We installed the kit in a flying plane today. My fellow 12iS owner got his SB kit before me, so his was the Guinea Pig. Here’s how it went for us…
Tail cone mechanic specifications:
65 years old
Builder
5’-9”
180 lbs
Tools used inside tailcone:
Right-angle drill
Rivet removal tool
#30 reamer for one of the stubborn bulkhead rivet holes
Side cutters for extracting stubborn rivet tails
Rivet puller with swiveling head - standard puller may have worked
Needle-nose pliers for inserting rivets in bulkhead closest to floor skin
Cleco pliers
Clecos - extra long ones work best to clear brackets
Work light
Punch for aligning rivet holes
Vacuum for cleaning up the removed rivet debris
Our approach used a bunch of furniture moving blankets laid across the bottom skins on both sides of the J stiffener and over the top of bulkheads, with a piece of thin plywood on top of the furniture pads.
We also made a doubler that matched the bulkhead bracket and riveted it to the aft side of the aft-most bulkhead. This was in case any of the bulkhead rivet holes got too large when they were removed. It essentially mimicked the aft bracket used for the middle and forward bulkheads.
Despite a setback from trying as hard as possible to use the WRONG bracket in the aft bulkhead, it took just over an hour to complete the installation. And it took less than an hour to remove the seats, baggage bulkhead cover and the 13 rivets from the bottom skin. So total time was less than two hours with two of us. Planning ahead helped. Note, don’t try this alone unless you love crawling in and out of the tail cone multiple times.
Surprisingly, the toughest one for us to do was the forward-most bulkhead due to the awkward angle of laying over the cross brace and fuel tank. Your whole body is prone for the other two.
Recommendation: before buttoning up the tail cone, use the approach of NASA and account for every tool that went inside. We've got an unaccounted for punch, mystery of its whereabouts yet to be discovered, but we're expecting the worst case...
Here’s a link to a file that’s got photos of the installation. It’s good the ambient temperature was in the 50s, because you work up a sweat in the cramped tail cone.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/7uhk7rzs2qw1vhh/SB-00053.pdf?dl=0
As a side note, doing the work inside the tail cone was challenging enough for a builder. Based upon our experience, attempting to do so with a non builder wouldn't be recommended without a good bit of advance training.
So, there you have it - successful installation in an already flying 12iS. And, before anyone asks, NO WE ARE NOT AVAILABLE FOR HIRE.