Left Elevator Riveting

I know it's only been a few days, but I feel like it's been eons since I've been able to make much progress on the build.  I was able to get out in the garage for a few hours tonight and clear my head with some riveting.  Funny how therapeutic that is.

Similar to the right elevator, I started by clamping the top side of the skin down and rolling the lower skin back so I could get at the stiffeners for back riveting.

Next I moved on to the counterbalance ribs.  The primer from this batch of parts is much smoother than previous batches.  I didn't thin it with 10% water this time, and that seems to have made a difference.  From what I gather though, the variables of temperature, humidity, and dilution all play off of each other, so it's anybody's guess what the right mix will be next time.

After the counterbalance rib webs are riveted together, the counterbalance skin goes on.  I'm slowly learning the proper order to do things in, like which edge to start clecoing or riveting first to make skins fit easier.  Things like this aren't always pointed out in the manual, but after spending hours cussing at a single rivet hole you start to figure out the tricks.

The elevator spar reinforcement plates and plate nuts (or nut plates....I see it both ways and people always argue that their way is the correct terminology) are riveted on next.  I don't know that there's a better feeling than using the pneumatic squeezer on rivets.  It's still incredibly satisfying for some reason.

I had forgotten to prep the spar and end rib before I primered.  Unlike most assemblies in this area, these need to be flush head rivets, not universal heads, because the control horn has to be attached here.  So I dimpled the rib flange and spar holes.  The primer held up just fine.  I squeezed the flush head rivets and then bent the rib flange back to the proper angle (it had to be straightened a bit to get the holes dimpled and riveted).

Lastly, I riveted the control horn to the spar and rib.  Just like on the right elevator, this was a pain.  I don't know if it's because the holes just don't line up perfectly or because of the primer that has to be dabbed into the control horn holes.  The control horn is steel, so once you match drill the holes, there's no protection for the freshly reamed holes.  I always dab some primer in them, but once it dries, I think it makes for just a small enough hole that getting the rivet through is a total pain.  I ended up reaming out a few of the holes and just installing rivets wet with primer.