Painting the wings

I am just finishing up painting our -10. I plan on painting the wings over the weekend, and I am debating on removing the screws holding the fuel tank in and leaving only a few on each side to hold the tank in place. I am soliciting ideas on what others have done.

Gathering from the posts over the last couple of years, it seems likely that the tanks will need to be removed at some time for a fuel leak (QB tanks), and I am trying to make it as painless as possible by planning ahead for the task.

If I could find some structural stainless screws I might even forgo painting the screw heads entirely.

Paint the wings without the screws and install stainless. Eventually you'll need to remove the tank and your paint job around the screws with pay the price. Keep in mind though that stainless steel tends to gall when being installed / removed so take your time and use a slow speed on the electric drill if using one.

Bill,

I was going to do the same. My thoughts were that the z-bracket should hold the tank in place.

I talked with my painter last night. Two weeks and counting.......

bob

Bill, for what it is worth....

....if you paint the tanks with screws removed, some of the dimpled hole will fill in with paint.

When I painted the -7A tanks last summer, they were off the airplane and I found later the tank attach screws would not seat as deeply in the dimple as before paint. I had to ream out the paint and primer to get the screws down even with the skin.

(As Jerry Cochran will attest, not get all of them were reset before I sold the airplane. It was part of the sale disclosure. )

Dave,
Are we getting together for lunch on Wed?
Maybe I should leave the screws partially in, just enough that a bridge can not be formed around the head. In this way just a little paint will end up in the dimple, but the screw will not be bridged.
Bill

Bill.Peyton said:

Dave,
Are we getting together for lunch on Wed?
Maybe I should leave the screws partially in, just enough that a bridge can not be formed around the head. In this way just a little paint will end up in the dimple, but the screw will not be bridged.
Bill

Click to expand...

Bill, yes the geezers are gathering on Wed. Hope to see you.
dd

Bill,
you are making good progress and it sounds like there will be a first flight report soon.
It seems much more likely that you will not ever have to remove the tank.
I am aware of tank rivet blisters but most painted Rvs never had an issue
that required tank removal.
I would simply leave the screws in place and deal with it when and if you have to. If you must do something, I would remove the screws immediately after painting and replace them with new ones after the paint has dried.
Having screws partially in for painting presents a sharp edge for paint to drip and possibly make a mess of things.
I would take my chances, the odds are in favor that you won't have to deal with tank blisters.

Ernst,
You make a good point. An option would be to leave only 4 or 5 screws in and paint the tank, and paint the screws separately, but obviously leaving the screws in is the best cosmetic solution and also mechanical solution and is the way I am leaning at the moment.

If you paint the screws separately, good luck installing them without messing them up. I say torque em and paint. There is a tool designed to cut the paint around the screw head if you ever have to remove them (which you probably won't).

I agree. Leave them alone and paint. Thanks for the responses

Tank screws

I unscrewed all of the kit #8 tank screws about an 1/8 of an inch, and painted the tanks. Then, I removed each tank screw, one at a time, use a hand debur tool to clean out the dimple, and then installed unpainted stainless screws.

I never paint screws because they will end up ugly over time. Unpainted stainless screws look good with any paint scheme, and can be removed and installed at will without damage to the paint.