The weather on Sunday was finally warm enough that I could prime the parts for the Navaid servo mount outside. Monday I riveted the various parts together, and yesterday I started trying to install the two pieces of angle that will be blind riveted to the floor so that the mount can be screwed to them.

I sure wish I had spent another 30 seconds thinking about how I would install the brackets before I drilled all the holes. I spent quite awhile pondering the details of the servo mount, thinking about the assembly sequence, figuring out which parts could be riveted with hard rivets, which ones would need blind rivets, and which parts needed screws so they could be disassembled later. I eventually decided that the two angles at the bottom would need to be installed first, and that the rest of the mount would be screwed to those two angles. That would allow the mount to be assembled around the wire bundles that are already installed in that area.



But, when I went to install the two angles, I realized that I had installed the nut plates so that they stuck out and got in the way of where the blind rivets went. Everything would have been fine if I had staggered the holes so they didn't line up, but that detail escaped me until it was too late. I had to either find a way to install it as is, or spend hours making a new mount.




I ended up making a small steel wedge shaped piece, with a hole in it for the nail of the blind rivet. This allows the nail to be bent, so the riveter will clear the nut plate.



The blind rivets needed a pretty significant bend to clear the nut plate.

I got the front angle installed today, but I need a different riveter to get at the back one.