Okay, after some additional reading and clearing my head, I decided to try this again using the z-brackets for the left wing.  I will tell you up front, Dan Checkoway had the best solution I could find on this.  Here is how it worked:

• Mark all the centerlines on both flanges of the z-brackets. 
• Find the vertical center of the the bracket flanges.  When you are done, you should have the "cross-hair" you see on the z-bracket in the picture below.
• Drill a #12 hole in the center on one side of the z-bracket flange.  Set the bracket aside and do the same to the other 6 brackets.  (NOTE:  If the #12 hole is closer to the web of the bracket, that in theory, will make more room for riveting the other side of the z-bracket to the fuel tank.  I didn't try to compensate.  I tried to drill as accurately as possible to the center of the flange.)
• Get some sacrificial AN3-4A bolts, washers, and nuts to attach the z-brackets to the main spar.  I used just one bolt in the center hole I drilled in the z-bracket.  Don't get ridiculous, but make it tight enough so the bracket won't spin.  After you drill the 2nd hole, you can stick in a cleco if you are concerned about it moving.
  • OPTION- You can bolt these to the bottom of the spar if you wish and then back drill from the top side of the spar.  I drilled them by mounting them to the top.  To each their own.
• To ensure that the brackets are square to the spar, I used two methods:
  • I eyeball'd the centerlines I drew on the z-bracket flange that is now facing down towards the spar.  The lines you drew should be visible through the spar holes and in the same location within those holes when looked at from below (aft side of spar).
  • I used my machinist square to ensure the z-bracket was square to the wing spar assembly (this seemed to be the easier and more accurate method).

Repeat that exercise for all 7 z-brackets.  Ensure that your orientation is correct or the brackets will clearly not line up with the tank baffle.

Now take the time to assemble the fuel tank.  This is not as easy as it seems.  This took me about 2 hours to assemble.  The ribs fit very tight against the leading edge of the fuel tank skin.  I had to adjust the knuckles on the flanges.  I detailed my process under the leading edge assembly log entry.  Now that I knew what I needed to adjust, I just did it.  The ribs still fit very tightly, but I didn't notice any bulging on the fuel tank skin like I had with the leading edge assembly.

Okay, 2 hours of effort and viola, you have an dry-fitted fuel tank assembly.

Now this is where the wing starts looking good.  It resembles a finished wing assembly, but I am a long way from putting this together for the final time.

Tami said people at work were asking if her husband was building a plane in the garage?  This was one of the first weekends, I worked with the garage door open.  I also had a number of people ask me about it at work.  I guess that is one of the joys of living in small town USA.  Everybody knows what you are doing.

Anyway, don't get to excited here as it all has to come apart before you are done drilling the z-brackets.

ENSURE that you put the tank baffle plate under the fuel tank assembly when putting the tank on the wing.

• Before drilling, position the tank so there is no clearance between the leading edge and the fuel tank skins.  Additionally, the fuel tank holes that attach the tank to the main spar should also line up.

This looks good...  A sheet of paper might fit in this seam, but I doubt if two sheets will fit. 

• Then position the tank baffle so that the tank baffle holes line up with the T-701 (fuel tank skins).
• Throw a couple of clecoes in each side of the tank so that the tank and baffle are now an "assembly".  Double check your alignment and position.
• Ensure you see the scribed sharpie marker line for the vertical center in the center rib hole.  You may or may not see the vertical centerline (note difference between my usage of vertical center and vertical centerline) you scribed.  It should be real close.
• Drill the rib / baffle / z-bracket holes on the tank end rib (T-703) and cleco after each hole is drilled.  These are the only holes you can currently access to the z-brackets.  If you drill all 5 holes and cleco, there should not be any movement vertically when you remove the leading edge.  This will give you access to the opposite side of the tank so you can drill that rib / baffle / z-bracket holes.

A right angle drill came in really handy here.  If you don't have a right angle drill, use a long bit to minimize the angle you drill from perpendicular and use a drill stop (not your hand...  see my previous log entry).

Okay, now the part you probably won't like...  Remove the leading edge assembly from the wing.  This will give you access to the outboard fuel tank rib / baffle / z-bracket.

• Double check your vertical center of the tank bracket to the center rib hole.  There shouldn't be any movement of the tank / baffle plate if you drilled and clecoed all 5 rib holes on the inboard side.
• Drill the outboard tank rib / baffle / z-bracket.  Cleco as you go.

Continue with your disassembly.  Remove the fuel tank assembly leaving the two end ribs clecoed to the baffle / z-bracket.  This will hold the tank baffle in place to drill the remainder of the baffle / z-bracket holes.

The hard part is done, now just match drill all remaining holes and cleco as you go.  Ensure you are using a properly adjusted drill stop to prevent drilling your main spar.

Another 10 minutes of drilling and all holes are drilled.  As Dan details on his web site, this is a ton of work to get 7 z-brackets drilled.  I am really happy with my second attempt.  Dan nailed the process.  I did not have to elongate any baffle holes (or any holes for that matter) and I have excellent alignment.

An impromptu inspection by Arnold, our resident aircraft and home inspector found no issues worth hocking a hairball over....  However, he had one nagging question; Where's mom?

To finish the night, I decided to mount the plate nuts that attach the root rib z-bracket.  These are flush rivets on the forward side of the spar so that you can attach the z-bracket I spent so much time drilling for. 

The trick with these plate nuts is how do you get in here to buck the rivets that attach the plate nuts?  This is in the wing walk area
so the ribs are really close together.  Additionally, the main spar assembly prevents a person from getting a bucking bar in there.   Anyhow, this situation does not give you alot of room to work.  A couple of minutes of scratching my head and I had one moment of clarity (for once). 

I had Tami place the bucking bar on the factory head (flush side) of the rivets and I used a back rivet attachment for the rivet hammer to form the shop heads.  This worked GREAT!!!  The back rivet attachment has the spring loaded collar and that held the plate nut tight against the spar during riveting.

This whole process wore me out today.  I quit early so I could get cleaned up and watch the "Blue Collar Comedy Tour" on DVD.  Very Funny!!  Larry the Cable Guy is HILARIOUS.  The others are pretty good too.  Anyway, I need to veg out so I can hit the plane hard next week.  Getting close to working with the fuel tanks....  WooHooo!!!!