This section began with cutting out the spinner bulkhead to match the double so it fits nicely over the prop hub. A seemingly simple task that tools quite a long time due to the thickness of the bulkheads and the angles needed to match. A lot of sanding and filing to get the two edges perfectly aligned.
After that was done the two plates are primed and riveted together before installing onto the propeller.
The propeller is not too heavy but it's awkward and the installation of the special bolts requires quite a lot of back and forth and so a hoist was required. It might have taken some time to set up but it was for sure the right way to go.
Oh and before I can put the propeller on I needed to remove the seal from the front of the engine. This was a little nerve wracking due to the fact that the genie is by far the most expensive part of the plane. I ended up drilling a hole and then hammers a flat head screw driver in and gaining leverage to twist and wiggle and eventually pull the plug out. Then a nice cleaning and we are ready to go.
We also removed one bottom spark plug from each cylinder to allow the engine to turn over easily and safely.
Once the bolts were all tightened and torqued they were all safety wired which again proved to be a challenge. Surgical clamps are needed here. Be VERY careful not to damage the hub while fishing out the safety wire. I managed a few small blemishes on the paint but nothing through it so I can feel good about the safety wire install.
The spinner was quite a challeneg. Cutting out the slots for the propeller went easy, drilling a series of holes before shipping them out with some small pliers. I do have a nibbler but this is not the correct tool, just use some wire snips. The hard part of this was getting the forward bulkhead match drilled. The surface of the spinner has a gel coat that is not see through, so some magnets and creativity were required. I ended up setting up two magnets on the bulkhead first and then Taping the inside magnet ti the bulkhead before installing the spinner and adding the outside magnet. This worked pretty well although I did miss a couple which cause for a small amount of repair work to fill the bonus holes. Luckily I got some good advice to use a very small drill bit at first so that you can see where it marks the bulkhead and adjust your next hole to center. These will all eventually be drilled to #19 so the chances are you will swallow up this bonus hole if you are close enough.
The last part was to reuse the parts you cut out for the blade slots to fill this gap. This was not ideal. There was material missing due to the fact that I cut inside the marked lines and sanded them down (per instructions) but the material gap was over 1/8” so I elected to fabricate them from aluminum. I believe this is how they do it on RV-7 and it makes more sense to me. Easy enough to do except the thickness I require is .063 and Aircraft Spruce is out of this at the moment so once again I am waiting for material that's back ordered. That's the theme of 2022.