I had read the horror stories of builders trying to get a rivet hammer and bucking bar in to setting the solid rivets that attach the leading edge ribs to the main spar.  It is true that these holes are REALLY, REALLY close to the web of the wing ribs.  In fact, even the clecoes could not sit straight (square) on the spar web.

I had decided based on talking with Kevin Faris, that I was going to skip making "smilies" with solid rivets and the subsequent drilling proficiency time and go directly to using blind structural rivets.  I decided that I would use Cherrymax rivets made by Textron Aerospace.

I pulled the Cherrymax rivets with the $5 Harbor Freight rivet puller I ground down for pulling the tank z-bracket blind rivets.
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Excerpt from Textron's web page:
Bulbed CherryMAX® is a lock spindle blind rivet with a visibly inspectable mechanical locking device and its own installation anvil, which eliminates the problems resulting from worn tool anvils. The CherryMAX® rivet is the most reliable, high strength structural fastener with visual inspectibility in the world today.  It features the "Safe-lock" locking collar for more reliable joint integrity.
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The picture below shows what the installation looks like after setting the Cherrymax rivets.  The visual inspection performed verifying that these rivets were pulled correctly is to look in the center of the rivet, there is a locking collar that sits flush with the factory head.

Two different sizes of Cherrymax rivets that were necessary to attach the leading edge included:

• CR3213-4-4.  This size was used where the main spar reinforcement was present as in the picture above.  (First 3 inboard ribs)
• CR3213-4-2.  This size is used near on the next two outboard ribs were no spar reinforcements were present.
• Standard solid rivets were used on the outboard rib as called out in the print.  These were easy enough to set with a rivet hammer and bucking bar.

The Cherrymax rivet sizes were determined using their "grip gage" which you have to buy extra.

I ended up self-inducing one mistake in that I used the 4-4 rivets on a rib that needed a 4-2 rivet.  I found my mistake after I set 4 of the 5 rivets and realized I could move them up and down when I pushed on them.  Ooops.  FARGH?#@>?!!?.  Take a difficult rivet to gain access to and make it a blind rivet on top of that, then try and drill them sucka's out!!

Here is what I found worked to drill these out:

• Drill out like a standard rivet until the rivet begins to spin in the hole (watch it carefully, you don't want to distort your holes).  It may be necessary to use the spring loaded punch to try and push the locking collar back.
• Take a spring loaded center punch and "snap" it a couple of times or until the locking collar and stem are ejected out the back of the rivet.
• Use a sharp pair of diagonal cutters (really small pair) and cut the factory head off.  On one or two of them, I had to make vertical segmented cuts and take the factory head out in small chunks with the diagonal cutter.
• Check hole and do a "happy dance" if it was not enlarged / deformed.

I got all four of those rivets out without hole distortion.  I now know first hand that those are a TOUGH if not EXTREMELY STUBBORN blind rivet.  Then again, they better be for almost $0.50 each.

I squeezed the skin to main spar flange rivets.  There are a lot of them!!  Easy, mindless work there.  Good thing, it was getting late. 

Ready to skin the top side....