonight, because it doesn't set fully like ProSeal does. We decided to give it a try anyway, since we had it handy and didn't have any ProSeal yet. If it fails the leak test, we can always re-do it with ProSeal. (Peek ahead: it passed the leak test).

We also did more prep work on the brake pedals: countersinking for the rivets that will attach the side angles, and deburring the rivet holes and, filing and sanding the larger lightening holes. A certain amount of grinding was also necessary to get everything to fit. We've talked ourselves into anodizing the brake pedals rather than painting them. To match the brake master cylinder assemblies, which mount right next to them, we're going to use a gold-tinted anodize. These will truly be "gold-plated" brake pedals! (I would say in hindsight that this was more expensive that I'd have liked, and unnecessary. Plus, we should have been more careful with the sandpaper, as on close inspection, the roughness from the sanding shows right through the plating.)