Before starting in hot n’ heavy on the EGT and CHT probe wiring connections I did a quick check of my newly created gust locks.  On the outboard end of the aileron the gust lock went almost up to the very front part of the gap, so not overly effective (pic 1). On the inboard aileron gap the gust lock went in about halfway (pic 2), so it looks like it will work fine there.  Since I’ll have a trailing edge fence very close to the outboard aileron edge I might not use a gust lock there anyway.

On to EGT and CHT wiring…

One the main tasks here is to join the EGT and CHT probe wires with the EGT and CHT wires coming from the P10 CPC connector, which itself traverses the firewall into the GIB headrest compartment where the GRT EIS-4000 Engine Management System unit is located.

Each of the 2 wires coming from each EGT and CHT probe is already terminated with a female Fast-On connector, whereas the pairs of EGT and CHT wires coming out of the EIS-4000 —via the P10 connector— are long and need to be trimmed to length before a male Fast-On connecter is crimped to the end of each wire, to then be joined to the associated probe wire.  The EGT probes have red and yellow wires, while the CHT probes have red and white wires, all respectively.

All this is what is going on here in pic below.  I’m about half-way through cutting the long EGT and CHT wire pairs to length to marry them up with the associated probe wires.  Clearly since these wire pairs, with rather bulky connectors once connected together (plus secured and protected with a heat shrink sleeve), need to coexist in the resulting wire bundle of EGT and CHT wires, I’m trying to space the connectors out along the length of the bundle so I don’t get a massive lump of them all together in one spot… the proverbial egg in the snake.

I got about 3 wires terminated together (which I didn’t learn the trick on squeezing the Fast-On connectors together until over 2/3rds of the way done!) with heat shrink before I realized my brain fart of not checking continuity between newly crimped male Fast-On connector and associated D-Sub pin in the P10 connector.  Ahh, complacency!

I of course know the 3 wires I connected and documented them, so if any shenanigans start up they’ll be first up on the culprit list (read: I didn’t crack open those connectors).  But from the 4th wire on I ensured I checked continuity, and all of them were good.

An entire work day and work session later, my EGT and CHT probe wire terminations, connections and wire management was finally complete.  Getting up into the bowels of the engine to clamp together pairs of Adel clamps while the wire bundle is contained is a feat unto itself, as those of you that have installed Adel clamps can surely attest to.

Case in point, on the cylinder #3 EGT probe cable I needed to secure the outboard portion of the wire to keep it from rubbing on either the cold air intake tube or the oil return line.  I tried a couple different things, one using a heat shrink wrapped zip tie, but I didn’t like the results.  I punted and installed another pair of Adel clamps outboard of the first set on the oil return line to secure this cable (visible just in front of the cold air intake tube).

If you play “Where’s Waldo” you can see all 4 left side EGT/CHT probes and their wire runs to the right side of the engine.

Here we have a shot looking down into the forward right side engine compartment. You can just see the P10 CPC connector in the top right corner (pic 1) and the gray-wrapped bundle of EGT/CHT wires secured to the right side motor mount with an Adel clamp towards the top and a heat shrink wrapped zip tie mid-picture (pic 2).

I left the bundled and secured EGT/CHT wires in their natural state (chaotic…ha!) in the area under the engine since it’s not readily visible from the top (yeah, screw performance, it’s all about looks!).

Here’s a couple of shots of the aft right corner of the engine looking up at the EGT and CHT wire runs all bundled and secured.  A good bit of the craziness is again due to my spacing out the Fast-On connection points in my attempt to not only space them out to reduce wire bundle diameter, but also to avoid having the junctions meet up where the Adel clamps are installed.  This involved a good number of loops and switchbacks to get the probe wires at the correct matchup lengths.

Yeah, who knew terminating, connecting and running EGT and CHT wires was a whole sub-project in its own right?! (Any Long-EZ builder, that’s who!)

After winning my hard fought battle with the EGT and CHT wire runs, I then took a good 45 minutes to assess the final alternator and starter cable runs.  I stress FINAL since original plans of how these components will get installed always tend to get blown out of the water after other things are stuffed into place.

Case in point is my 8-ga B-lead alternator wire.  When I first planned it’s physical course from alternator to firewall, there was not a rearward-facing fuel injection servo nor a 180° carbon fiber air induction tube blocking that route.  Now clearly there is… as we used to say in the Air Force, and as I taught Jess: Flexibility is the key to Airpower! (Hoo-ah!).

Or the ‘ol tried and true statement from my EOD days: Improvise, adapt, and overcome.

And with that, I developed my plan and my task list for connecting up the last 3 wires in the engine compartment: 1) Big yellow starter cable (won’t be finalized until after firewall covering in place); 2) Alternator 8-ga B-lead:  I’ll run, attach, and terminate soon, pre-firewall; 3) Alternator 20-ga field wire: this will run through the same firewall opening as the Big yellow starter cable, and since I need to extend this wire’s length anyway (splice in more wire) I may add a connector near the firewall… assessing.

And with that, I called it a night.