I started out this morning at around 0630, packed up the truck with all my engine accoutrements and headed off on my 1.5 hour trek up to Winchester, Virginia for the last phase of my engine build.  I had already talked to the builder, Tom, who let me know that during some down time in between engine builds that they installed the Superior cold air induction sump and the high pressure fuel pump, and sure enough that is exactly what I found when I arrived.

Here’s the high pressure fuel pump mid-picture, just to the right of the PMag ignition.

Here are a couple wider angle shots showing more of the Superior cold air induction sump.

Although it seemed they were eager to pack up the engine and for me to get it out of their hair, I did want them to finish installing the fuel injector nozzles, the fuel injector distribution spider (and bracket) and the 1/8″ stainless steel lines in between.  Another engine builder that I hadn’t met yet, Larry, undertook the task to hook up the fuel injection lines.

With the topside fuel injection components and lines in place, and after Frank I messed around installing, moving and reinstalling some AN fittings for the main oil line and the oil heat system return line, Frank and Larry then wrapped up the engine for its trip to MY shop.

Here’s a shot of the engine wrapping to keep any potential precipitation off of it.

With such a large shop, it was a bit of a trek to get the engine down to the other end to put it in my truck, but Frank and Larry dug deep and somehow mustered the internal strength required to make it happen!

And here we go…. history in the making.

The three of us got the engine set in place with thick foam-rubber pads and then strapped it down.

An hour and a half later, both the plastic wrap and tie-down tasks had worked well, and the engine was still right in place.

I’ll digress just a bit, because before I could unload the engine I had to finish Phase III of my shop cleaning and organizing to have enough room to maneuver the engine hoist. I wanted to move the fuselage dolly so that one end was against the side wall with the other end sticking out in space, which would still be less obtrusive than it’s shown here.

However, with my fuselage dolly also being my canopy storage container, I wanted to get the canopy out of it since I plan on starting the canopy build in the next month or so.

I was impressed at how good of shape the canopy looked after it’s multi-year hibernation in the fuselage dolly.

Plus I would now get the benefit of MORE STORAGE SPACE!

With my shop furniture cleaning and rearranging out of the way, I then got down to business getting the engine out of my truck and into my shop… I started by carefully removing all the tiedown straps.

After a brief 30-min break to recharge the engine hoist with hydraulic fluid, I then backed up the truck to the shop entrance, set the engine hoist in place, and clamped the hook onto the engine.

I carefully lifted the engine up above the truck bed, but since the shop floor slants down, both of engine hoist wheels were over the lip at the door threshold.  No matter what I tried, I just didn’t have a good angle to get the wheels over the lip.  I chocked the engine hoist wheels to ensure it didn’t move, and then very slowly and carefully pulled the truck forward.

With the application of some basic fulcrum and leverage techniques, using some spare dunnage, I was able to get the engine where it belongs . . .

IN MY SHOP!!!

Here’s one of many pics of the engine.

And another after I closed the main door and got to work checking out a number of things on the engine.

I spent a good bit of time assessing how the Silver Hawk fuel injection servo would get mounted to the cold air induction plenum.

Here’s another side view with the fuel injection spider lines somewhat visible.

Also, I was VERY happy that the guys at AERO Engines hooked me up with a short dipstick and oil filler neck! Thanks guys!

Although a minor detail, I also thought it was great of them to actually install a new oil filter and wire tie it in place for me…. as you can see in the below view of the accessory case end.

Here’s a low-angle shot of the front of the engine with the cold air induction oil sump and plenum in view, as well as the high pressure fuel pump.

Although I mentioned it on my last engine post, I really like the snazzy chrome style “Titan” valve cover plates vs the old metal painted Lycoming ones…. just my preference of course.

I then temp-mounted the starter to check out the fit and also see what hardware I would need to order for mounting it, if any (I actually need to order ALL the hardware for it).

I then mounted the alternator to check for fitting and potential hardware requirements.  Moreover, I wanted to check the mounting distance from the alternator to the starter which would tell me which B&C cross link I would need to order.

In addition, I mounted the spark plug dehydrators, put desiccant in a bunch of the open orifices and taped them closed with painters’ tape.

I am very happy that this significant piece of the puzzle in my build is essentially in place.  Of course there are still a myriad of minor bits to acquire, installations to do and deconflicting issues to be done, but it’s a great feeling having this thing in MY shop!

Tomorrow a goal is to get the engine dehydrator hooked up and ensure I keep the internals on this engine DRY.

Ok… back to it.

Ok, let’s get started . . .

It was a dark & rainy morning (really) this morning when I loaded up the truck and I got on the road around 0630.  The rain made the typically slow DC-area drivers drive even more slowly, so I got to the main A.E.R.O Engines office at Winchester airport just a hair after 0800.  It didn’t matter though because the owner, Tom Schweitz was over at the engine assembly building across the airfield.  So I drove over and met Tom, who then introduced me to one of his master engine builders, Frank.

They showed me my engine with the crankshaft already mounted up in the crankcase on the build stand.  Since there was some confusion over whether I should have 1/2″ or 7/16″ prop flange bolts, they installed a brand new 340 strokered crankshaft with 1/2″ prop bolt flange into the Lycoming crankcase that I had bought from Tom back in July 2013 (right before I went to Qatar for a year). [NOTE: There was a bit of confusion on my side as well, so when I sent the prop extension back to Sam at Saber Manufacturing to have 3/8″ prop bolt mounting holes drilled for a Hertzler Silver Bullet prop, I also had Sam drill out 1/2″ prop flange mounting bolt holes in-between the 7/16″ holes.  In the end, it cost a bit more, but it all worked out and I can now use a lot of different props on a lot different engines with this prop extension]

And here’s the 4 brand new cylinders and pistons, that come as a matched set for flow and weight.  I had originally planned on going with tapered finned cylinders for weight reduction, but in the end decided against them since these below not only cool better (obviously more surface area) but if I ever have just one jug go bad on a trip, I can simply replace the offending cylinder with a common Lycoming/Superior/ECi vs having to track down a tapered fin cylinder (from Continental now since they bought out ECi).

The pistons are a standard low compression piston ~8.5:1 but when strokered the output is equal to 9.2:1 higher compression pistons.  This configuration alone will typically dyno out at 185 HP.   But add cold air injection and RAM air and it should result in numbers well over 190 HP, so I don’t need to thrash the cylinders with even higher compression pistons just to add a few more horses.

Luckily I grabbed a couple of quick pics of the crankshaft in the case and all 4 ECI cylinder/piston assemblies (above), because by the time I got out the door & back with a load of some of my engine goodies Frank already had one jug and piston mounted to the crankcase/shaft.

Here’s a look at the first jug in place on the crankcase.

And here’s another look at the cylinders with each respective piston inside its cylinder.  This setup makes it much easier and faster to build the engine since there’s no messing around with wrangling oil rings to get the pistons into the jugs.

Again, another load of my engine accoutrements and yet another jug in place!

Here is Frank on jug #3 (I’m not going by cylinder #s, just order mounted).

And cranking down the myriad of bolts that hold these beasts in place.  I have to tell you, the specialized tools this shop has made this job look REALLY easy!

Here’s a closer look at the top of the valve springs and cylinder heads.

About the time I finally got my engine gear situated, cylinder #4 was in place with the bolts getting torqued to final specs.  As bantering ensued, I was a bit relieved that the conversation turned to what color paint I wanted the engine, INCLUDING the cylinder barrels.  We had a good laugh when I conveyed that I had been having some initial concerns over the odd color combination.

Here’s the bottom of the engine where the Superior cold air induction oil sump will get mounted.  Unfortunately, we discovered that the one I had ordered from Tom got scarfed up on some other build, so Tom had to order a new one that won’t arrive until next week.  Yes, for all you Air Force types: “Flexibility is the key to airpower!”

A longer shot of the completed cylinder mounting.

Frank then pulled out a somewhat raspy looking accessory case.   He explained that just like the engine core, a lot of larger components get reused during builds, and that the cleaning/degreasing process actually makes them look a little rough . . .  and thus part of the common practice of painting of the engine cases!

On the engine side, the two separate idler gear posts are placed on either side of the smaller oil pump gear.  The larger gear towards the bottom of the screen is the camshaft gear.

You can see on the idler gear posts the bend up tabs that are used quite often in lieu of safety wire.

Then the idler (“mag”) gears slip in over the idler gear posts and get marked and placed in relation to each other and TDC.

Frank then lubed up the internal oil pump gears and mounted the oil pump assembly into the accessory case.

Then applied some RTV-type sealant in a few spots around the crankcase & accessory case interface, threw a gasket on and proceeded to mount the accessory case in place.

A shot of the bottom bolt attach points for the Superior cold induction oil sump on the bottom of the accessory case.

And a shot of the gears inside the accessory case housing.

We then wrapped up the jugs and placed protective plates in place, including the large piece of cardboard on the engine bottom, to prep the engine for paint.  In the background in the pic below you can see a large 6-cylinder Continental motor being built.  I wasn’t overly thrilled with the blue/gray color (it wasn’t terrible, but I preferred a color that conveyed a bit more of “Formula 1 race car” and a bit less “tractor” to me), they didn’t have the high grade black engine paint on hand (they don’t buy it because Tom hates painting motors black!) . . . so, I went for that Continental silver in the background (anyone who knows me… and my truck, knows that I really like silver vehicles.  So it worked out great.)

Another shot of the engine prepped for paint.

We then picked up the whole engine, stand and all, and moved it down the long building to the paint booth.

Here’s the engine in the paint booth ready for a makeover.

And here it is sporting its new sexy silver color… love it!

Again, in different light.

We found a couple of small spots that Frank missed, so back to the paint booth for some touching up on the paint job.

Again, love this silver . . . very nice (IMO).

We then got to work on the accessory case by mounting the 90° oil filter adapter.

Here’s another shot of the oil filter adapter.  As a point of note, only the plate on the far right is real.  All the others are simply covers to keep the paint out of the holes.

I took this shot just to show some of the concurrent engine builds they have going on… incredible.  If you’re not sure, my engine is the one on the right…. (big smile).

A close-up of my engine build in progress . . .

We then installed the SD-8 backup alternator on the vacuum pad.  This was done after Frank had installed all the valve lifters & tubes, valve rockers, and some outstanding Titan covers that Tom dug up (no painted “Lycoming” valve covers for me! <grin>)

Another shot of the engine build in progress.

I then dug out my brass fitting insert that has a very small outlet hole and serves as the transition from cylinder head to braided manifold pressure tubing.  Below the brass fitting insert you can see the hex plug that will get removed so the brass manifold fitting insert can be installed.

I then installed the brass manifold fitting insert.

Here’s a longer view of the brass manifold fitting insert and the mounted SD-8 backup alternator.

We then set our sites on the “mags.”  I have to say it was an interesting environment because, although it was very loose and fun with the guys, they don’t do or understand the experimental world.  The stuff I brought was all very new and a mystery for most of these engine builders (except for Tom…. thank goodness, since he often served as my “interpreter”).  Thus, I double-checked the manual on the Electrair electronic ignition Mag Time Housing installation . . .

to ensure we got installed correctly in relation to TDC.

Since we didn’t require a Mag impulse coupler on either side, both sets of long threaded studs had to be removed out of the accessory case and replaced with shorter ones.  In the pic below I’m holding one of the longer studs, with the shorter ones already installed.

We then installed the P-Mag.

We then installed the Andair mechanical tach port cover.

Another wider angle shot of the population-increasing accessory case.

I took this pic below to show what it would like to view the engine from the side, as it sits in the aircraft.

Another view of the bottom side of the engine.

A side view . . .

A quarter view.

A slightly fuzzy shot of the increasingly populated accessory case, with the P-Mag, 90° oil filter adapter, SD-8 backup alternator and Electroair MTH all installed.

Here’s a closer shot of the shiny “Titan” valve covers indicative of the IOX-340S engines.  Again, stylistically I’m glad that they had these on hand (as a very busy build facility for certificated engines they just don’t keep a lot of experimental stuff around… for long at least).  I much prefer these than the dull painted ones with “Lycoming” stamped into them.

Here’s one more quarter view of the right side of the engine.

And one more quarter view of the left side of the engine.

The weather will remain somewhat cold for a bit, so tomorrow I’ll press forward with finalizing my EIS4000 and HXr engine parameter input swap and configuration, as well a few more minor electrical system tasks that I have.