There's not much to show or explain from the last couple of days. I'm convinced that Van's handed off the instructions for the elevators to the new intern. Things are not only out of order, but many sections just don't make any sense. For such a simple assembly, I've spent more time scratching my head than actually building the last two days.
I fit and match drilled the reinforcement plates to the spar, then clecoed and match drilled the end rib.
The end rib has to be riveted to the spar right away in order to do the rest of the fit. I deburred and cleaned up the rib and then hit the mating surface of the rib and spar with some self-etching primer. Those insanely hot halogen shop lamps come in handy when you want to dry primer. Only 30 seconds or so under the lamp and the surfaces were dry enough to work with. The rib has to be riveted on with a flush head rivet on the side of the spar so the control horn will fit, so I dimpled it all. I know some people countersink the spar instead, but it's thin enough that dimpling worked fine.
Following the instructions, I then clecoed the rib and spar to the skins, only to discover that the step they want done next can't be done with the spar installed in the skin. So out came all of the clecos so I could match drill the control horn to the spar and rib. Then back it goes! Looking ahead in the instructions, I've noticed that they never mention the top skin surface. The top and bottom skins are attached differently, so I have to figure out the order of operations based on the plans so I don't get backed into a corner once I start riveting things together. It sure would be nice if the instructions were just a tad better for this part of the build. It's funny, because in the manual Van's says that the elevator is the most messed up part of the build for new builders. I'm not sure that they realize how they're contributing to that stat with their iffy instructions. I'll get it sorted out, but it'll just take longer than it should.
