I began the afternoon by attaching a new M3414M rod end to the forward elevator pushrod. (The original rad end appeared to be slightly bent, so I ordered a replacement, which arrived yesterday.) I adjusted the pushrod to the required length of 30-1/8". All the pushrods are now complete.
Next, I finished riveting the elevator bellcrank mounts to the fuselage structure, using four LP4-4 blind rivets in the four locations I could not reach earlier with either a squeezer or a bucking bar.
The final project today was the main event: I designed and built a custom, removable cover for the flap motor shaft, where it protrudes through the left armrest in the back seat. I think this will prevent any issues with a backseater getting their sleeve caught in the actuator, or somehow FOD-ing the actuator inadvertently.
I started by fitting, folding, and cutting a piece of graph paper into the approximate shape I would need, then I transferred the design to a piece of thick posterboard for final tweaking. I had to make two posterboard prototypes before I got the bends and attaching tabs right. Then I transferred the design to 0.032" aluminum, cut it out, filed and sanded the edges, then bent it into the final shape. In order to make some of the bends, I created a homemade bending brake out of a steel back-riveting plate, a steel ruler, some heavy-duty clamps, and lots of manual labor. It worked great.
The final product will be attached with 3 or 4 screws.