Prop prep, cabin heat, and sniffle tube

Uncrated the prop.

Match drilled and clecoed the spinner plate doubler to the spinner plate. Marked and cut out the center of the spinner plate with a skill saw. I cleaned it up with files, and a bit of emory cloth. I scuffed and primed the plate and the doubler then riveted them together. I attached the spinner plate assembly to the back of prop and re-torqued the bolts. The prop is now ready to be mounted to the engine.

Installed the heater muffs and associated SCAT hoses.

Fabricated and installed the sniffle tube.

Today’s Time (hours):	8.0
Finish kit (hours):	231.0
Total Time (hours):	965.0

Completed engine wiring, plumbing, oil cooler

Assembled the oil cooler inlet and tray. Trimmed, deburred, and primed all the parts and then riveted them together. Glued the seals in place and sealed all the gaps with RTV. Installed the AN fittings into the oil cooler. Bolted the tray to the firewall and engine mount. Then mounted the air cooler and inlet. Connected the feed and return lines to the oil cooler.

Wired the EGT sensors, CHT Sensors, and Fuel flow sensor.

Created a hose for the manifold pressure sensor using Aeroquip AQP hose and reusable connectors. Ran that hose to the sensor block from the primer port in the #3 cylinder head. Also ran a line from the sensor block to the MAP port on the right PMag. I the manifold pressure, fuel pressure, oil pressure, and oil temperature sensors using crimp on, fully insulated, quick disconnect terminals.

Today’s Time (hours):	14.0
Finish kit (hours):	223.0
Total Time (hours):	957.0

Installed the fuel injection servo and exhaust system

Installed the fuel injection servo. A gasket, four nuts, and two fuel lines. pretty straightforward.

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Installed the exhaust system. Slightly less straightforward than the fuel servo but not too bad.

Today’s Time (hours):	5.0
Finish kit (hours):	209.0
Total Time (hours):	943.0

More engine stuff

I wired up the ammeter. I picked up a couple of inline fuses that had mounting holes. I attached them to the engine mount with an adel clamp.

I fabricated a mount for the Garmin GA 27 GPS antenna by modifying the suction cup mount that came with the antenna. I cut it to match the profile of the antenna, bent the mounting tab to a right angle and cut it shorter. I drilled a hole for the mounting screw and viola.

I wired up the left magneto.

I installed the fuel line form the firewall to the fuel pump.

I cut the right angle hose segment and installed the breather tube.

I installed the line to the oil pressure sensor.

I began terminating the oil, fuel, and manifold pressure sensor wires but realized that I didn’t have any fully insulate quick disconnect terminals. So put in my daily Aircraft Spruce order.

I wired up the right PMag.

Attached the upper and lower oil cooler lines.

Today’s Time (hours):	7.0
Finish kit (hours):	204.0
Total Time (hours):	938.0

Engine install continues

Eeked out a few hours of building this week.

Installed the fuel overflow tube.

Installed the dipstick tube and lock wired it in place.

I ordered a tach cover from Vans and this is what showed up. It has no means to lock wire it. I’m going to replace it with one from Spruce.

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Installed the oil temperature sensor.

Installed the alternator.

Installed the cylinder head temperature sensors.

Today’s Time (hours):	4.0
Finish kit (hours):	197.0
Total Time (hours):	931.0

Installed prop governor, fuel flow sensor, and sniffle valve

Installed the prop governor. I wasn’t sure what hardware to use. The plans said to refer to the engine/governor installation instructions. The Hartzell instructions said to refer to the engine manufacturer’s instructions. The Lycoming instructions that came with the engine were mute on the topic. I was able to find an illustrated parts catalogue for the engine on Lycoming’s web site. It showed a washer, a star washer and a plain nut. Now I need to figure out where Lycoming keeps its torque values.

I installed the fuel flow sensor and the fuel lines from the fuel pump and to the fuel injection servo.

I installed the sniffle valve. This seemed like it was going to be straightforward. Remove the plug; install the valve. What I didn’t take into account was that the intake manifold was full of preservative oil. So now my nose gear and tire are well lubricated and in no danger of corroding.

Today’s Time (hours):	2.0
Finish kit (hours):	193.0
Total Time (hours):	927.0

Got the gear and engine mounted and moved to the garage!

Special thank you to Jared, Wes, Scott, and Remy for all their help on Saturday! We got the fuselage out of the basement, Got the main gear attached and wheeled it around the house, up the hill, and into the garage. Then we bolted on the engine mount and nose gear on.

Mounted the battery and starter relays to the firewall along with the associated fuse and ammeter shunt. Mounted the MAP, oil pressure, and fuel pressure sensors. Jared and Wes added all of the fittings to the Engine and we bolted it to the mount.

With the relays wired, I threw the aster switch and everything lit up! No smoke. Yay.

Today’s Time (hours):	16.0
Finish kit (hours):	191.0
Total Time (hours):	925.0

More work on the landing gear

Primed the upper gear braces and gear attach angles.

Split the nose wheel. Stuffed the tube into the tire and semi-inflated it. Put the tire and tube on the heels and bolted them back together.

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Packed the bearings using my handy dandy bearing packer and reinstalled them into the wheel. Did a similar job on the main gear wheels. The main gear bearings were packed in a preservative grease. So I cleaned them with solvent dried them with compressed air, and repacked them with Aeroshell 22.

All three wheels assembled.

I upgraded the nose gear wheel and axle to Matco. The axle has a bolt that keeps the axle from rotating. So I drilled a hole in the fork to accommodate. I temporarily assembled the fork and axle to keep everything together.

I installed the gear attach angles and the upper gear braces. I loosely installed the gear attach bars. I should be able to just bolt the gear legs in and tighten them up.

Next step is to clean the garage and relocate the fuselage from the basement. It won’t fit through the door once the gear is attached.

Today’s Time (hours):	8.0
Finish kit (hours):	175.0
Total Time (hours):	909.0

Began TricycleLanding Gear & Engine Mount (Section 40A)

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Separated the gear attachment angles on the band saw. This is a hefty chunk of aluminum angle. It took a good 15 minutes to get through it on my puny band saw.

I decided that a new tool was in order to make the diagonal cuts. So I picked up a DeWalt Angle grinder and some cutoff wheels. It cut like butter. It took all of five minutes to get both angles cut.

Scuffed the angles as well as the other parts. Ready for priming tomorrow.

Today’s Time (hours):	2.0
Finish kit (hours):	167.0
Total Time (hours):	901.0

Finished wiring the panel

Wired the GSU 25 ADAHRS.

Wired the G5 backup flight instrument.

Pilot side complete. I still have a bit of tidying up and lacing to do. But everything is wired.

Terminated all of the ground lines to the ground block.

Wired the PFD2 GDU 460.

I still need to install the fuse panel and wire it up. I also need to wire the GMU 11 in the wing and reconfigure the connectors at the wing roots. Then the wiring will be complete.

Today’s Time (hours):	7.0
Finish kit (hours):	157.0
Total Time (hours):	891.0