A Difficult Thing

This had to happen, but it was sure hard--the connection of the upper pushrod to the bellcrank assembly. The bolt that is visible goes through one side of the pushrod end, then through a washer, then the bellcrank, then another washer, the other side of the pushrod, a washer, and is secured by the nut. The problem was that one, but not two, washers would fit. That's not enough! There's a bearing in the bellcrank and it needs a washer on both sides of it so that it's held fast while the bellcrank moves around it, working the elevators which are atop the vertical fin. Note the small space between the bellcrank and the sides of the pushrod. That's where the washers are.

Something was wrong dimensionally.... I needed thinner washers, not thicker ones as the instructions seem to say. So I bought some at the hardware store in town, hoping they'd fit right in. I'd noticed that in the box at the store, some washers differed in thickness. I bought six of the thinnest I could find there, but they weren't thin enough. I had to sand them down quite a bit until finally I got 'em both in place and got the bolt through!

I'll have to do the same thing for the bottom fitting, but I knew that I'd have to do the top one first or I'd never be able to reach it.

It was crowded work, and blind in many ways. I couldn't see into the hole to find out whether parts were aligned--until I thought of using my small inspection mirror. Then I could see where the second washer was, and could tug it around with the short end of an Allen key. Then the bolt wouldn't slide through--I think the bearing was turned just a bit. I put in a similar bolt from the other side and that straightened things out. Then I removed the second bolt, loosened the piece of tape that was holding the first bolt in place (not letting it fall out, making me start all over), and was slowly able to work the bolt in place. I'll loosen it to apply some red Permatex to lock it in place, but it's not coming out anymore!

Then I'll be able to do two or three other jobs in this same area, getting on with things. These washers have been holding me up for days.