Ok, this post covers the last couple of days…

First off, I did a fair bit of assessing and poking around to figure out what to do on my crankcase vent tube issue.  I didn’t want to keep pouring time into the welding solution in case that doesn’t play out the way I would like.  I needed some backup and initially that was the 5/8″ stainless steel tubing that I have on hand, which I originally ordered (a way long time ago) after seeing that is what James Redmond used.  However, after figuring out we’re talking a near 6 oz weight increase, I decided to bite the bullet and order some more aluminum tubing stock, both 6061 and 5052.

After settling on Aircraft Spruce as the source of supply, and paying the small fortune for shipping, I spent another good hour scrubbing all my hardware requirements to add those to the order.  If I’m paying more in shipping than what the tubing costs, I want to maximize what I could add to the order for “free”.  I also spent a good hour looking around for a decent priced 5/8″ tube (not pipe! there’s a big difference) bending tool, which I final settled on one from Amazon… all this stuff arriving early next week.

Administrivia and requisitioning duties complete, I then turned back onto the build.

First up, I took the top cowling outside and sanded down the carbon fiber patch I had just laid up the day before.  There was still a bit of a concave dip on the right vertical aft wall, so I laid up one more carbon fiber strip, about 1/2″ high by 5″ wide.  I then peel plied it.

After some more assessing and figuring out exactly how my wing root heat shields will be configured, I decided that the last little open gap at the trailing edge wing root needed to be filled in to keep any air (or fire in this case) blocked out… since I wasn’t going to cover that with the heat shield.

Thus, as a prerequisite tasks to installing the wing root heat shields, I made up some cardboard dams for pour foam, taped them up and secured them in place on each side.

I then whipped up a small batch of pour foam and applied some to each aft corner wing root.

About 20 minutes later, I pulled the taped cardboard dams off the pour foam, cleaned it all up and shaped the pour foam.

I finalized the prep of the pour foam, made little “flox” corners (micro used here) and cut out a ply of BID for each side.  I then whipped up some epoxy and micro’d up the pour foam.

I then laid up a ply of BID on each side… which is hard to see because the small bit of BID on the edge kept wanting to lift off at the top corner (each side) so after adding peel ply, I taped the layup down at the corner.

While my aft wing root layups cured, I then spent nearly 2 hours with half the shop lights off, with work lights on the top of the engine to find any small gaps in the baffle seals… which I then gooped up and filled with hi-temp RTV.  I finished the left side of the engine, as well as around the alternator and starter on the aft side.  I still have the right side to complete, as well as a big 1 sq. in. hole on the forward inboard left side (I’ll either have to rivet in some aluminum or make an RTV-BID patch for that).

Continuing on with my completely un-sexy, but required, tasks, I then assessed the engine ground strap run from the front right corner of the engine to the firewall.  When I started this final assessment, I thought I was going to have to move the firewall ground block since the routing of the ground strap was virtually right through (or rubbing against) the main fuel feed line from engine fuel pump to fuel injection servo.

However, after simply pivoting the ground strap terminal on the engine inboard about 0.3″, it provided me the clearance and slack I needed to route the engine ground strap around the fuel line to the original ground block position.  And no, I didn’t discover this right off the bat, but rather after about 45 minutes of playing Firewall Tetris with the engine ground and power cables.  Anyhoo….

Tomorrow I’ll be working more engine stuff in attempt to wrap up all the remaining engine install tasks to then allow me to pull the engine and work on the firewall install and also micro finish the top side of the bird in prep for painting.