1. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out where to drill the final two holes through the left gear tower. These two holes will be for the Alternate Air control and the Oil Shutter control. Optimally, I'd like these two knobs to be right next to each other, with the Oil Cooler shutter knob in full view of the pilot and probably closer to his left leg than the other knob, since it will be used much more often. With that goal, plus the limitations of the knob size (each will be 1" in diameter), the items inside the gear tower (fuel vent line, brake line, and lots of wires), the location of the fuel selector, the location of the fuel filter on the front side of the gear tower, the location of the air vent SCAT tube, the location of the already-drilled firewall pass-throughs, and the fact that the McFarlane cables have a 6" non-bending section just behind the knob control, I made a template and set to work scouting locations. After over two hours of investigation and inspection, I think I've located the one location this setup might work -- outboard, below the throttle quadrant, and with the two knobs stacked vertically. It will be very close.
I have a couple of other options: a). Use a cheap Bowden cable for one or both of these items. This would allow me to bend the cable inside the gear tower and exit in a different location other than directly in line with the knob. This would be super helpful for the installation process, but I would have to make some kind of label/placard next to each knob, which is a look I was trying to avoid. (The McFarlane cables are custom engraved right on the knob, and they're really great-looking), b). I could put the knobs in grossly different locations on the gear tower -- which, again, is an incohesive look I was trying to avoid. I'm going to call McFarlane tomorrow and see if they have any solutions, or different models of cable that might bend closer to the knob.
In the meantime, I set about trying to get something -- anything -- done that would be productive.
2. Took measurements for the two remaining cables. They will be ordered as soon as I talk to McFarlane.
3. After consulting with quite a few RV owners, I decided that I do not need my prop lever to get full-range of motion all the way to the low-RPM stop on the governor. As long as it hits the high-RPM (flat pitch) stop and doesn't hit the quadrant stop first, I am OK with not making it all the way back to low-RPM (high-pitch), since there are only two times anyone ever pulls the blue knob ALL the way back: The runup on the ground, and possibly in the event of an engine failure to decrease the descent rate. Most of the time in cruise, the blue lever is within 1.5 inches of the forward stop, and that results in ~2400 RPM. I am willing to lose a bit of reduction capability, rather than having to rebuild the quadrant or somehow ream-out and shim the cable holder. Who cruises at 1900 RPM or less? With all that in mind, I marked and drilled the final hole in the prop control arm. Done.
4. Installed the white nylon throttle sliders for the rear cockpit throttle slot. Once the controls are ready to go in for good, I'll add the engraved placard that covers the rivets.