Title: 18-8: Left tank done
With the left tank leak free, I decided to prime it with a final coat of Ekopoxy. This would satisfy my OCD need to have a nice uniform primed finish and provide a little more resistance to fuel and solvents. I had not used the Ekopoxy yet and was concerned about how thick it is. I stirred the thick part A with a paddle mixer on an electric drill. The Part B was much thinner viscosity and when mixed with part A resulted in an almost flowable paint, but not sprayable. I added the recommended water to thin it a bit and it was still a little thicker than I'm used to but worth trying before thinning more. After thoroughly cleaning the soapy residue off the tank, I sprayed a tack coat and then a second coat but it wasn't flowing out well. Ran out of paint and mixed up another batch. Added a little more water this time, about 20-25%. Flowed out better and didn't run. Very happy with the results. Will target 20% water on future mixes. Primed the pitot mast too while I was at it. Came out really well. After a few hours, I decided to proceed with dimpling the tank. At the very least it would give me a data point for how well the primer takes a dimple after 3 hrs cure. No issues. With the dimples done I guess I could hang the tank. Wasn't sure I'd get it in place by myself but it actually wasn't that hard. Installed a couple AN bolts in the spar to keep it in place then proceeded with all the #8 screws in the bottom. Then finished installing the AN bolts and torqued them. Will need to get the top #8 screws when I have some help to move the wing out of the cradle. Looks great though! 11/5: wife helped me lay the wing on a table So I could get to the top screws. Had to do a little filing of the edge of the tank skin to get it to lay flat. All screws installed. Looks awesome.


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