Thanks Geo and Hugh,
Everybody on the project except ME seems to be getting things done. Work has been hell lately and I haven't even been able to catch up on the posts I follow here! Frame 8 is still exactly as it was about 4 months ago!
I DID manage to get the drilling and riveting done on the fuelcock bell cranks last weekend ... late at night, which I am sure, if there hadn't been a raging storm, would have annoyed the neighbours
The 2mm stainless levers will warp slightly as you pull them up to "ON" but then lock against the top notches and must be physically pushed sideways to disengage the notch and turn the fuel taps "OFF" , just as in the real aircraft
You can also see the four new, black, custom made washers (from ABS Auto plastic) These were made to pretty tight specifications, so that the levers fit snuggly into the guide tracks.
One of the taper pins has been loose fitted, as I still need to fit the axle into the frame. Once that is done the taper will be hammered home, holding firmly and requiring punching or drilling out to change anything.The holes in the axle are 3mm at the top and 2. 5 at the bottom. The taper pins are ever so slightly bigger and reduce over the 19mm distance across the axle. I'm a big fan of tapers now! A simply brilliant way of fixing.
The bellcranks are 3mm steel and are set at different angles to accommodate the pushrods going (up) to the top tank and (down) to the bottom. The top tank feeds into the bottom tank in any case and the tap arrangement was later simplified to a single tap on the bottom tank.
Finally, I have found a way to fit my (overly long) countersink depth gauge into my milling machine, so the countersinks on the new, 4BA screw, version of the faceplate should be smooth and even, unlike the current ones which had to be done by hand!