Wing to fuse gap

[cliffrosa]

I attached a picture of the material that the original builder used to fill the gap between the fuse and wing, It is riveted in place. Not being the original builder and having zero experience working with metals/rivets how would I go about to replace it? I was wonder if I should drill out the rivets then re rivet it?

 

[soneraii]

I would take a #30 or 1/8 inch drill bit and carefully drill out all the rivets. Then I would cut a nice piece of aluminum let's say a about two inches wide to fit up to about 1/8 of an inch from the fuselage and then put a rubber strip of your choice on the metal barely touching the fabric. Of course, paint to suit and rivet the strip on. If unfamiliar you will need pop rivets, clecoes etc. If you have any RV builders around they can readily help you with this. You will probably want to keep the rivets on the same line as the original rivets, assuming he tried to catch the underlying rib, of course stay away from the spar...

Kevin

 

[bobthebuilder]

As a matter of interest, why does it need to be replaced?

 

[cliffrosa]

As a matter of interest, why does it need to be replaced?

It has never been replaced, once you touch it it falls apart and it looks really nasty. It is not just in that one location there are other spots around the wing.

 

[azjoe]

I just use "E"-channel from Spruce. It works great!

https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/appages/rubberchannel.php