New parts primed and dimpled where needed, ready to go together the correct way this time. MUCH easier to rivet the parts together when you do them in a logical order.
A look at the spar doubler. Had to replace three of the rivets with -5's after screwing up the original -4 rivet and drilling them out which enlarged the holes. Was able to squeeze most of these. You can see where I used a universal head rivet set where the cup was too big and contacted the piece. I will clean that up and reprime before final assembly. Utilized LP4-3's on the 405/710 joint as allowed in the plans. Work smarter, not harder. These would be a pain to set with a bucking bar or squeezer.
Next was to build the modded rudder counterweight hold down strip using the latest RV-8 plans. Latest plans as of this writing are Fall of 2018. My kit was produced in 2011 and did not incorporate these parts so always consult the latest version of the build plans to see if you should be modifying your work. Van's always says to build your kit to the plans that came with it, in this case, this is an increase in safety mod so definitely worth doing.
With the lower skeleton assembled and the counterweight modified, it was time to attach the top rib with the 2 rivets. This was a bit tricky but using some clamps and wood blocks, I was able to squeeze these two rivets without too much trouble.
Finally had to mock up the whole rudder minus the fiberglass caps. Finally looks like an actual rudder!