So to begin we have to do “the cut”. This has notoriously been an interesting process using a fly cutter in a drill press with everything clamped very tightly and hopefully you don't lose at fingers or mangle the rib. Well, I said screw that, there has to be a better way… researching hvac stuff I found a duct hole cutter (this one by Klein tools). Found the center of the hole I needed to cut by taking the radius of 5 1/4”, measuring in from the edge I wanted and drilled a hole from the x&y access. Chucked up the tool in my air drill, clamped the rib in the vise and began the cut. I made a small error by not fully tightening the center screw which caused a small notch at first. Fixed that issue and continued the cut. THIS THING IS MONEY!!! Worth every penny, cut smoothly and basically no burs. Make sure you rotate clockwise so the little feet guide the material. Fully recommend this tool and really made this cut a complete non event.
Next was to align T708 access plate to the rib, make sure the holes would have proper edge distance and match drill the screw holes. Remove the plate and cleco the stiffener ring in in order to match drill the platenut rivet holes. I forgot to add i notched the tank attach bracket ever so slightly to allow room for the rib to skin rivets shop heads. With that, I was done for the day. More tomorrow…