As I mentioned yesterday, I realized that I couldn’t proceed any further on the aft side (“outriggers”) baffle seals install without first getting the outboard left exhaust pipe in its final configuration.  To do that I need a very slight bend or curve near the midpoint around the base of the inboard exhaust pipe to then allow the remaining aft section of the outboard pipe to align and nestle in more closely to the inboard pipe.

Here I’ve marked the removed outboard exhaust pipe (cylinder #3) for cutting into two parts, as well as the scrap curved section that will be getting spliced into the middle section of the current pipe.

I had meant to get a pic of all the component parts after I cut them, but alas I got too wrapped up with getting this thing knocked out… thus it went back on the engine post haste.

You can see by the two respective alignment marks that the very slightly curved middle insert is taped into place.

A few pictures here are only the highlights of the well over 3 hours it took to cut and very carefully dial in the left outboard pipe pieces for both windage and elevation in respect to its own position within the cowlings, and in relation to the inboard left exhaust pipe.  That being said, the end result came out pert near exactly what I wanted/needed: the left outboard exhaust pipe —at the proper elevation— aligned parallel with the left inboard exhaust pipe (note the inboard pipe aligned with its bottom cowl mark).

Of course now I’ll need to get with James for him to work his magic welding kung-fu and get this outboard left exhaust pipe final configuration locked in.

As a comparison, this is what this pair of pipes looked like before my corrective alignment “surgery.”

Also, here is the bottom cowling mini-aft baffle bulkhead with its height trimmed…

And the resulting gap between the bottom cowl mini-aft baffle bulkhead and the bottom edge of the baffle at 0.15″, offset just enough to allow for any clearance required.

With the outboard left exhaust pipe repositioned, I could then focus on the left aft corner baffling.  After taking a myriad of measurements and looking at the situation from just about every angle possible, I developed my plan to allow both the baffling to get installed in this corner, as well as a Melvill-style exhaust-securing bracket that will both close up/seal the baffle gaps around the exhaust pipes and secure them into position.

The initial step to installing the exhaust pipe bracket is to add a piece of aluminum angle (blue in pic) into the lower left corner to mount a K1000-3 platenut that will be one of four securing the exhaust pipe bracket.  I’ll further note that my intention is to get this aft left corner completely knocked out, regarding both baffle installs and exhaust pipe bracket situated, before moving onto the right side.

Moreover, as I was putting the cowlings on and off, I discovered an issue with the top cowl’s right side baffle rib clearance with the engine baffles that caused the seal to get all wonky.  I finally figured out the issue after some investigation and I’ll be trimming down the depth of that baffle rib as well.

Pressing forward…