Over the last couple of days I was able to finish the final cleanup and grinding down of the crazy tack welds I had made on the exhaust pipe brackets.

Here we have the left side top and bottom exhaust pipe brackets, with the sleeves trimmed to length, the tack welds ground down and the surface cleaned up.

And here we have the same on the right side.

To get an initial idea of how the crankcase vent tube will transit through the top right exhaust pipe bracket, I slid it into place.

I then mounted the bottom cowling to check clearance.

The left exhaust pipes —which were the only ones cut and rewelded— now have more clearance between them and the lower cowling (pic 1), mainly because they are positioned inboard over 1/2″ more than the right side (pic 2).  Also, the right side pipes sit a hair lower since not only is that more of their natural positioning, but also to ensure spacing, both physical and exhaust-wise, for the centerline top-mounted crankcase vent tube (I don’t need it depositing oil mist on the trailing edge of the top cowling!).

I then mounted the top cowling to get an idea of what we’re looking at… again, my overall goal here being to merely get the exhaust exiting out of the back of cowlings without burning anything up.  Aim low and meet expectations… ha!

And yes, the right exhaust pipes are still long and poking out the aft opening of the cowlings, and the left side pipes still need final trimming as well.

I texted my welding buddy James about finishing up the welds on the exhaust pipe brackets, and while I await his reply I moved onto just a couple of some of the minor tasks I have on my list.  The first being the removal of the old 0.015″ thick 304 stainless steel SC-1 canopy safety catch, to be replaced with the yet to be bent new 0.020″ thick 301 stainless steel SC-1.  Funny how how 0.005″ thickness and different type of stainless steel can make such a difference.

I had to run to Jess’s house to help her move some furniture for her grandmother, and had about 20 minutes before I had to leave.  Not wanting to waste any time (yep, I’ve done way too much of that during this build!!) I quickly cut up a box for cardboard, then traced out and cut the aft sides of the wing root heat shields.

And yes, I specifically stated aft sides since both forward side wing root heat shields will be set further inside the wing roots (outboard) to also be used as gap seals to block airflow through the wing-to-CS spar gap, each side respectively.  These inset forward wing root heat shields/air gap seals also must be configured as such to account for the oil cooler position at the left wing root, and the AP roll servo position on the right side.

With that, I called it a night and headed over to Jess’s to help her out (ok, and for a yummy dinner too!).