ceengland(at)bellsouth.ne
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 Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 4:37 pm Post subject: Damaged Screw Heads when Attempting to Remove Fuel Tank |
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I like Harry's idea, but you might need to use a round nose burr in a Dremel tool (do they have them over there?:small grinder) to remove the rest of the Phillips corners 1st. Otherwise, they may snag the bit & break it. Even if you use a normal righthand bit, if you use one the same size as the screw you can carefully drill off the tapered head of the screw without hitting the skin. At that point, you *might* be able to flex the skin up enough to simply slide the tank off over the remains of the screw. The aft-most row of screw holes (at least on my -4) will allow flexing the skin enough to do this.
If it's not corroded into the spar, you can then get a grip with pliers to remove it. It will likely be easy to remove once the torque loading is removed by drilling off the head.
On my -4, which I suspect is very similar to a -6, I had to
1: drain the tank (sorry if this seems obvious, but it will be heavy with fuel in it)
2: remove the fairings
3: disconnect the fuel line, vent line, and fuel gauge leads, (I had to pull the fuel line back into the fuselage to clear the tank)
4: remove the leading edge root end bolt & all the screws except a couple on the top (for safety)
5: support the tank somehow so it can't move until you are ready to move it, then remove the rest of the screws
6: my -4 had dimpled tank skins under the screws, so I slid thin plastic/wood strips under the skin to lift the dimples out of the countersunk holes in the spar & prevent scratching the spar
7: pull, shove, wiggle, etc until you can pull the tank off the spar
8: watch the leading edge brace on the fuselage as you pull the tank off the plane.
Charlie
On 09/11/2011 05:52 PM, HCRV6(at)comcast.net (HCRV6(at)comcast.net) wrote: [quote] p { margin: 0; } I have had success using a small left hand drill bit (Yes, they do make them!) and an easy out. Most of the time the damaged screw will back out when you start the reverse turning drill bit.
Harry Crosby
RV-6 N16CX, 873 hours
From: "George Nielsen" <genie(at)swissmail.org> (genie(at)swissmail.org)
To: rv6-list(at)matronics.com (rv6-list(at)matronics.com)
Sent: Sunday, September 11, 2011 1:55:48 PM
Subject: Damaged Screw Heads when Attempting to Remove Fuel Tank
--> RV6-List message posted by: George Nielsen <genie(at)swissmail.org> (genie(at)swissmail.org)
Due to a leaky starboard fuel tank I attempted to remove a panel on
the wing some of the screws were rather tight. This resulted in
damage to the screw heads.
How can I remove the damaged screws?
Once the panel is removed, what should I do to remove the fuel tank?
Thanks.
George Nielsen
RV-6 =
[b]
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