Started out tonight by back riveting the stiffeners to the forward baggage floor; simple stuff there. Next I riveted the mounting bracket (don’t ask me hat it mounts, I don’t know) to the lower baggage bulkhead, then both bulkheads were clecoed in place to the forward upper brace, followed by the baggage side. Next, I clecoed the firewall to the forward floor and the baggage side and match drilled the holes between the floor and lower firewall angle.
Access to these holes was tight from above, so I decided to work from below. This seemed like the easiest way to do it, though it looks kind of odd:
Next the firewall was unclecoed and all the holes deburred. Some of the inner holes – which will be in the cooling ramp area – get flush rivets here, so the lower firewall angle gets machine countersunk and the forward floor holes dimpled.
The next step would be to rivet the firewall to the lower floor, but I need to seal that joint before riveting. I ordered the fire barrier sealant from Spruce a couple days ago and it should be here tomorrow, then I can proceed. I could have switched back to working on the center section, but it seemed easier to not have to rearrange everything…