Jan 11, 2024     Fuel Manifold/Bulkheads - (4 hours)       Category: Firewall

Worked on finalizing the fuel manifold components. Used some blue loctite to attach the gascolator and safety wired the bowl to the attachment ring. Shortened the rubber hoses and installed the check valve, tightened one side with oetiker clamps but left one side free in case need to remove anything before first start. Closed up the stock firewall holes for the gascolator with extra large solid rivets.

Determined final placement for the fuel feed and return lines through the firewall and drilled. Temporarily put in aluminum AN832-6 bulkhead fittings but have some AN832-6J stainless steel ones on order from Aircraft Spruce and will replace when they arrive.

  Jan 10, 2024     Throttle Cable - (2 hours)       Category: Firewall

Added a cover over the throttle cable grommet and added another grommet to cover to try and secure the throttle cable coming through the FW more. Will install second bolt once exact length of cable determined for inside fuselage and out front on FW.

Also spent time discussing options with local upholstery vendor as he is starting on the front seats.

  Jan 08, 2024     Engine Bolts - (1 hour)       Category: Firewall

Shortened the two bottom engine mount M10 bolts by 4 threads to make them 122-123mm. On one side for clearance on the turbo and other side for clearance on the muffler.

  Jan 05, 2024     Firewall Items - (3 hours)       Category: Firewall

Temporarily installed the fuel manifold on the firewall. Will be removing to install the check valve and safety wire the gascolator. When I installed the rivnuts with JB Weld, I had some extra around the head of the rivnut on FW side. The cutout tolerance of the manifold rear just barely allows the rivnut head to seat. The extra JBWeld I had was keeping it from laying flat against the firewall so I had to scrape some JBWeld off from around the rivenut head.

This fuel manifold is a modification to the stock Sling fuel filter, gascolator, check valve and fuel pressure sender that greatly simplifies the install and reduces the fuel line run lengths. This manifold is sold by Midwest Sky Sports (build assist center) and looks to be a nice enhancement to the Sling TSi kit.

I spent some time trying to adjust the steering pushrods thinking it would be easier to do now rather than after engine install. The deflection of the wheel was going noticeably further in one direction than the other. After trying several attempts to resolve, I contacted Jean from TAF and he said they save this step until the rudder is installed and the rudder cables are tight. He said adjustments after this give the nosewheel its final turn parameters once everything is hooked up.

  Jan 04, 2024     Firewall Items - (4 hours)       Category: Firewall

Installed the Rotax fuel pump housing on the firewall. The firewall in my kit had undersized holes for these 4 holes so the grommet and bushing would not fit. Just upsized to 1/2 inch holes with step drill. There was a small challenge due to one of the bolts on the fuel pump housing was badly offset. I opened the housing to see if any adjustments were possible from the inside but the bolt head is spot welded to the housing so I figured I had better not try to bend/adjust to fix there. I resolved by drilling that one hole on the firewall slightly downward so it would fit through the bushing with some extra effort.

After getting the Rotax fuel pump set in its final location, placed the fuel manifold to ensure clearance in a couple of areas before installing the rivnuts on the firewall. Some considerations are horizontal clearance from the steering push rod on the right, clearance on the left side from the angled firewall reinforcement bracket, vertical height of the gascolator which is about 1 inch lower due to it being integrated into the manifold and lastly the left bottom bolt on the Rotax fuel pump assembly to ensure it can be removed without having to removed the side of the manifold. After trying my best to position for these factors, finally took the plunge and drilled the holes. Installed the M6 rivnuts with some JB Weld.

  Dec 30, 2023     Firewall Items - (3 hours)       Category: Firewall

Added the oil tank, ran throttle cable through firewall and seated rubber engine mounts prior to mounting the engine.

  Dec 21, 2023     Fuse Box - (3 hours)       Category: Firewall

Added fuse box, starter relay and heatsink to the firewall.

  Oct 07, 2023     Battery/Coolant Components - (1.5 hours)       Category: Firewall

Added the battery box and coolant reservoir to the firewall.

  Sep 14, 2023     FW Forward Kit Inventory - (1 hour)       Category: Firewall

Did inventory on the firewall forward kit. The engine is still in transit and probably 2 months away still.