I started out today actually spending a little bit of time assessing and then making a decision on transferring my oil pressure sensor wires from the right-side firewall P10 connector —which is nearly all GRT EIS (Engine Info System) related wiring— to the left side P9 connector, which had about half the positions open.  The 14-pin P9 connector is the more robust “power” connector while the 28-pin P10 connector is all smaller wire D-Sub “signal” type connections.

But it does make sense physically since the P9 connector is just inches away from the oil pressure sensor block.  I just wanted to assess how “pure” my circuit logic should be with what wires are going to what components… no chaotic “Thunderdome” wanted in my GIB headrest/engine electronics bay!

My decision of course triggered updates of my firewall component diagram and connector detail sheets.  On my wiring diagram I just made a pen & ink change for now.

Out in the shop I first spent a little bit of time knocking out a good-to-do task that I picked up from some RV guys that they did on their Superior cold air plenum pipes: safety wiring the hose clamps to ensure they stay tightly secured.

I don’t know if these things have a history of loosening up, since I don’t see this much on standard air induction pipes on Lycomings… but it doesn’t hurt anything and may prove beneficial.  Monkey see, monkey do!

I then drilled a hole through the firewall just to the side of my GRT MAP sensor for a future CS screw that will serve as a “poor man’s” Clickbond to secure an Adel clamp that will in turn wrangle all the P10 connector wires.

To ensure I didn’t puncture or damage anything on the engine (e.g. the oil filter) I wedged some wood on the aft face of the firewall for my drilling op.

I have a number of Clickbonds on hand, but I was told by the Cozy Girrrls that they won’t be selling any more of them.  I could roll my own like Marco does, but I’m currently lazy and don’t want to spend the time doing that, so I will conserve them when and where I can.

I then installed the Adel clamp on the back wall of the GIB headrest/engine electronics compartment.

A bit closer shot of the Adel clamp here.  I’ll note that I positioned it to allow me to easily swap it out to a larger clamp if need be.

I then took a few minutes to clean up the layups on the lower corner nutplate tabs that I glassed last night.  I had already pulled the peel ply and here I’ve razor trimmed the excess glass plus gave the edges a quick sanding.  They’re much more secure now.

The next 6-7 hours were all focused on 2 things: First, the placement and securement of the engine side MAP manifold distribution block, which ties into cylinder #3, the P-Mag and the firewall forward 2x MAP sensors.

Starting out I wasn’t even sure if I was going to use the manifold block or simply use another Tee fitting as I did with the oil pressure sensors.  I spent a good 45 minutes trying different mounting locations on the engine mount, but this one gave me the most direct route from cylinder #3 to the firewall barbed pass-thru fitting, and thus the MAP sensors themselves (most direct & shortest route as per the Electroair manual).  I have to say that although this spot requires that I purchase a shorter 12″ -3 AN hose, it more than exceeds my requirements for placement and configuration.  I’m very happy with it.

The second target was knocking out prepping and terminating all the wires for the P9 firewall connector, including the 4 new oil pressure sensor wire additions.  I cut and terminated the wires for the oil pressure sensor first, added a small dab of Loctite to the screw threads and applied dielectric grease to the ring terminals before determining length, cutting and terminating CPC pins on the other ends of the wires.  Of course all the terminated ends were pull and continuity tested.

Three (3) of the wires utilizing my P9 firewall-transiting connector are from what was a fully enclosed single 3-wire cable (plug & cable shown) that goes to the Electroair Mag Timing Housing, which resides in the left magneto position on the engine accessory case.  These wires connect to the Electroair electronic ignition controller inside the GIB headrest.  Below you can see that I cut the 3-wire cable and terminated the individual wires with CPC pins.

For the B&C SD-8 backup alternator specifically I added added a length of white composite hi-temp sleeving before the wire-wrangling gray sleeving (secured in place by high-temp blue zip ties).  I also added an Adel clamp to one of the top studs on the SD-8 to secure these 2 big wires, and subsequently this entire new P9 connector cable.  I then cut the SD-8 wires to length and terminated them with CPC pins… which I’ll point out that were so large that I couldn’t employ my normal CPC connector terminal crimper.  I had to go old school and use the older style terminal crimper to get the job done.

I haven’t done any wiring on the P-Mag yet, but in order to complete the assembly of the P9 connector I crimped a CPC pin onto the end of a white 20 AWG wire (P-Mag “kill switch”) and blue 18 AWG wire (P-Mag power) and plugged them into their respective slots.  You can see these wires draped over the oil filter below… as well as the clearly completed engine-firewall “power” P9 connector.  It’s no perfect beauty queen as far as cables go, but it should definitely be functional and get the job done!

Here we have a shot of the pins inside the engine side of the P9 “power” connector. Again, P9 is a 14-pin connector and with the addition of the 4 oil pressure sensor wires I now have 3 positions open.

Here is the engine-side “power” cable & P9 connector terminated into the firewall side of the P9 connector.  Although the pressure from this somewhat stiff cable pulled the bottom of the taped firewall-side P9 connector up just a bit, this is very close to how the cable will run when connected.

To ensure that the clearance and configuration were both good, I then reinstalled the MAP distribution manifold onto the engine mount.  Before reinstalling the MAP manifold I gooped up the fittings and torqued them to specs.

However, once the MAP manifold was back in place I needed to tweak the P-Mag fitting (up/aft side) and the inboard 45º street elbow (that I stole from the sniffle valve… it’s getting a cleaner, upgraded fitting soon) that will connect the MAP distribution manifold to the MAP firewall pass-thru barb fitting.

I do need to add one more piece to this puzzle, and that’s a 3/16″ barb fitting with 1/8″ NPT threads into the 45º street elbow.  I should be able to pick up one of those tomorrow.  Here I installed a 1/8″ barb fitting just to show the configuration and how the tube will connect in a curved fashion between the firewall MAP barb port and the barb fitting on the engine MAP manifold.

So after a VERY long day/night, and with 2 very good target kills under my belt, I’m calling it a night.  Tomorrow I plan on working the fuel pressure sensor install before I then start making up some fuel and oil hoses.

I started off today by finally getting in touch with Matt at Custom Aircraft Parts regarding my exhaust pipes.  It sounds like there is a good a possibility that I may be able to send my stock pipes back for them to resale and then have them simply make another set for me that will be configured to fit my tight cowlings.  More to come on this of course.

I then called Electroair and thankfully they had the Molex connector and pins in stock that I need for my MAP Sensor, so I’ve got those on the way via UPS.

Next came immediate task #3 of 3 that I had written down from last night: find short 4-40 screws to mount the 9-pin D-sub connector to the GRT MAP sensor.  Well, another one of those shop/garage/house searches and I have no short 4-40 screws.  And I didn’t feel like chopping one short using the Dremel tool given these things need to less than a 1/4″ total.  I did find some 3/16″ brass 4-40 screws at a local hardware store (Lowe’s didn’t have any… shocker) that were perfect for my task.

Upon returning back to the shop I then set about to drill my other, right side engine electrical connector hole through the firewall.  I already had a 1/2″ hole down in this corner, which you can see lit up slightly at around the 7 O’clock position on my 1″ round duct tape hole position guesstimater.

Note the brown phenolic nutplate tab in front of the hole?  This prevented me from drilling the hole straight in.  So, I would either have to fill in my existing half inch hole with flox and drill a bit more inboard and up (45º from current hole) or drill from the outside in . . .

Which I chose to do.  This required me to use a flexible drill shaft with a 1″ hole saw, but I took my time and it actually did just fine.

I then temporarily taped the electrical connectors in place to check fit.  P9 is on the left (right in pic) while P10 is on the right (left in pic).  For P9 I’m repurposing the larger diameter hole (1.5″?) that I drilled in at a slight angle.  Once the P9 connector is mounted I’ll fill in the slight gap around the connector on the inside with fire block RTV.  Connectors and holes highlighted with green arrows.

Note the blue arrow in the middle.  The problem with building, then moving, building then storing your project for long lengths of time, then building and moving again is that you lose track of some of the more esoteric requirements for installing some components.  Case in point here: the Electroair manual discusses mounting their MAP Sensor on the firewall, where it would likely be attached to a grounded plane.  I called Electroair years ago and they actually prefer the MAP sensor NOT be mounted to the firewall, but on the cool side of it (makes sense, thus my call).  Per the manual, no ground plane in turn requires a supplemental case ground (this MAP sensor case is metal).  Did I remember this? NO!

The only reason why I picked up on this little detail was when I was reviewing my wiring diagrams to ensure the wiring was correct for both GRT and Electroair MAP sensors.  I had a note showing the Electroair MAP sensor case ground tying into the GRT MAP sensor ground wire before terminating into the D-Deck ground block.  This drove me to drill a small pilot hole and use a sheet metal screw to attach a small ring terminal to facilitate attaching a wire to the Electorair MAP sensor case for supplemental ground.

Here I’ve crimped a ring terminal to the end of a piece of black 22 AWG wire (that I cut off from the other end of the D-Sub ground wire) and solder-spliced it to the GRT MAP sensor ground wiring.  Again, this will provide a supplemental ground to the Electroair MAP sensor case.

I then covered the solder splice with heat shrink.  Ground mod wiring complete!

Mounting the GRT MAP sensor was a bit of one of those chicken-vs-egg scenarios… with the mounting holes behind the tube port on one side, and behind the D-sub connector on the other.  Speaking of the diminutive yet problematic D-Sub connector: I actually tried to mount a backshell on the 9-pin D-Sub connector earlier, but it wouldn’t fit into the hole on the plastic case.  I even trimmed the hole both top and bottom to allow it fit, but it would have required even more extensive trimming on the sides… so not really wanting a backshell mounted anyway (due to it’s space-sucking size) I chucked it.  The backshell would have of course negated the requirement for short 4-40 screws since they’re a part of that kit.

Once I got the nuts in place to secure the GRT MAP sensor, I then attached the tube on one side and the D-sub connector on the other.  With so little space off to the side I ended up using the little screwdriver/wrench tool from my Dremel Tool to tighten the D-Sub screws.

I then connected a short length of tubing connecting up the fitting from both MAP sensors to the through-firewall barb fitting.

Also in this pic, note that I cut and terminated the GRT MAP sensor ground and signal wires with a D-Sub pin and socket.  Only the power wire remains uncut.

Lastly, on each side I treated the raw wood edges of the electrical connector holes with raw epoxy.  I also wetted out the hole for the sheet metal screw that secures the Electroair MAP sensor case supplemental ground ring terminal and added a small dollop of flox on it before driving the screw in… this will help prevent the screw from rusting due to the moisture in the wood.  And finally, look at the bottom nutplate tabs which have a ply of BID each to secure them to the top of CS spar, replete with a small flox fillet each.  And of course peel plied.

Here we have the Electroair MAP sensor case supplemental ground 22 AWG wire attached to the metal case via a ring terminal and sheet metal screw.  I failed to get a shot of this before I mounted the GRT MAP sensor, so here it is.

I of course need to connect up the Electroair MAP sensor electrically to the Electroair controller with the incoming Molex connector, but beyond that the MAP sensors are mounted, plumbed and wired onto the cool side of the firewall.  Tomorrow I’ll work on the engine side of this system in an effort to finish up the entire MAP system.

I had planned on getting a lot more done today than I did but a couple social events, one involving food, had me somewhat close to the airport.  So I stopped by the hangar and spent about an hour finishing up the assembly of a roll-around tool cabinet.

I was getting my shop notes together after returning home when an old Air Force buddy called, who I haven’t talked to in ages.  So I spent some time catching up with him.

Finally out in the shop, I played hide and seek with parts that I haven’t seen in 5 years.  One being the 9-pin D-sub connector for the GRT MAP sensor, which I found after hunting around for only about half an hour [I have a bin where I keep all <ahem… most> of my wiring harnesses in labeled bags, but it wasn’t in there].

The Molex connector for the Electroair MAP sensor?  To be honest I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen it, and it wasn’t in any of the Electroair component boxes… which I’m fairly religious about leaving unused tidbits in their respective boxes until installed.  I have a big ziplock bag that has all the Molex connectors in it, including old ones that I’ve pulled off of components.  It wasn’t in there either.  Looks like I’ll be placing a call to Electroair to have them send me one out.

As I played my on-again, off-again parts hide-n-seek I took pics of the disassembly of the engine electronics components coming out of the GIB headrest.  As par usual on this bird, there is very little space to jam all this stuff into.  I starting by removed the rats nest of wires that are still awaiting termination and much-needed cable management.  I also grabbed the shop vac and cleaned up what I could, although each component will need to be wiped down to remove the dust as I reinstall it.

I then focused on removing the components of the B&C SD-8 backup alternator from the headrest.

I then assessed my final configuration and location for the 2 MAP sensors and the firewall barbed fitting pass-thru.  I had wanted a slightly different configuration with the tubing and the connecting barb fitting for the MAP sensor tubing, but the tubing coming off the Electroair MAP sensor is thicker and less amenable to being curved at a sharper angle.  So I left it as is and decided to put the barb fitting as far outboard of centerline as possible, but still somewhat close to the top of the CS spar.

After assessing internal headrest configuration and engine compartment firewall spacing, I decided to place the firewall-transiting MAP barb just a bit away from the left side engine wiring connector, P9, which itself is as far outboard to the left as possible.

With my hole drilled through the firewall, it was now time to prep the barb fitting for flox install into the firewall.  I’ll note that up until a few hours ago I had planned to install a double-sided stainless steel barb fitting that had a threaded area in the middle and a nut.  However, the threaded area and nut on each side would have required me to drill a bigger hole and thin down the firewall to have enough barb length on each side for decent gripping of the tube.

Plus, the OD of the stainless steel barb was a hair under than that of the barb fitting on the MAP manifold block, whereas this brass barb fitting is closer to the same OD.

I then whipped up a little bit of epoxy & flox and then floxed the barb fitting into the 15/64″ hole through the firewall.

I had the P9 connector on-hand as I had done some configuration checking with that earlier, so I held it in place against the firewall as I grabbed a shot of the freshly floxed-in-place firewall-exiting brass MAP barb fitting.

With at least something notable done on the build tonight, I went back into the house and spent another 30 minutes or so looking for the missing Electroair MAP Molex connector… but, alas, no joy!  So calling it a night.

Today I was able to knock out what I consider a significant milestone regarding the engine and this airplane build: I finally ground out a decent chunk of the lower right engine mount flange to provide access and clearance for the fuel feed hose from the engine driven mechanical fuel pump to the Fuel Injection Servo… more on that in a bit.

I think it was one of the quality experts of the 60’s or 70’s that said, “40% of work is rework.”  Well, as a nod to them I reworked putting the fuel injection servo fuel inlet fitting BACK on the left side.  I then safety wired the fuel inlet plug on the right side.

In addition, I mocked up the fuel line to get a good idea of where I can secure it with an Adel clamp and determined that when I create my mixture lever control cable bracket I will add a little tab that I’ll mount an Adel clamp on to secure the fuel feed hose.

I then spent a little bit of time doing more of a cleaning and aesthetics task on the motor.  The hose clamps they used on securing the rubber-type junctions between the cold air plenum and the cold air manifold pipes are way too long and I can see them vibrating around plus just looking ugly… to me anyway.

So I took an aluminum can and cut the middle area out, folded it over and used it as a protective backstop to lop of these excess, unsightly segments of hose clamps.

Here we have the left side of the engine with the hose clamps trimmed down.

And the hose clamps trimmed on the right side as well.  Much better IMO!

And here are the offending excess hose clamp pieces.  I weighed them out of curiosity and am getting a whopping 1/2 ounce of weight savings.

With my trusty Dremel Tool still plugged in with cutoff wheel installed, I tackled the big issue that has been nagging me since I mounted the engine to the engine mount… trimming away a good part of this flange at the lower right corner of the engine mount.  I’m not sure why the flange is there or what purpose it truly serves, clearly reinforcement of some type.  I’ll have to ask Randi & Chrissi someday why they added it… maybe it’s a Cozy thing.

Regardless, the aft inch of this flange was in the way and had to get removed in order to allow me to run the fuel feed hose OVER the top of this engine mount tube (the lowest horizontal tube in the pic below)… because there was about zero clearance when I ran the hose on the inside of the tube.  I’ll note that I also experimented with turning the fuel pump fitting upwards and running a 120º fitting, but the angle would have the hose really jammed up against this tube.  Also with the fuel pump fitting more vertical a 90º hose fitting would push the hose forward and I would either need to remove a much bigger chunk of this flange, or notch it in the center to allow the hose to traverse between these angled motor mount tubes.

Thus with the fuel pump fitting facing aft and a bit more horizontal, I can use my 90º fitting and come off it “sideways” to then drop over that last inch of tubing which again requires as minimal of flange removal as possible…. less work while maintaining the strength that that flange provides.

As you can see, I taped up a bunch of items in the surrounding area and covered others with shop rags.  I then cut into the flange and along the weld at the mount cross tube.

A couple of wiggles and the flange piece came out.  Now for some cleanup.

I used the Dremel tool some more to judiciously remove more of the remaining flange and weld steel in successive steps.

I then mounted the old hose —which I can’t use with the fuel injection servo facing aft— and checked the clearance… which there is some underneath the hose, but clearly the hose is touching on the front side (right) of it against the flange.

I then remarked the flange for a bit more trimming . . .

And again used the cutoff wheel on the Dremel to trim down the flange a bit more.

Ahh, much, much better… finally!  5 years later and I’m getting there… ha!

I then used some hand files to clean off the remaining raised steel.

And then applied a couple coats of primer.

Since the primer is dark gray, it took 4 coats of white paint to get the trimmed steel back to white.  I’m applying spray paint with a brush here so it doesn’t apply as well as if I sprayed it of course.  But it definitely is a good enough primer & paint job to keep corrosion at bay and make the mount look “normal” in a very inconspicuous area of the engine.

This was a huge task that really needed to be completed for a worry-free run of that fuel line.

With the white paint drying on the engine mount, I set my sights on another somewhat esoteric task that needed to be completed: the adding of a ground wire to the GRT oil pressure sensor (the bigger one on the left). I know a number of people braze a tab onto the oil pressure sensor, but since I don’t have any I thought I would try my luck at soldering the tab on… which I have read reports of folks doing as well.

However, the oil pressure housing proved to be nothing more than a big aluminum heat sink and the solder wouldn’t flow out nearly enough to secure the tab.  After just a few minutes I punted on this idea.

I knew I needed to run a ground wire to the Common terminal on my other (B&C) oil pressure sensor (for a backup oil pressure warning light and Hobbs Meter), which is isolated electrically from the rest of all the metal parts of this assembly —which a continuity check showed are all electrically connected.

Since I had my safety wire kit out for the fuel injection servo inlet fitting re-swap, I simply wound a length of wire around a small groove at the base of the B&C OP sensor and used my safety wire tool to twist the wire tight, around and into the groove at the base. I used 3 loops.  After adding some spiffy heat shrink, I then terminated the safety wire along with a 22 AWG black ground wire into a screw post fitting that I then secured via a screw to the Common terminal.

Voila! I piggy backed off the B&C oil pressure sensor ground circuit to provide the ground for the GRT oil pressure sensor on the opposite end.  As per one of our mantras in Bomb Squad: “if you ain’t cheatin’ you ain’t trying!” <wink>

I then mounted the oil pressure sensor assembly onto the engine mount frame just above the vernatherm on the left side.  The spacing was too tight for me to actually connect the front Adel clamp, but the configuration provided me with enough data to now know my next steps for creating the cross connect hose from this sensor block to the oil pressure out fitting on the engine accessory case.  Very good actionable intel here!

My last task of the evening was to crack open the GIB headrest to assess whether to run the Electroair coil pack wires through the firewall at either point A or point B.  Although point A was tight since it was right at the inside wall of the GIB headrest, I was able to knock down my drill bit diameter to a bare minimum required 3/8″ and drill at an angle.

I had removed the coil pack and before remounting it on the firewall I drilled out the corner Adel clamp holes to 1/4″ diameter.  I then remounted the coil pack with the Adel clamp mounted in place as well.  I then ran the wiring bundle through the firewall into the GIB headrest where the majority of my engine electronics reside.

Another task off the list as I inch closer to finalizing this engine install!

And yep, it was late, so I called it a night and headed into the house for yet another late dinner.

I started off today by finalizing yet another ACS order, trying not to miss anything since they seem to have the highest shipping costs on the planet.  I then pulled the trigger.

I also tried to get the exhaust pipe bubbas on the horn, but no joy there.

I did do a bit of research before heading out to the shop to start working on the fuel injection servo fuel lines, both the feed from servo to the spider, and the main hose coming from the mechanical fuel pump to the servo.

My intention was to make up (or modify) both fuel hoses and be done with all this by the end of the day.  However, real world configurations and angles have a way of messing up the initial plans we have about certain tasks once we dig in and unearth some facts.

That being said, within just a minute or two I realized that for the -4 hose between fuel servo and spider flow divider I would need a 45º hose end fitting to connect it to the servo outlet fitting.  I don’t have a 45º -4 hose end fitting, so on the to-buy list it went.

Pressing forward, I then SUMMARILY (Definition “suddenly, without discussion, without delay”) decided that as a prerequisite to working the fuel feed from the mechanical fuel pump to the fuel injection servo, I would swap the fuel input fitting on the servo from the left side to the right side.

Here we have the fuel inlet fitting on the left side of the fuel injection servo.

And the fuel inlet plug on the opposite side of the servo, over on the right.

The SilverHawk manual says to remove the inlet fitting first, along with the filter screen and spring behind it before removing the plug on the opposite side.  I did that here:

. . . and then removed the plug on the right side.

Note how you can see all the way through the servo body when all the fuel inlet fitting components are removed.

I then installed the plug on the left side, torqued it to specs and safety wired it in place.

I then installed the spring/screen and inlet fitting on the right side, and also torqued it to specs.

Whew… good job Wade!  Task complete . . .

or so I thought.

As the title of this blog states: “Bad assumption” . . .

I then started working on the fuel line that will feed the servo from the mechanical fuel pump.  After installing the old hose —which is too short for the now aft-facing servo— and making my initial observations and notes, I then turned to the other end of the hose.

But first, I’ll remind you all that the mechanical fuel pump is on the right forward side of the engine, so it makes total sense to have the fuel inlet of the servo on the same side. . . .

However, when I simply went to mock up how the fuel feed hose would attach to the servo’s fuel inlet fitting, I realized that no matter how I planned to route it, without getting ridiculous, I had a clearance issue with the servo throttle lever.

After a good bit of time pondering it, I then went inside and updated my Fuel Injection Servo mounting PowerPoint and printed it out since it has all my notes on installing the servo for each Course Of Action (this configuration is COA 2).  Back out under the engine, looking at and assessing different possible angles of how the throttle cable actuator arm would connect to the servo throttle lever, trying every possible machination, I finally came to the conclusion that I just needed to think outside the box.

What does “thinking outside the box” in this situation entail?  Well, the answer is a simple and interesting one: MOUNT THE FUEL FEED HOSE TO THE SERVO FUEL INLET ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE SERVO!  (Where, I’ll note, there is NO clearance issue with the servo fuel mixture lever).

Doh!

Ok… so to get my hose end fittings & components in hand as quickly as possible I then went back into the house to spend a good hour researching and finding the best components for my requirements before pulling the trigger on a Summit Racing order.

Back out in the shop I dumped the fuel servo hose project completely for now and focused on another task: the routing for the wire cable coming out of the Electroair electronic ignition coil pack going through the firewall.

Now, I will have 2 separate CPC connectors —one on each side of the firewall near the upper mounts— through which nearly all the engine-related wiring will traverse the firewall.  Again, the pair of connectors is to help in maximizing my personal requirement of making engine removal and mounting as pain & trouble free as possible.

But then why are these wires going straight through the firewall?  That’s due to the Coil Pack being mounted directly to the firewall.  When you think about it, clearly the coil pack stays in place when the engine is removed, so the wires won’t/can’t go through either connector if this is the case… the wiring has to be separate from the other connector wires and thus hardwired through the firewall.

Now back to the story at hand.  On my firewall passthrough diagram I have the wire pass-thru hole shown on the bottom edge of the coil pack.  However, with real word physical constraints rearing their ugly head once again, the wire bundle is simply too thick and rigid for me to be able to radius it to go into a hole at the bottom.  It has to go either along the top long edge at point “A” or at the top short edge at point “B”.  I’ll figure out which wire pass-thru point is best over the next day or two (as well as swap the servo inlet fitting back to the left side!).

So with a lot of background research, etc. compared to actual little in-shop work done today, I called it a night and headed out for a late dinner.

I started out today by working on the installation and configuration of the external vernatherm.  The install seemed cut and dry at first, but when I mocked up the oil cooler position I realized that I needed to twist the vernatherm with the aft/upper side moved inboard and the other side vice versa…. not much mind you, but enough to be noticeable.

To twist the external vernatherm into place, I simply remounted the bolt on the aft Adel clamp so that the tab of the vernatherm sat inboard of the aft Adel clamp, while it remained outboard of the forward Adel clamp.  This was just enough of a twist I need to better align the hoses going to/from the oil cooler.

I’ll note that I also spent a good bit of time back in the house diagramming out 2 different install configurations for the external vernatherm, with the second install option possibly needing to be implemented to get the oil lines optimized going in & out of the engine accessory case. The primary difference between the two options is the first one —what I have now— has the end cap of the vernatherm facing upwards, while the second option would be to flip it over. This flips the hot (out) and cold (in) sides and would be implemented mainly to keep the hose run configurations optimized and out of each other’s way.

I’ll be able to determine which install configuration will be best when I remove the engine from the firewall to finalize the front of engine hoses, wiring, cooling tubes/brackets, sensor, fittings and components install… including hose and wire cable routing and securement.

I then focused on removing the current brass 3/4″ OD crankcase vent fitting to replace it with a 5/8″ OD aluminum crankcase vent fitting.

However, I ran into a slight issue with this task.  Interestingly the 3/4″ OD hose fitting uses a 3/4″ socket/wrench, while the new 5/8″ OD hose fitting requires a 15/16″ socket/wrench. Clearly to torque the new fitting to specs I needed a 15/16″ deep socket… so out I went again for a multi-hour tool and hardware run.

Upon returning back to the shop, I promptly removed the brass 3/4″ OD fitting and installed the new aluminum 5/8″ OD fitting after gooping up the first few rows of threads (from the second thread in of course).

If you’re wondering why the swap, I’m going old skool and using a 5/8″ tube ran along the right exhaust pipes to carry out any engine crankcase vapor.  Previously I was going to use a Slime-Fighter but decided against it… and, you guessed it!  The Slime-Fighter uses a 3/4″ OD connection.

I then took a little bit of time to knock out what I should have done weeks ago: install the cylinder desiccant plugs.  Nuff said.

My next task was to trim a bit of an angled edge on the oil quick drain fitting.  I marked this up while the SCEET tubing was in place.  This specific trim will do 2 things.  First, it will provide clearance between the oil quick drain fitting and the SCEET tube.  Second, it will allow me to slide a tube onto the oil quick drain fitting to drain the oil during oil changes.

Before I got started trimming the inboard edge of the oil quick drain fitting, I figured it would be a great time to drill a 1/16″ hole in the handle of the oil quick drain to allow me to safety wire this sucker closed to ensure all is good during flight.  As you can see by the arrows, the safety wire will spiral up for one loop around itself and then be secured to the bottom of the engine oil pan.

After my drill job, I then prepped the area for trimming the oil quick drain fitting by duct taping a piece of wood behind (“forward”) of the oil quick drain fitting.

I then spent about 10 minutes with the Dremel Tool trimming the inboard lower edge of the oil quick drain fitting at approximately a 45º angle.

Here’s another shot of the oil quick drain trimmed at an angle.

I then took a bit of time (and heat) to back out the lower left stud that I had previously installed into the Superior cold air plenum.  I had drove this stud in just a bit too far, and needed to back it out about 0.2″… with a good application of heat and tripling up the nuts on the stud I was able to get it backed out.

I then cleaned up the plenum-to-FI servo interface and placed a gasket in position.

I then remounted the air induction system for another test fit.  As you can see, it’s all fitting pretty darn well [Note the orange torque seal on the SCEET tube adapter hardware].

And here’s a shot of that trimmed oil quick drain… nice and clear of the SCEET tubing!

And with that folks, I called it a night!

Although I got no real traction, today was actually all about working my exhaust pipe issues with the clearance they have with the lower cowling.  I attempted to contact Clinton at Custom Aircraft Parts a few different times today to discuss my exhaust pipes but never got in touch with him.  So I sent an email.

I then focused on other areas of the engine.  First, I finalized the install of the SCEET tubing adapter I machined that allows me to attach the SCEET tubing from the Fuel Injection Servo air induction tube to the RAM air can.

I first trimmed the corners of the SCEET tubing adapter to match the chamfered corners of the interfacing RAM can mounting plate.  I then spent a little bit of time wet sanding the face of the adapter with 220 grit sandpaper to clean it up considerably so that it looks presentable… don’t want sloppy looking engine components!

Using new stainless steel screws, I then mounted the SCEET tubing adapter to the RAM can mounting plate.  I first installed a gasket, and with Loctite on the threads I torqued the nuts to spec.

Here we have the inside of the RAM can mounting plate.  Note the machined bellmouth inlet where the air enters the SCEET tubing.  And although not highly visible, there is knurling around the outer edge of the vertical raised portion to grip the inside rubber flange of the K&N filter.  This rubber flange is what drives the requirement to use countersunk screws here since there’s no room nor clearance for standard nuts or bolts.  Speaking of nuts, since these are course threads on the 82º countersunk screws, I’m using Grade 8 nuts here.

With the ever present tight clearances in the engine compartment, the same of course applies here.  I mounted the SCEET adapter in a diamond configuration so what would be the top right screw/nut does not interfere with the oil quick drain.  I’ll point out that this is the first time in recent pictures that the hose clamp securing the K&N filter rubber flange to the RAM air can mount is visible… since I just put it back on.

[Note that even the oil quick drain will get a bit of a trim on the bottom inboard edge where about 0.3″ will be removed at a ~45º angle to allow clearance with the SCEET tube PLUS allow sliding on tubing whenever oil drains are completed].

I then remounted the SCEET tubing and Fuel Injection Servo air induction tube to the RAM air can with a slight adjustment to the SCEET tubing placement (this is a recycled photo from yesterday… I didn’t take a new one).

I spent a good portion of the day building some of the final (hopefully!) buy lists for fittings, etc. and perusing a few local “Aviation Parts Depots” (aka Hardware Stores) looking for a couple of NPT fittings. I guess the supply chain issue is still in play with some stuff because I just refuse to pay $30 + way bloated shipping costs for an aluminum fitting on ACS (that cost less than $10 a couple years ago) when I can slip an extra 90º brass street elbow into the mix for less than $5 to get to the same end result.

I then pulled out all my thread goop (Permatex #2, Permatex Thread Sealant with PTFE, Loctite 567, etc.) and torque sheets and got to work building, first, my external vernatherm (lower left in pic below) and then the oil pressure sensor block (upper right, same pic).

I used lower profile brass NPT reducer fittings on the vernatherm since these brass guys significantly minimize the width of this entire assembly (space is gold).  Admittedly the torque listed on the vernatherm instruction sheet was 28 ft lbs, and I only got that on two before they bottomed out, while the other couple were within 2-3 ft lbs of that.  I’ll keep my eye on these to ensure they don’t back out over time, but I’m confident that they are solidly installed.  I then gooped up the threads and installed 3 straight nipples and one 45º to connect up the oil lines.

The 2 holed flanges on the opposite side of the vernatherm are drilled out for 1/4″ bolts.  Thus, I took two -9 Adel Clamps and drilled out the holes to 1/4″ as well and further assessed that I need two AN4-6A bolts for installing the vernatherm via the Adel Clamps onto the lower left cross brace of the engine mount.

I then gooped the threads and installed both of my oil pressure sensors into a Tee fitting that will connect up to the engine oil pressure port (with a restricted fitting installed).  I of course torqued these guys to spec.  The final connecting fitting on the Tee will most likely be 90º (remember this is pressure, not liquid flow) and will be determined when I go final as I optimize the hose connection configuration.

Why 2 oil pressure sensors?  Well, the big silver colored guy is for the GRT Engine Info System and will display oil pressure on my EFIS displays.  The smaller black OP sensor on the right side is from B&C and has both NO/NC connections on it with either of those circuits closed depending on whether there is oil pressure or not.  When there is oil pressure (clearly engine is running) then the closed circuit drives a Hobbs meter.  When there is NO oil pressure then the other side circuit closes and lights up a separate <non-EFIS> “Oil Pressure” warning light on my AG6 warning annunciator.

Finally I’ll note that I’ll be mounting the oil pressure sensor block onto the frame of the engine mount, to facilitate much faster and easier removal of the engine whenever that might be required.  Further still, I actually had the oil pressure sensors installed into a 3-port manifold block, but that proved much more cumbersome to mount onto the engine mount frame… so I punted and went with the Tee fitting.

Tomorrow I’ll continue to work sensor blocks, fuel and oil hoses, etc. as I work to get resolution on my exhaust pipes.

Today I finally knocked out another big milestone on this airplane build: I’ve completed the major glassing (ok, with carbon fiber) and construction of the Fuel Injection Servo air induction tube.

I started off by marking the 1/16″ thick G10 mounting plate while it was still test mounted onto the FI servo so that I could outline the inlet hole on the servo.  The inlet on the FI servo is about 2.3″ wide while I measured the ID of the air induction tube at just under that.

Here we have my original marking with a 2.25″ diameter circle drawn inside of that from a template.

I then used a 2.25″ hole saw to cut the hole out, and after cleaning it up I then test fitted it back onto the FI servo.  I don’t remember if I’ve covered it or not, but you may wonder why I never install the top right bolt… it’s because there is a plastic zip tie that runs through that hole that secures the throttle lever arm.  Why don’t I cut it?  Because according to Alan at Precision Airmotive, the fuel acts as a lubricant to the internal parts and actuating the levers with no fuel can create friction and internal debris in the servo… so now you know!

After an initial center alignment, I then duct taped the G10 mounting plate to the air induction tube on the inside corner.  I then mounted the assembly to align the mounting bracket with the induction tube (and the tube to the RAM air can) before laying up all the carbon fiber.

My initial alignment wasn’t too far off, but I did need to move it a solid Sharpie line width counter clockwise (bottom tube part to right).

With the G10 mounting bracket in place where it needed to be to have the induction tube situated correctly, I then whipped up some 5-min glue and dabbed some into place at the junction of the mounting plate and induction tube… in 4 spots.

After the 5-min glue cured I spent a good 45 minutes cutting out carbon fiber pieces for a total of 5 separate layers of carbon fiber.  Some layers had 4 pieces, some had 2 while the final layer I planned to have only one ply of carbon fiber.

I then whipped up some epoxy and some flox.  I added a flox fillet around the corner junction of the mounting plate and induction tube before laying up the first layer of carbon fiber, which was actually 4 separate pieces (overlapping at the corners).  By the time I got to my 3rd layer I realized that with the overlaps —which I had attempted be in different spots with each layer— I was getting a lot more than a single ply per layer.  In fact, with the overlaps I was getting close to one extra ply of carbon fiber per every 2 layers I laid up.

With this being the case, I decided to forgo the final one-ply layer and stop at 4 layers… again, very close I observed to around 6 plies of carbon fiber.  I think that will do the trick!  I then of course peel plied the layup and trimmed the excess carbon fiber at the edges.  I then let it cure (Yep, I again used fast hardener).

While the external layup of the air induction tube mounting flange cured, I then investigated the front side of the RAM air can mounting flange.  There’s very little clearance with the rubber mount that it seats into, so I figured there had to be countersunk screws for securing whatever mounting bracket goes onto it… in my case the SCEET mounting adapter.

In fact, the RAM air can even came with 1/4″ CS screws (silver, in front) for this purpose. Unfortunately these screws were simply way too short for the job.  So I ran to Lowe’s to grab some test screws and also did a quick round of food shopping.  When I returned I mounted up my SCEET mounting bracket to the RAM air can mounting plate.

Here it is from the other side.  This tells me that even with a gasket in place these 3/4″ screws will be the right length.

A little while later I determined that the carbon fiber securing the G10 mounting flange to the air induction tube was cured and ready for trimming with the Fein saw.  After I trimmed off the excess carbon fiber, I then re-drilled the 4 corner 1/4″ mounting holes.

I left the peel ply in place for the time being since I didn’t want any epoxy to seep down from the mounting flange front side layup and gunking stuff up.

Curiosity got the best of me and I had to test mount the new and improved air induction tube, replete with its own mounting bracket!

Here we have a couple more angled shots of the air induction tube mounted to the Fuel Injection Servo via the glassed in place mounting flange.

It was now time to finish this puppy!  I used my Dremel Tool with a sanding drum to carefully clean up the edges of the G10 mounting flange hole and also slightly reduce down the first 1.5″ of the wall inside the hole.  I also added a radius at the edge of the mounting plate going into the tube.

Once again I found myself in the realm of compromises… I wanted and initially had planned to lay up 2 plies of carbon fiber on the front face of the mounting flange, but realized that I risked adding just a bit too much thickness to the interior sidewall —thus reducing the tube ID— and, moreover, I would then have to contend with at least 2 plies (actually 4 since I had to cut the plies at least in half to get down into the tube) on the fairly sharp radius at the edge of the mounting flange hole going into the tube.

After pondering it a bit, I ascertained that I had essentially 6 plies of carbon fiber on the outside of the flange with 4 bolts securing both those 6 plies and the G10 flange to the FI servo… this mitigated in my mind the importance of these 2 plies and I decided that one ply would do just fine.  Yes, the airflow —which this is all about— won out while I still of course think I have all the strength and robustness I need to secure the air induction tube to the FI servo.

With that, I used 2 pieces of carbon fiber to lay down a single ply covering the entire front face of the mounting flange and into the induction tube about 1.5″ deep.

After peel plying both the internal tube carbon fiber and front face of the mounting flange, I then trimmed the carbon fiber around the edges.  I then taped up one side of the original 3D printed mounting flange mockups with clear packing tape and clamped it in place to compress the carbon fiber on the front face of the actual mounting flange.

Here’s a closer shot of the mounting flange front face peel plied carbon fiber layup being compressed in place with a clamped 3D printed mockup.

Once again I used MGS with fast hardener so about 3+ hours later I was able to remove the clamps, re-drill the mounting holes, razor trim the overhanging carbon fiber, pull the peel ply and clean up the layup.

Here’s a couple of other shots at different angles of the air induction tube mounting bracket and tube carbon fiber layup.

I also pulled the peel ply and cleaned up the exterior mounting flange layup I did earlier.  I then mounted the finished air induction tube onto the Fuel Injection Servo.  Not bad!

Here’s a closer shot of the mounting flange/bracket.

And a shot of it all more from the side…. If the angle looks a bit odd between the RAM air can and the 6061 SCEET adapter on the front of the air induction tube that’s because it is.  Optimally the air induction tube would swoop down and then curve up slightly to have the 6061 tube staring directly at the RAM air can SCEET adapter.

The issue once again is the clearance with the bottom cowling, which required me to keep the air induction tube as high up as possible.  At the very front I snuck a 5º down curve (3º would have probably been best) which will produce a slight curve in the SCEET tubing, but the angles match much better than just keeping the front of the air induction tube straight.

I then grabbed some free standing shots of the finished Fuel Injection Servo air induction tube.

This shot shows down the gullet a little bit . . .

And one last shot… again, at some point I’ll hit the carbon fiber with some type of epoxy clear coat to make the carbon fiber sizzle and pop (even though it’s in the engine compartment… need bragging rights!).

As an fyi, this induction tube presently weighs about 3/4 lbs.  Which is actually 1/10th of a pound lighter than just ONE of my original 90º aluminum bolt-in elbows.  So not too shabby on the weight either.

As a reminder, here is my original rendered CAD model of this thing… not a too far off outcome if I do say so myself.

It’s been a super long day and a super long evening… and with that folks, I’m calling it a night!

I started off today by pulling the peel ply from the carbon fiber patches on the sides of the now reconstructed air induction tube.  I also pulled the peel ply from the flox inlaid into the narrow channels on the internal walls.  I then cleaned everything up.

I then attached the 2.5″ diameter 6061 segment of tubing to the lower front of the air induction tube using duct tape internally to secure it in place.

I then laid up 2 plies of carbon fiber to secure the 6061 tube segment to the front of the air induction tube.  The carbon fiber overlaps onto the both the 6061 tube and the air induction tube by around 1.6″ each side.

I then peel plied the carbon fiber securing the 6061 tube segment to the front of the air induction tube, and gave it a few hours to cure (I again used fast hardener).

A few hours later I pulled the peel ply and cleaned up the carbon fiber layup and edges.

I then took the air induction tube outside and very aggressively sanded the entire carbon fiber surface of the entire tube.

Once back inside I mounted it to my elevated work plate to allow me to layup the final ply of carbon fiber onto the actual tube portion of this air induction conduit (obviously I still need to attach the mounting plate).

To ensure that air induction tube wins out with any possible clearance fight with the lower cowling, I first added a small strip of Kevlar along the aft bottom center of the tube.

I then origami’d the single ply of carbon fiber to allow me to lay all of it up in one shot for the final securing of the air induction tube.

Yes, the layup is a little wet, for a few reasons.  First, I wanted to ensure all the carbon fiber was wetted out well, which is a bit tougher to tell than when wetting out E-glass BID or UNI.  Next, since I planned to peel ply the majority of this layup, less than half will stay as wet as it is showing here.  Finally, I was using fast hardener so I was working at a fairly rapid pace.

The bottom line is that I’m willing to accept a 2-3 gram weight penalty for getting this air induction tube’s final carbon fiber ply laid up and cured in expedited fashion.

I then peel plied the ‘glassed’ air induction tube by wrapping all of the straighter parts while only peel plying the seams on the curve.

Once cured enough —over 3 hours later— to remove the peel ply, I removed it and cleaned up the edges.

Tomorrow I plan on attaching the square mounting plate to the top tube.

I’ll note that once the entire air induction tube assembly is completed, I’ll hit it with some type of epoxy clear coat to make the peel plied areas pop with that awesome carbon fiber weave on display.

And with a rather successful day under my belt, I called it a night!