OK where was I? I left off with the marks on the back of the trailer.
So, we have the center hole. No turning back now. Now that I have a 4.5" hole cut in the sheet metal, it gets kinda flimsy. So, I need to stiffen it up with a doubler. Generally, doublers need to be heavier than the base metal. So I opted for .063".
I drew it out using the redneck compass method. I cut it out using a jigsaw, which is time consuming.
This is the doubler in rough out mode. I laid out the hole pattern and did a few other things that I left out that are self explanatory.
I clecoed the plate in place. If you don't know what a cleco is, I'll explain.
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| This is how I store my clecos. Just drill a series of holes in a piece of aluminum. |
Clecos are used mainly in the aircraft sheet metal business. They come in all shapes and sizes, but here is a general rule of thumb. They are coded by color, by drill size. For instance, a silver cleco is a number 40 drill bit. A #30 is copper colored, a #20 drill bit is black. This is a chart I stole from Aircraft Spruce's website.
You can buy used clecos from a place called "The Yard" in Wichita, Ks.
How do they work? Basically, you drill a hole in both parts and using special "cleco Pliers", you depress the cleco and push it through both sides, then release. You're done.
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This a pic of the doubler installed with the light in place, kinda ugly.
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The rings were riveted back on using solid rivets, which stiffened up the skin in a major way. I added nut plates to the backside, so I don't have to tear out the sidewalls if I need to remove the tail light lens. Now I can remove the 4 screws and access the tail light from the outside easily.
The final product. I still need to round up the chrome pieces to dress it up, but I still have time.
