Category: Firewall Forward

I marked the location of the snap vents on the wind shield. I decided that installing the snap vents would be easier than the NACA vents in the fuselage.

Third times a charm?! I was still not happy with the fuel line routing/bending so I decided to try once more. I was very careful to avoid any uphill bends under the fuel tank. While the line runs downward on an angle when the fuselage is level, the line will move more towards the horizontal when the plane is in a steep climb. I had to put a slight upward bend in the portion under the tank but for the most part the joggle bend is horizontal. Forward of the firewall the line runs only down hill. This time I’m pretty happy with the outcome. 

I also notched the bracket for the gascolator so that the gascolator could be removed without removing the bracket once the fitting was installed. I installed the plug in the gascolator but I still need to use some lock wire on them and the cotter pin the fasteners.

I worked on finishing the gascolator end of the fuel line. I started by shortening the line until it was the appropriate length to flare. Next I flared the line an checked the fit up. I’m not too happy with the routing inside the fuselage under the gas tank. I have a short segment that may be uphill when the plane is in a climb. I’d like to eliminate this if possible.

Today I went back to work on the firewall installing the bracket for the gascolator. There has been much talk about not using this but I’m going to give it a try along with insulating the fuel line so that I don’t get vapours causing hick-ups.

I installed the engine mount today. I applied a couple of dabs of touch-up paint inside the lower mounting flanges/boxes where the paint was nicked by my previous drilling of the mounting holes. Next I spent some time working out the required grip length. Based on my shim thicknesses and the other materials I used S99 for the lower and S100 for the upper mounting bolts. I installed the washers and nuts and torqued to 6o in-lbs.

Today I spent some time completing the countersinks for the motor mount fasteners. I was careful to clamp each set of holes and left the shims and motor mount in place. The shims and the clamps helped keep things from moving so I could get nice countersinks. After completing the countersinks I up drilled the holes to 1/4 inch for the fasteners. I had sized the fasteners to get the correct grip but I discovered that the fasteners for the two bottom holes were actually too long and interfered with the tubes for the gear legs. I’ll have to pick a new fastener length for these.

I started to counter sink the motor mount angles on the fuselage but I damaged the first one I drilled. So, I made a new left hand upper motor mount bracket today. I guess this is why they bolt in.

Today I worked on up drilling the holes for the motor mount to 3/16 inch. I intend to use my 3/16 inch pilot 100 degree countersink in my microstop to countersink the holes then I’ll up drill to 1/4"