Combination of about 8 hours worth of shop time over a few weeks time. In that time, progress has been slow. I needed some parts from Vans to comply with the elevator spar service bulletin that adds doublers to the opposite side of the left/right elevator spars where the attach bolts go in. Again I'm working from a kit that was manufactured in 2011 and this SB is from 2014 so did not contain the parts needed. So a week's delay to get the parts and I was able to add them to the build and document that this was completed. Nothing special here just some doubler pieces to be prepped and drilled.

With that finished it was on to the lead counterweights. Not trusting myself to drill a straight hole through an inch plus of lead, I needed to pick up a drill press first. A trip to the local China Freight store and I had what I needed. With it all set up and having read a number of build logs on the best way to do this, I followed the directions and used the E-714 part to mark the counterweight for the location of the holes. Here's where the problem started. First you have to drill two #12 sized holes through four different parts, in three layers. This includes the E-714 counterbalance skin, the E-713 counterbalance weight and the flanges of the two end ribs, E-703/4. The plans say to use the small pilot holes that Vans drills in the end of E-714 as a guide to be able to drill the final sized holes through all three parts. Well this all sounds easy enough however it's never that easy! In my case, the pilot holes didn't provide the necessary distance for the #12 hole to be drilled in the flange of the E-703 part. The holes are too close together and don't give adequate edge distance clearance and more importantly doesn't leave enough room for the washer to fit on the backside of the flanges. So I only realized this AFTER I had drilled both holes in the lead counterweight. So essentially this first counterweight was no good any longer since the holes would not align with the flanges that they will be screwed to. So that was a lot of frustration but a quick visit to the Vans store and a new counterweight and new E-714 part are on their way. No worries because there are two sets of these parts, the other set for the other elevator so I can keep working and just use the other set of parts to fix everything while I wait for the new parts to show up.

Fast forward a few days and I'm ready to try this again. This time I'm smarter and have a better plan on how to tackle this. I carefully drew centerlines on the flange faces of the tip ribs and made sure I would have adequate distances. I drilled another set of holes with the drill press and then proceeded to match drill the corresponding holes in the flange faces. I lined the counterweight up on the flanges and used the screw that will hold it in place with a dab of torque seal on the very end to push through the counterweight and make a witness mark on the front face of the flange. This worked great and I repeated the step for the second hole. This is where I lost my ever loving mind because once again, despite my best efforts, the hole in the counterweight is still too close to the inboard edge of the flange and not only is there not enough edge distance but when I test fit the nut and washer, I quickly realized the the hole location in these two flange faces MUST drive the hole locations in the counterweight and the face of E-714!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So I've now screwed up both counterweights and may have to order yet another one. The other option is to melt the lead down and fill the holes. Not sure I want to mess with that just yet.

So after all of this, here is what I learned and here is where (if you're reading this) can save you a lot of stress and grief. The Vans instructions for this step are crap. Sorry but they are. They tell you to use the two pilot holes to drill the holes in all three parts. In my case this didn't allow the hole to fall on the face of the flange in the proper location. They do not allow for variations in parts and hole locations. Unfortunately following the directions to a T here set me up for failure which is why this is so frustrating. I feel like calling Vans and asking for a new counterweight for free since the directions are so poor here. I swear this is how they make their money by using vague directions and having their customers having to order new parts again and again.

Anyways this is how I will do this once I get the new counterweights. First mark the center point of the forward facing flanges of E-703/4. Go ahead and drill the #12 holes in those flanges. Use those holes as your guide to drill through the lead counterweights. So basically with those holes in the forward flanges, cleco everything back together, then simply trace the outline of your holes on the counterweight. Then take the counterweight and drill the holes in it. With the holes drilled, again cleco everything back together again and once again mark the location of the holes in E-714 using the two previous sets of holes as a guide. An easy way to do this is to find the screw from the bagged parts that is used in this location, dip the end of the screw in some torque seal, place the screw from the backside through the flanges of E-703/4 and through the holes in the counterweight. Press lightly and remove, voila you have a perfect witness mark from which to drill the #12 hole in E-714. Doing it this way will guarantee perfect alignment of the three holes and the screw/nut that will eventually hold them in place. IMO this is a few more steps but consider the alternative which is what I'm doing, having to order two new counterweights and having to screw this up twice to finally figure out a good way to do this. Oh well, live and learn.

For now I've got part to debur, dimple, scuff and prime so plenty of work while I wait on a new counterweight and decide if I want to have a go at trying to melt the other one down and recast it. The older model vans didn't come with pre-shaped counterweights, the builders had to cast their own so I have no room to complain!