Tonight, I started the task I have have been dreading which was to bend the elevator and trim tabs.  I set up the blocks in accordance with Van's limited instructions.  I was able to bend the tabs, however, they look very amateur.  They are not real smooth or extremely straight.  Van's instructions on how to do this S_CK!!!!  It is not so much about what they say, it is what they leave out...

After, what I consider mediocre results, I ventured onto the web to see if I could find a better way.

It looks like my frustration with this is cosmetic only and no one will ever know the difference at 200 mph at 10,000 ft.

If you look closely at the picture below, you can see where the trim tab is not straight from top to bottom especially at the top of the photograph (top is forward on elevator).

Just a different angle.  Like I say, I believe this to be cosmetic only.

Part of my mediocre results was due to the fact that the wood blocks moved approximately 1/8" which was 4x more movement than I expected from Van's instructions.  Additionally, with the two individual blocks, they would tend to buckle when they were hit with the rivet hammer.

In the picture below, I am using to Quik-Grip clamps with 1" x 3" blocks.  Don't do this!!!  Read on and I will tell you why.

Just another picture showing all the Quik-Grip clamps I am using.  If you look closely, you will also see some vise grip clamps in there too.  I used all of these Quik-Grip clamps because the elevator would move when hit with the rivet hammer.  Again, don't do this....  Read on...

The picture below is of the trim tab.  These bends look great.  I changed my method here and it worked ALOT BETTER. 

Notice that on the trim tab, I am using a 2" x 4" which is one piece of wood and a SINGLE C-Clamp.  This resulted in excellent bends.

Okay, here is what I learned from this evolution:

• Start bending with the trim tab.  It is a smaller piece and if you screw it up, it is cheaper to replace.  It will take at least one bend to see how all this is going to work.
• DO NOT, and I repeat, DO NOT use Quik-Clamps to clamp the elevator and wood blocks.  You physically cannot get enough clamping force to hold the piece when hitting it with the rivet hammer.  If you don't already have some, go and get some C-Clamps.  Use at least two to hold the wood blocks.  I got by with 1 C-Clamp from the picture above, but I was lucky.  Besides, all I had was one C-Clamp.
• DO use double sided sticky tape.  When clamped, that really helps hold the blocks to the aluminum.  You will see what I mean when you go to remove the wood block from the trim tab after it has been clamped.
• DO NOT use any block of wood smaller (narrower) than a 2"x4".  The wider the block is, the better.  When you hit the tabs with the rivet hammer, it wants to buckle the blocks.  If you have a wider block in the trim tab or elevator, the less this tendency will be.
• DO use one block of wood if possible.  If you look at the trim tab photo above, I am using one block of a 2" x 4".  I mathematically guesstimated the angle of the trim tab and ran a band saw blade through the block at that angle.  The band saw blade removed just enough wood that the trim tab skin could be inserted in that slit.  I then used the C-Clamp to clamp down on it.  I put double sided tape on the outside of the 2" x 4" (bottom side and inside of the trim tab, obviously, double sided tape could not be put into the "slit" created by the band saw).  This arrangement did not even budge when struck with the rivet hammer.  Additionally, with the block not cut into two pieces, it eliminated the tendency of the blocks to "buckle" when hit with the rivet hammer.

After I was done, I did a rough fit of the trim tab to the elevator and it appears that I will have roughly 7 to 8/32" gap between the elevator and the trim tab.  Van's requires a minimum gap of 3/32" of a gap.  I should have the minimum clearance!!!!