After a whole lot of procrastination, I have finally got to the point of riveting the ribs into the fuel tank.  I wasn't sure what to expect with sealing the ribs.  I didn't know how long it was going to take to get each rib riveted and how much tank sealant I was going to need.

I have both the quart can of tank sealant and the 6 oz tubes for use in a sealant gun.  For the first session with tank sealant, I decided to try the sealant gun method.

Below, I am trying to get my ducks in a row prior to mixing the tank sealant up.  I have found that I have between 1 to 1.5 hours before the tank sealant starts setting up and getting to hard to work with (your mileage may vary :^).  Therefore, I want to have everything prepared ahead of time so I don't waste so much tank sealant.

I started with the second most outboard rib.  I had scuffed the skin and ribs up earlier, but I gave everything a quick wipe down with MEK before spreading sealant.

Because of the time constraints (AND MESS) of working with the tank sealant, there are not many (any) in-process photos.  I had Tami mix up the sealant and then laid a bead of sealant where the rib would be installed.  I spread the sealant with a spatula of sorts to the approximate width of the rib.  Push the rib in and cleco into position.  The thing I have noticed with tank sealant is that it tends to "flow" slightly and somewhat even itself out after a minute or two.

After Tami and I were done riveting the rib in place, I removed the outboard rib to make the rib fillets and encapsulate each of the rivet shop heads.  You might as well on this rib, because you don't get that luxury on the rest of the interior ribs.

Tami and I were able to get two ribs done during this session.  I found it took us about 20 minutes to rivet each rib and another 30-40 minutes to make the rib to skin fillets and encapsulate the rivet shop heads.  When we started, it took about 40 psi to the sealant gun to spread sealant.  On the second rib, it took about 90 psi to push out the tank sealant.

Next time I expend a 6 oz tube of tank sealant, I am going to lay a bead of sealant, rivet the rib in and form my rib to tank skin fillets and then move on to the next rib.  When I run out of or the tank sealant gets hard, I will go back and encapsulate the rivet shop heads.

SIDE-BAR NOTE:  I don't think that it is reasonable to build a tank with the 6 oz sealant tubes and a sealant gun alone.  You are going to need to purchase a quart can of sealant.  There are just to many things to seal where you just need "a little more" sealant.

Once, I had made the fillets and encapsulated each shop head, I had "stray" tank sealant all over the rib and the tank skin.  It took in the neighborhood of another 1/2 hour for each rib to clean up the tank.  You don't think that the building community calls this "black death" for no reason do ya???

One area that I was particularly careful with is the rear of the rib.  In Van's instructions, it states that the notch in the back of the rib is to provide a pathway through the tank to allow water to propagate toward the tank drain.  I am pretty generous with the amount of tank sealant I use on the ribs and rivets.  I don't want any tank leaks.  This is one area, that I have been real careful to limit the amount of excessive tank sealant.

All that work tonight and only two ribs completed to show for it.  I was pretty happy with how the rivets sit on the tank.  I used Cleaveland's tank dimple dies and they seemed to work pretty well.

Just picture of the top side.

Am I done with this tank yet?  Not by a long shot...