Since I know I’m off my engine removal schedule by a day or two, while I await the fittings to finalize the fuel/oil lines I worked on something that I want to get done as a self-perscribed prerequisite to drilling the 3-1/8″ hole in the firewall for the RAM air canister: mounting the ANL40 fuse link and base.

If you recall, after much consideration I modified my starter and charging circuit design by separating out the B-Lead into its own dedicated cable and by moving all the associated components to the nose-located battery compartment as such.

However, even though this configuration has been implemented successfully (reportedly), I was never too keen on the ANL40 being so far removed from the line it was protecting.  I chalked it up to 2 things, made a mental note to assess it, and then pressed on.  Those 2 things were that A) Again, its working in a real-world install, and B) 10 feet is not a huge distance to electrons that travel the speed of light.

However, as I pointed out a couple of days ago, Bob Nuckolls reminded me of a core principal that I was not following in regards to my ANL40 Fuse Link location when he stated, “Recall that circuit protection is for WIRES . . . and that the protective device is installed as close as practical to the SOURCE of energy that puts the wire at risk.”

Again, as a result, my ANL-40 fuse link is going back on the firewall, on the hell hole side. However, instead of employing a 1/8″ thick x 1/2″ wide copper strip, I went with my optional configuration and am using 8 AWG cable to connect the forward (hell hole) stud of the Blue Sea terminal to one side of the ANL40 with the GRT EIS HALL EFFECT SENSOR placed in-between, then run the B-lead from the ANL40 forward to the battery contactor. Therefore, my new starting & charging circuit configuration now looks like this:

My 2 goals for the day were to install both the ANL40 base, fuse link, etc. and the GRT EIS Hall Effect sensor.

I started by ginning up a phenolic nutplate assembly with the same #10 screw pattern as the ANL40 base.  Since the fuse link sits in the middle of the 2 posts on the base, the only screws that can be used are countersunk screws.  Since I’m mounting the unit on the front face of the firewall I clearly can’t put nutplates on the aft firewall face, so I had to go with a in-Hell Hole surface mount solution.

Here’s the aft side of the ANL40 nutplate assembly.

And a couple shots of the nutplate assembly installed on the ANL40 mounting base.

To embed the nutplate assembly onto the forward firewall surface in the Hell Hole, I made a mounting pad for the ANL40 mounting base from 3/8″ PVC foam.

I then carefully carved out a notch for the nutplate assembly in the foam mounting pad.

Here’s a bottom shot of the foam mounting pad with the nutplate assembly installed.

I then used 3 plies of glass (BID/UNI/BID), prepregged, and glassed the ANL40 foam mounting pad with the nutplate assembly flocro’d into place (with all the typical pre-work: micro-ing foam, etc.).  Again, the mounting pad was glassed onto the forward side of the firewall in the hell hole.

Off topic a bit here, but as the layup above cured, I decided to finish off the elevator control rod by drilling a #10 hole and mounting an AN3-7A bolt into the hole (IRRC this is a Ken Miller mod….).  The bolt will be in addition to the clevis pin that secures the forward side of the elevator control rod to the aft side.

A few hours later I cleaned up the cured layup (yes, I used fast hardener) and test installed the 2 ANL40 base mounting screws.  I also trimmed the glass overhanging the existing firewall electrical package component holes and redrilled the upper holes for the mounting screws.

I then mounted the ANL40 base into place with the 2 countersunk screws.

And remounted all the firewall electrical package components (again, except for the ANL40, these are all temp mounts until the Fiberfrax and 6061 aluminum firewall cover are in place).  I uploaded both pics of this since they show a bit different viewing angles.

Being able to get a feel for the space between the Blue Sea B-Lead connector (it’s red) and the ANL40 base, I then got to work finalizing the GRT EIS Hall Effect sensor configuration.  I trimmed the long 8 AWG wire and terminated the Blue Sea connector end with a 3/8″ terminal.  I also labeled & trimmed the ground wire, then terminated it with a Fast-ON PIDG terminal.

I slipped on the white rubber boots, and Voila! Ready for install.

Since I’ve had the actual ANL40 fuse link for a number of years, there was a bit of tarnish on the metal blade connectors so I used a Scotchbrite pad and some white vinegar to clean them up a bit.

I then installed the ANL40 fuse link into its base, on top of the glassed-in foam mounting pad (with the embedded nutplate assembly) and then got busy connecting all the cables to their appropriate mounting lugs.

I also co-ran the red 14 AWG SD-8 backup Alternator power feed wire through the GRT EIS Hall Affect sensor a couple of passes (both the primary alternator B-Lead and the SD-8 backup power feed get passed through the Hall Effect sensor twice to place the readout scale on a 0-50 Amp scale vs a 0-100 Amp scale… the latter which I don’t need since my primary alternator only puts out 40 Amps max).

The route of the electrons is this: Alternator current runs via B-Lead to the firewall side of the Blue Sea pass-thru connector (red fitting), then on the inside of the Blue Sea pass-thru a cable runs to the right post (in pic below) of the ANL40 fuse link VIA 2 passes through the Hall Effect sensor donut.  Then, from the ANL40 left post (again, as depicted in pic below) an 8 AWG B-Lead cable carries the current up to the nose, connecting to the Master Battery Contactor (as depicted in my updated diagram way up there ↑).

Here’s a closer up shot of the installed ANL40 Fuse Link.

In addition, you can also note that I used a decent sized piece of heat shrink to seal and cinch up all the wiring going through and wrapped around the Hall Effect sensor donut.  It may seem like the Hall Effect sensor is left to sway to-and-fro in the wind, but with the robust 8 AWG cable securing it in place, and the amount of force I had to apply to get both terminal ends in place (not excessive, but it’s tight) …. that puppy ain’t budging!

Another angled shot of the ANL40 fuse link for the alternator’s B-Lead feed and the GRT EIS Hall Effect sensor . . . plus note the additional “big” wire runs that are deemed big enough to hang out and traverse the fuselage with the big yellow cables.

And a final parting shot for the evening.

Tomorrow I’ll continue to work my tail off to get all the engine & firewall components/hoses installed, ID’d, configured, and/or mounted AND data collected before I pull the engine off the fuselage.  [I will note that I baked 2 batches of pinkish colored desiccant to refresh the engine dehydrator].

I started off this morning inventorying a much-needed order from ACS that I just received. Included in the order was -20 sized Adel clamp for the fuel filter, that I immediately pressed into service.  I cleaned the fuel lines fore and aft of the fuel filter then mounted them “permanently” (albeit servicing will occur…yes) to the filter, as well as permanently mounted the origin of the incoming line of the fuel filter (on left in pic below) at the FT-60 Red Cube fuel flow transducer.

I also received the 45° -6 AN bulkhead pass-thru for the fuel line and a 45° -8 AN bulkhead pass-thru for the oil heat return line.  I finished drilling out those pass-thru holes to size and mounted the fittings through the firewall.  As you can see I then mounted the fuel line and the oil heat return line to the 2 new firewall pass-thru fittings.  To be clear, these pass-thru connections are NOT permanent installs at this point since they’ll need to be removed when the Fiberfrax and 6061 aluminum sheet cover get mounted to the firewall face.

Here’s a firewall shot of the 45° -8 AN pass-thru for the oil heat return line and the 45° -6 AN fuel line bulkhead pass-thru.

I then gathered up all the accouterments that I needed to make up some engine compartment stainless steel braided hoses with hose ends.  Here’s the first hose I made, which is a -8 hose for the oil heat oil return line.

I then made up a -6 hose for the main fuel line feed to the fuel pump.  One thing I honestly didn’t count on mentally was how SHORT these hoses would turn out based on the confined space of the engine compartment.  I mean, really, the actual length of the hose component of the oil heat oil return line is only 3.7″ long!  Crazy!

Since I had all the stuff out to make hoses I went ahead and terminated some ends ahead of time, like this hose end for the fuel pressure sensor line with the 90° hose end fitting on it.  I was going to do the fuel pump side hose end on the fuel line that goes to the fuel injection servo, but realized I had a head space/timing issue (Browning 0.50 cal reference there) when I ordered the fitting and apparently the fine print said for PTFE hoses only…. oops and dammit!  Ok, another hose end fitting order coming up!

I also attached a hose end fitting to the -8 oil line hose stock and –unrelated– installed the upper fuel spider hose end fitting to the -4 hose that will go from the fuel injection servo to the fuel spider.

Here you can see the hose peeking out the bottom of the engine.  I’ll of course cut this hose to length and terminate it with a -4 AN hose end fitting once the fuel injection servo is set in its final configuration.

I know the bottom shot is a little blurry, but it’s a decent view of the 2 hoses I just made up today.

And another one from below the engine, at the bottom of the firewall.

I also worked for a couple of hours in assessing the bottom engine area, to include the location of the oil heat sump feed line, the oil drain valve, the fuel injection servo, air intake elbows, and the RAM air intake.  Believe me, there was a lot of musical chairs going on in setting up the configuration (read: major configuration changes) to even begin to work.  I even had to pull out the lower cowling and mock install it a number of times to check for clearances.  Not surprisingly, there is just so LITTLE space for everything to get crammed in there, and I had to resort to a myriad of small, constant changes to even being to get close to the configuration I want.

One immediate change (that I was allowing for) that happened after ascertaining the amount of clearance between the lower cowling and the cold air intake tubes is that I moved the alternator and starter power wires to traverse the engine heading forward on the inboard side of the cold air intake tubes vs the outboard/lower side.

So . . . the air induction system should become much clearer over the next week and I will definitely share more as it all unfolds.

I’ll be heading down to Marco’s for a very short 2-day trip and when I return I really want to finalize the firewall aft configurations and get the engine back off the fuselage and onto it’s engine stand.  Moreover, I plan on starting on the canopy and nose at the end of next week.

The fuselage that is . . .

I did some major spring cleaning on my shop today, pulled a ton of stuff that I had buried against the wall that all in all still stole away 2 feet of depth on that side.  Long before I got in deep into custom motorcycle or airplane building, I did a lot of woodworking.  So I have a fair amount of nice wood that all went into the back room awaiting transport down to NC.

I also removed a couple of high shelves and the 4 padded hooks I had up high for the canard, since it won’t be going back up on those hooks.

After a number of hours I was finally ready to move the fuselage out and put it back in the shop nose first.  Here’s some pics of that short trek.

And a head on view of the fuselage’s new setting for a good while.

And an aft view.

Saturday I received an order from B&C with my engine ground strap, a couple of oil filters and a couple of the shorter Gates 7312 alternator belts.  Before I got to moving the engine around I went ahead and slipped a new alternator belt into place.

Another shot of the new alternator belt in place.

Before I mounted the engine mount to the engine, I reviewed my notes.  One Canardian had a trick he swears by using a “silver bullet” . . . You start with a standard 7/16″ bolt.

Chop the head off and grind it into a bullet looking pin.  Now, he said 2-3″, but I don’t know what engine he was installing.  The concept is simple, use the silver bullet to align the last two Lord rubber vibration dampener assemblies (one at a time) to the engine mount holes and then press the actual bolt in behind it, pushing the silver bullet out the other side.

The concept works great, but for an 320 case I think 1.5″ is the max length you can use since there’s not enough clearance on the other side.  The one I made is about 2-5/8″ long and would get blocked from coming out the other side by some part of the engine.

So I didn’t use the silver bullet, but installing the engine mount to the engine versus mounting the engine to the engine mount with the latter pre-mounted to the firewall made it EZ enough anyway (albeit, still a ton of the usual fiddling about).

I had bought 4 castle nuts to use but I will say that I’m wimping out on using these at every point, especially under cylinder #4…. no way.  So I put a mini-order in with ACS for two AN363-720 lock nuts as called out for in the Long-EZ plans.

Also, for a newb like me, I was concerned at first that my AN7-35A engine mount bolts weren’t long enough since I couldn’t get a thread showing until I compressed the installed dampener mounts a bit with squeezes clamps.  However, in the end I needed to put 2-3 washers on to keep the cotter pin hole within the castellated part of the nut and not end up well past it when all was properly torqued (450-500 in-lbs).

I really don’t like doing things twice if I can avoid it, and I was going to make every attempt to make this engine mount install onto the motor my last one.  But alas, it was not meant to be.  While doing a good round of patting myself on the back for a job well done … haha! I noted that fuel pump looked awfully close to the engine mount… REALLY close as a matter of fact.  Well, when I tried to thread in the FUEL OUT fitting onto the pump the engine mount wasn’t having any of it.

Thus the engine mount will have to come off at least once more AND I have to buy another 90-150 degree extended fitting (which means steel now) to get by that engine mount reinforcement tube.  It will be a really tight fit, but if the fitting goes in first I don’t foresee any clearance issues . . . again, just all really tight (but then again, we’re talking about a Long-EZ here!  Everything is really tight clearances…)

Tomorrow I’ll work more on getting the engine mounted to the firewall to get a ton of much needed data . . . which, as was evident tonight, I already am!

I had to run some errands today so I didn’t get into the shop until late afternoon.

My goal today was to finish the last bit of scheduled layups on the wheel pants.  So unless some odd requirement pops up for extra glass on the wheel pants, this should be the last of any fiberglass layups that I’ll need to do on these wheel pants.

I started by assessing the tire clearance with the left wheel pant.  I needed to do some judicious trimming in the front and along both sides, but the back side was a completely different story.  Since I had originally miscalculated the forward positioning of the front wheel pant, the result was that I ended up cutting the aft side of the wheel opening way too big, with over an inch extra gap for the tire.

Thus, as far glassing was concerned, my goal was to reinforce all the side and front edges with 2 plies of BID, as Gary Hertzler calls out for in the install instructions.  What Gary doesn’t specify is the width of the reinforcement glass, so I planned for 2 plies of BID at 3/4″ wide.  As I said, the aft edge was a different story and needed a fair bit of glass to fill it back in. So I prepregged all the glass and got started.

I then laid up the interior reinforcement BID for the left side wheel pant (shown farther below).  As the left side glass layups cured, I then assembled the right side wheel pant onto the gear and mounted it using nothing but screws (no Clecos).

I then assessed and determined the wheel opening spacing requirements with the tire.  I cut and prepregged the BID for the right side just as I did on the left side, and then laid up the reinforcement BID around the wheel opening in the right wheel pant.

Here’s a shot of the left and right front wheel pant halves’ tire opening reinforcement BID.

And the same thing on the aft side, only with some filler glass on the aft end of both rear wheel pant halves.  As you can see, the aft side wheel pant tire opening on the left required a lot more filler glass than the one on the right side.  Once the filler glass cures, I’ll cut it in an oval-type/rounded-corner rectangle fashion for wheel clearance.

After the last bit of glassing on the wheel pants, I then took a break for some chow.  When I returned to the shop I then spent about 2 hours organizing and cleaning the shop in prep for bringing my wings back inside, flipping the fuselage around so that it’s situated in the shop nose in… opposite of what I have now.  In addition, tomorrow I plan on mounting the engine to the firewall to mockup the firewall pass thru fittings, hoses and electrical connections.

I started out the day by updating my wheel pants (or “spats”) task list before heading down to the shop.  My plan was to get to the point I could knock out a few layups on the wheel pants then roll into finalizing the shop reorganization… with the wings inside and the fuselage having done an about face.  But that didn’t happen.

What did happen was a whole lot of mini-tasks getting completed on the wheel pants, which of course has moved the completion bar to I’d say the mid-90% area (excluding finishing of course).

My first task of the day was to trim down the Gear leg to wheel pant bonnet fairing on the aft side of the bonnet.  I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to make a swoosh-style fairing here because when I see canard aircraft with wheel pants without this swoosh fairing  . . . well, something is just missing mentally for me.  So in they went.

Obviously here is the before-trimmed shot.

And then after I trimmed down the jagged swoosh fairing edge.

Here we have the right side swoosh fairing after I trimmed it down.  I would like to point out that these are initial trimmings, and I’ll dial them in most likely when I finish the wheel pants to paint.

I then set my sights on drilling out the left side bonnet’s front 3 mounting holes for #10 screws.  After drilling the front hole I set a #10 screw in place with a narrow Tinnermam-style washer.

I then did the same after drilling the outboard mounting hole.

With the front side screw holes drilled out (remember, the aft end gets CAMLOCs) on both the left and right wheel pants and bonnets, I then pulled the wheel pants off.  I then sanded down the interior edge of the tire openings for the upcoming 2-ply reinforcement BID those will get.

I then laid up 2 plies of BID on “top”  (the inboard sides) of the outboard support doublers. Again, this was due to delams caused by the extreme angles from the sides of the doublers to the “top” surface, and something I had a good notion might happen.  No worries, small EZ layups and a little flox and they’ll be right as rain.

[Although I forgot to take any pics, I also laid up a ply of BID over each line of flocro that I used to hold the stainless steel brake lines into the gear fairing after bending them out to flare and terminate the ends.  The bonnet layups covered the bottom 2/3rds of the channels, but the tops were just bare flocro on the inboard side of the gear legs].

Since my plane has the wide main gear fairing and thus a longer bonnet, I then added a ply of BID on the insides of both aft wheel pants where the CAMLOCs will get mounted. The area where I added the BID is much lighter glassed than the more robust areas of the wheel pants.

As the glass cured I then got to work sanding and shaping the edges of the wheel pant bonnets that are now permanent fixtures on the gear legs.  In addition, I spent about 10-15 minutes per side digging out the transition-fillet-creating Play-doh from under the bonnet.

Here’s the right side bonnet cleaned up and sanded.

A few hours later here are the cured and trimmed support doublers.

And here’s a shot of the K1000-3 nutplates I riveted into place as the glass layups were drying.

After all the layups had cured and I pulled peel ply and cleaned them all up, I then mocked up the left wheel pant using only screws… no Clecos.

Here you can see the top front 3 screws in place.  In actuality I need to get some more screws since only the outboard centerline screw is the right size #10 screw, and doing the lion’s share of the work.  The front and inboard are #8 screws that I used to show visually how it all would look.  BTW, if you’re wondering why I ended up going with #10 screws, it was simply a matter of visual balance with the CAMLOCs, whose studs have the same size head as the #10 screws.  With 5 screws total for each wheel pant, the weight increase is minuscule going with #10 screws vs #8’s.

I did what I could to countersink the 1/4-28 side mounting screws, but I will need to pick up an actual 1/4″ 100° countersink from ACS to finish the job.  Although the Tinnerman washer sits just a hair proud, this shot of the outboard mounting screw still gives you an idea of how it looks.

Here’s a shot of the screws from the inboard side.

And here’s a shot of the inboard 1/4-28 mounting screw with Tinnerman washer.

Tomorrow I’ll check and make any required adjustments for tire clearances.  After/if any cutting is required, I’ll then layup the 2-ply reinforcement layups around the perimeter of the tire openings.  After that, the wheel pants will be completed except for the additional mounting hardware that needs to installed (screws, CAMLOCs, etc.) and finishing of them to paint.