May 21, 2023     Ignition bracket       Category: Engine

More fettling in the ignition. First Draft was ALMOST good enough. Learned there is a minimum flange depth of about 1/2 inch for the press brake. Decided the AeroVee distributor block off plate could go.

  May 13, 2023     Engine run, starting on brackets for Ignition       Category: Engine

Ran engine to set idle, 1000 RPM. Pulled mixture to shut down, and adjusted the idle stop on the carb itself.
The shaft collar I ordered from McMaster Carr fits on the prop hub. I started on a pasteboard pattern for the bracket needed to hold the Hall Effect sensors. Ordered some 14 gauge Stainless Steel to fabricate it.
The aluminum spacers I bought to mount the coil pack are too long, new ones on order.

  May 08, 2023     More trials       Category: Engine

Fuel gauge is DEFINITELY not working, which is a drag, since accessing the box means pulling the windscreen and the glare shield again.

Templated the Subaru coil pack and drilled pilot holes to mount to the firewall.

Ran some more, first start up engine quit after a few seconds. Long story short the 20 year old Curtis valve on the gascolater was leaking so badly it was starving the engine of fuel. Replaced temporarily with a pipe plug and carried on.

EGT 1 and 4 are inoperative. Ran down to about 900 RPM, but idle is rather rough. Ran it up above the 2000 RPM of yesterday after leaning the needle some more, but it feels scary to run any faster with the cowling open.

Took the hood off and removed the top magnetron. Bottom magnetron looks hard to remove, intake manifold in the way. Tightened some fittings weeping a little oil.

Labeled valve covers, and numbered the cylinders in a more visible manner.

  May 06, 2023     Another engine run Category: Engine

Mixed results. Just a very slight drip from one valve cover. Magnetron ignition is DEAD, in spite of ANOTHER new magnetron. It's coming off, to be replaced by a Simple Digital Systems CIP. I have the Subaru coil pack in hand already, and I have ideas about mounting the "flying magnet" for timing pick off. I had this possibility in the back of my mind since I bought this project, I decided to give the stock AeroVee system one more try before adding weight and electrical load to the airplane. No Joy....

In other news, installed a ground power plug so I can connect a charger (solar or otherwise) to the airplane with the cowling on.

Ran engine for about .2 tach hours. CHTs all stayed within range. Oil pressure good. Oil temperature pretty slow to rise. #1 and #4 EGTs seem to be dead. And I need to double check if the fuel gauge is actually working.

I had tweaked the mixture about 1/4 turn Lean since last week, but it still takes almost full pull on the mixture to kill the engine. I want it to kill at about 1/2 pull. Tweaking the needle is somewhat of a PITA - the stainless set screw that locks the needle carrier can go walk about in the carb body, and it's only mildly magnetic so it's a bee-yatch to fish it out. I'll put some grease on the allen key before I tweak it again, but it clearly can go leaner.

  Apr 30, 2023     Engine Start       Category: Engine

Started the engine and ran it up to 2000 RPM, tied to the HHR, with the cooling hood in place. Ran good, clearly a little rich. But the valve covers leaked a lot, in spite of silicone gaskets from AirCooled.Net. Pulled the covers off, started over with new cork gaskets, hylomar, and heavy grease. This weekend will tell if I fixed this problem or not.

  Feb 05, 2023     Rocker Shaft Upgrade       Category: Engine

I bit the bullet and replaced the stock VW rocker shafts with CB Performance bolt together shafts. It took some fiddling with the spacers to get the proper clearances.

  Sep 05, 2022     Baffling lily gilding       Category: Engine

Plugging every hole. ALL the air that comes in the nostrils WILL flow THROUGH the heads, and NOWHERE else!

  Aug 31, 2022     More with the baffles       Category: Engine

I liked the Starboard side so much I did the Port side too. And refined the Stbd inlet.

  Aug 30, 2022     Baffling       Category: Engine

After buttoning up the stbd intake, I realized I'd forgotten the "Cool Tin" which clips under the barrels before the pushrod tubes and the heads gi on. Rather than dismantle that side of the engine, I elected to fabricate and install some Remaster style head and cylinder shrouds. Once I installed them, I finished reinstalling the exhaust and the Stbd side baffles.

  Aug 10, 2022     New magnetron is in       Category: Engine

Changing the top magnetron on an assembled engine is bloody hard. It takes a long hemostat or nut starter and patience. Put your shim against the flywheel magnet before you drop the magnetron in. The magnetron has slotted holes for the attach screws, but mine were bottoming out with the shim in place.

Also changed the wire canopy limiter to Paracord to back up the gas strut. The wire had no give and it had the wrong swage fittings. Still working on the remote fuel shutoff. Finished one tie down fitting, but could not find the other eye bolt, ordered some more. Sealed a gap between the canopy and the turtle deck

  Jul 05, 2022     Breather mods for a cleaner belly       Category: Engine

Various external devices have been fabricated and sold to keep the breather mung off the belly of VW powered airplanes. SONEX sells one.

My VW Engine Sensei (R.S. Hoover, "Veeduber") taught me to keep all that crap inside the engine. The cam gear sprays a lot of droplets toward the breather. The stock VW has a little louvered plate that fits between the top of the case and the generator/alternator tower to knock that down, and the surface area of the tower itself cools down the vapors so it condenses, and by the time it exits the engine, it's relatively clean, just exhaust gases, water, etc.

None of this happens with the stock Aerovee breather.

Veeduber would stuff as much stainless steel scrubbing pad, trussed up with safety wire, as would fit in the void at the top of the case, below the block off plate. Due to the rubber novelty, sourced from a late 1960's Camaro, used to connect the AeroVee plate to the breather tube, the stock baffle won't fit. So I fabricated one. It acts as an inertial separator, by changing the flow direction, any droplets that get past the pot scrubber (think stainless steel breathable foam) fall out of "solution" when they can't make the corners to get past the baffle. My rubber novelty is ozone checked, and it took some digging to find a replacement (Dorman 47052, available everywhere).

  Jul 04, 2022     Top of the engine       Category: Engine

I don't like the AeroVee valve covers. They don't actually cool as well as the thin steel stock covers, and they leak. BUT the stock units won't clear the valve train with the Elephant Foot adjusters, and the high lift cam in the Aerovee. I don't necessarily recommend anyone do as I have done, but I:
1) ground down the rocker arms to get more clearance for adjustment and articulation - those Elephant Foot adjusters are TALL between the rocker and the valve stem. This step in NOT necessary with the "Courier" or "Captive Ball" adjusters currently provided with the AeroVee kits.
2) cut down the adjusters till the slot in the end just about disappeared, cut a new slot, and dressed the ends.
3) Pounded precision dents in the tin valve covers to clear the tips of the adjusters.
4) Cleaned up the chipped paint, painted them inside and out with rattle can black, and baked the dried parts in my toaster oven for an hour at 200 deg F. Convection.
5) Bought the best silicone valve cover gaskets I could find. Buttoned it all back together.

Notice my rocker arms use the "clips and wavy washers". Current AeroVee kits use "bolt together" rocker arm shafts. For the moderate lift and low RPM of our engines, I think this is fine, but there is no question the "bolt together" rocker arms are more secure. Everything is assembled with Red Line Synthetic Assembly Lube, which the GearHeads at my local NAPA swear by. I found caked up Lubriplate in several places in this engine, which was first assembled over 20 years ago.

The rocker arms and adjusters on this engine are from CB Performance, and use 3/8" x 24 tpi threads, which is NOT the same as stock, and is no longer the aftermarket standard. They were used on AeroVees up until 2006. I'm trying to track down some replacement adjusters, SCAT seems to still make that size. If I can't find any, I'll have to replace the rocker arms as well as the adjusters.

  Jul 03, 2022     Push rod tubes       Category: Engine

Pushrod tubes - the tubes on the engine as I received it had a thick coat of silver paint, and were dented. These are new, and have a THIN coat of BLACK paint, for better heat transfer. Rattle can enamel, baked when dry in my thrift store toaster oven, 200 deg F convection for an hour. Almost as hard as powder coat.

  May 01, 2022     Heads       Category: Engine

Got a new head from Sonex, and got the OLD head, that I accidentally punched a hole in the exhaust port of when cleaning up the abundant casting flash, back from a professional welder, so an interesting comparison of the Circa 2001 CB Performance based heads to the 2020 Empi based heads. The Empi (current) heads are on the bottom of picture from the intake ports, and the top of the picture from the chambers, and have much less casting flash, and a higher surface finish. They are the nicest aftermarket VW heads I've ever seen.

  Jan 22, 2022     Insulating the exhaust       Category: Engine

I'm generally not a fan of header wrap. Corrosion Under Insulation is a Thing. But the exhaust runs SO close the fuel line on this installation, it seemed prudent, along with fire sleeving the fuel lines as seen in another entry.

  Jul 10, 2021     Test Alternator Output - (6 hours)       Category: Engine

Suspecting that the alternator output was less than adequate, Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence checked the voltage at several locations in the system then isolated the alternator, started the engine and took a reading directly from the alternator. A reading of 12.2 volts was obtained, which agreed with the reading on the EFIS. Not as much as was anticipated but adequate to keep the battery fully charged.



Rechecked for oil leaks at the valve covers and none were observed.

  Jul 10, 2021     Fabricate New Valve Cover Screw Seals - (1.5 hours)       Category: Engine

Bill Lawrence fabricated new seals for the screws that attach the valve covers to the cylinder heads.

  Jun 30, 2021     Clean Oil Breather Tube - (2 hours)       Category: Engine

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence removed, cleaned and smoothed Breather tube surface and reinstalled tube.

  May 29, 2021     Complete Engine Wiring - (8 hours)       Category: Engine

Marc Ausman and John Koehler completed securing and tidying up the engine wiring.

  May 22, 2021     Reinstall Engine Cooling Baffles - (1 hour) Category: Engine

Bill Lawrence reinstalled the engine cooling baffles.

  May 04, 2021     Engine Oil Filler Cap - (1 hour)       Category: Engine

Lee Teicheira secured and installed the specified oil filler cap.

  Mar 31, 2021     Replace Motor Mount Bushings and Bolts and Magnetron Ignition Coils - (6 hours)       Category: Engine

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence lifted the engine with an engine hoist and replaced the engine motor mount bushings and bolts with new bushings and the proper length bolts. Additionally, the newly received Magnetron ignition coils were installed and clearance with the flywheeel magnet was checked.

  Mar 03, 2021     Install New Oil Cooler on Engine - (2 hours)       Category: Engine

Bill Lawrence installed new oil cooler on engine. Lee Teicheira continued researching why the Magnatron coil ignition will not fire the upper spark plugs.

  Mar 02, 2021     Successful Engine Run - (5 hours)       Category: Engine

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence prepared the plane for an engine test run by adding fuel to tank, disconnect battery tender and connecting negative cable, replaced seals on valve cover retaining bolts, replacing and torquing lower spark plugs and pulling plane out of hangar and tying it to Lee's pickup to anchor. Having made adjustments to the carburetor, the engine started readily, ran well and idled smoothly after warming up! A very successful attempt. The only negative, it would not run on the magnatron ignition alone. More research and testing to find the problem.

  Feb 28, 2021     Install New Throttle Cable - (9 hours)       Category: Engine

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence enlarged hole in instrumental panel to accommodate new throttle cable, installed new cable, reinstalled carburetor and adjusted both the throttle cable and mixture cable, reinstalled fuel tank and aligned fuel tube to fuel valve to properly connect.

  Feb 24, 2021     Recheck Oil Pressure and Short Engine Run - (10 hours)       Category: Engine

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence pulled lower spark plugs and cranked engine to verify that oil pressure was now normal. All good. Pulled plane from hangar and started engine. Engine ran but very roughly. Now appears to be a fuel concern. After researching carburetor, it appears that engine is running lean. Checked Needle valve adjustment and found it to be incorrect. Adjusted needle valve and reinstalled carburetor. Found Throttle cable to have rough operation and sticking. Drained fuel tank and removed tank for access to cable routing through firewall. Removed cable. Ordered new cable.

  Feb 23, 2021     Remove, Inspect, Clean and Replace Oil Pressure Relief Valves - (7 hours)       Category: Engine

In the pursuit to resolve the excess oil pressure concern, Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence researched the concern, located the location of the oil pressure relief valves on the underside of the engine case, fabricated a tool to remove the relief valve caps, removed the caps and the pressure valve springs and determined that the relief valve pistons were stuck in the bore. Lee used a 12 mm thread tap to engage the open end of the piston and, with significant effort, was able to free both pistons. After cleaning and polishing both pistons and determining that they moved freely in the bore, they were, according to the engine assembly instructions, lubed and reinserted along with the springs and caps. All set to go forward with rechecking for proper oil pressure.

  Feb 21, 2021     Start Engine Check Systems - (2 hours)       Category: Engine

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence pulled plane from hangar, secured to anchor and started engine. Unfortunately, new oil cooler also leaked and necessitated engine shut down. Must now determine why engine appears to be developing too much oil pressure.

  Feb 21, 2021     Install New Oil Cooler on Engine - (2.5 hours)       Category: Engine

Bill Lawrence installed new oil cooler on engine, reattached carburetor and checked systems prior to engine start.

  Feb 18, 2021     Remove Oil Cooler - (4 hours)       Category: Engine

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence disconnected oil cooler lines and, removed oil cooler, researched sources for replacement oil cooler and ordered new part.

  Feb 18, 2021     Continue Engine First Start Attempt - (6 hours)       Category: Engine

Lee Teicheira, Harvard Holmes and Bill Lawrence finished reassembling engine cooling baffles and checking all connections prior to another engine first start attempt. This time the engine had spark but the timing was still off as signified by the backfiring. After pulling spark plugs to determine TDC and check timing marks and then again setting secondary electronic ignition timing, the engine did start momentarily but was shut down immediately due to a leak in the oil cooler itself.

  Feb 09, 2021     Diagnose And Remove Magnatron Coils - (10 hours)       Category: Engine

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence diagnose Magnatron coils to be defective and proceed to remove them for replacement.

  Feb 06, 2021     Continue Engine First Start Attempt - (10 hours)       Category: Engine

Lee Teicheira, Marc Ausman, John Koehler, Eric Schuldt and Bill Lawrence pulled plane out of hangar, Tied to pick-up for anchoring and attempted to start engine. After several attempts, engine would not start. Had fuel and compression but no spark. Put it back in hangar and will further investigate reason for no spark.

  Feb 03, 2021     Shorten Oil Cooler Inlet Line - (2 hours)       Category: Engine

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence removed oil cooler inlet line, removed fittings on one end, cut 1 inch from hose, reassembled hose and reinstalled line. Cranked engine to check for leaks and fit cowl to check clearance. All is good.

  Feb 02, 2021     Made and Installed Shorter Oil Cooler Lines - (5 hours)       Category: Engine

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence installed cowl to check for oil cooler line clearance and found oil cooler lines to be too long and hitting cowl. Removed cowl, oil cooler lines, shortened lines and reinstalled, cranked engine to check for oil leaks and reinstalled cowl to again check clearance. Right Hand oil cooler line is still too long and will have to be shortened a little more for proper clearance.

  Jan 31, 2021     Made and Installed New Oil Cooler Lines - (4 hours)       Category: Engine

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence made and installed new oil cooler lines.

  Jan 30, 2021     Remove Oil Cooler Lines And Fuel Line - (1.5 hours)       Category: Engine

Bill Lawrence removed oil cooler lines and fuel line in preparation for making new lines.

  Jan 26, 2021     Improve Engine Breather Tube Routing and Fit - (4 hours)       Category: Engine

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence removed forward section of engine breather tube, shortened forward end of rear tube, reinstalled front section of tube pulling rear section forward away from firewall and added adel clamp at lower end to stabilize and move that end away form firewall.

  Jan 23, 2021     Engine Oil Pressure Check - (20 hours)       Category: Engine

Lee Teicheira, Bill Lawrence, Marc Ausman, John Koehler and Eric Schuldt moved aircraft outside, secured tail, pulled lower spark plugs and turned engine over using starter to check for oil pressure. Found that engine has good oil pressure but has a leak at hose from oil pump to oil cooler. Will need new hose to repair leak. Discovered also that engine timing issues will need to be addressed.

  Jan 20, 2021     Fill Engine Crankcase With Oill - (4 hours)       Category: Engine

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence secured proper engine break-in oil, located proper engine oil fill location, removed stuck plug at distributor hole, added proper amount of oil and marked dipstick for LOW engine oil level, added additional oil to bring to proper FULL engine oil level and marked dipstick.

  Jan 19, 2021     Safety Wire Carbureter to Intake Manifold - (1 hour)       Category: Engine

Bill Lawrence safety wired carburetor to intake manifold.

Ryan 2023 note: at some point the carb got removed, and I had to do this again.

  Jan 17, 2021     Reinstall Exhaust Manifolds and Install EGT Sensors - (3 hours)       Category: Engine

Bill Lawrence reinstalled exhaust Manifolds and installed EGT sensors in manifolds.

  Jan 17, 2021     Weld Stainess Steel Nuts To Exhaust Manifolds - (6 hours)       Category: Engine

Eric Shuldte welded stainless steel nuts to previously drilled holes in exhaust manifolds to accommodate the EGT sensors and returned manifolds to hangar.

  Jan 10, 2021     Locate and Mark TDC and Timing Mark on Propeller Hub and Adjust Valves - (3 hours)       Category: Engine

Eric Schuldt removed engine valve covers, located TDC and timing mark and marked them on the propeller hub, adjusted valves and replaced valve covers.

  Jan 10, 2021     Plug Spark Plug Wire Hole in Rear Engine Baffle - (1 hour)       Category: Engine

Bill Lawrence modified rubber plug to fit around spark plug wires and plugged grommet hole in rear engine cooling baffle.

  Jan 09, 2021     Continue Engine Wiring and Drill Holes for EGT Sensors - (12 hours)       Category: Engine

Marc Ausman, John Koehler and Lee Teicheira continued work on the wiring for the engine and drilled holes in the intake manifolds for the EGT sensors. They also installed, plumbed and wired the fuel tank. All sensors were providing readings on the EFIS.

  Jan 06, 2021     Reposition CHT sensor on R/H Bank Spark Plugs - (2 hours)       Category: Engine

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence removed R/H engine cooling baffle to access R/H bank spark plugs, loosen plugs, reposition CHT sensors, torque spark plugs and reinstall cooling baffle.

  Jan 06, 2021     Secure Cylinder Head Baffle With Safety Wire. - (2 hours)       Category: Engine

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence secured cylinder head baffle with safety wire to prevent interference with pushrod tubes.

  Jan 06, 2021     Shorten Oil Cooler Lines - (1.5 hours)       Category: Engine

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence remove, disassemble, cut, reassemble and reinstall oil cooler lines to provide clearance between cowl and lines.

  Jan 05, 2021     Engine and Oil Cooler Cooling Baffles Complete! - (9 hours)       Category: Engine

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence reached a milestone in the project today! the engine and oil cooler cooling baffles were completed. Today we finished drilling and deburring the rivet holes for the oil cooler baffles, cut and fit the seals and riveted all the pieces together. ALL OF THE ENGINE BAFFLE WORK IS DONE!

  Jan 03, 2021     Continue Engine Oil Cooler Baffle Work - (10 hours)       Category: Engine

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence continue work on the engine oil cooler baffles and related seals. We finalized the seal retainers, cut the seals to length and clecoed all pieces in place on the upper baffle. On the lower baffle we trimmed the baffle to better fit the cowl and provide the proper gap for the seal.

  Dec 30, 2020     Continue Engine Cooling Baffle Work - Left Front Lower - (9 hours)       Category: Engine

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence continue to fit left side upper engine oil cooler baffle to cowl for proper seal spacing spacing and begin fabricating seal retainers. Tedious work requiring removing cowl and baffle for baffle trimming many times to creep in on proper fit.

  Dec 29, 2020     Continue Engine Oil Cooler Baffle Work - (9 hours)       Category: Engine

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence fabricated and installed a L-bracket to support the center of the upper engine oil cooler baffle and trimmed right side of the upper engine oil cooler baffle to provide proper spacing between baffle and engine cowl.

  Dec 27, 2020     Continue Engine Cooling Baffle Work - Left Front Lower - (9 hours)       Category: Engine

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence continued work on the left front lower engine cooling baffles seals. The previously drilled holes in the seal retainers were deburred, the seals were cut and rivet holes punched, the seals, retainers and baffles were assembled and clecoed and then riveted as the clecos were removed one by one. Attention was then turned to the oil cooler baffles. They were fitted and trimmed to fit the cowl leaving proper space for the seals.

  Dec 20, 2020     Continue Engine Baffle Work - Left Front Lower - (9 hours)       Category: Engine

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence continued work on left front lower engine cooling baffles trimming baffles to give proper clearance between baffles and cowl for seals, trim seal retainers to fit newly trimmed baffles and drill holes to secure seal retainers to baffles.

  Dec 16, 2020     Continue Engine Baffle Work - Left Front Lower - (8 hours)       Category: Engine

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence trimmed left front lower engine cooling baffles to create proper gap with cowling for baffle seals.

  Dec 15, 2020     Continue Engine Baffle Work - Right Front Lower - (9 hours)       Category: Engine

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence trim R/H front engine cooling baffles to fit cowl, cut "P" seal to fit baffles, trim seal retainers to fit revised baffles, drill holes for rivets, punch holes in seals, cleco all three pieces together and check fit under cowl.

  Dec 13, 2020     Complete and Install Rear and Both Side Engine Cooling Baffles - (9 hours)       Category: Engine

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence riveted engine cooling baffle seals to the rear and both side engine cooling baffles, placed on engine, ran spark plug wires, CHT sensor wires and engine breather tube through grommets in baffles and secured all.

  Dec 10, 2020     Cut Seals for Rear and Side Engine Cooling Baffles and Drill Holes for Mounting Seals to Baffles - (3 hours)       Category: Engine

Lee Teicheira cut seals for rear and side engine cooling baffles and drilled holes for mounting seals and retainers to baffles.

RRY 2023 note: black seal material should have curved IN, not out. I renewed it with red silicon, curled the proper way. Plus, this is NOT to plans, and while it makes the trimming of the baffles easier, I'm skeptical it's superior. The plans schema when properly executed is probably a little lighter, although it MIGHT not seal quite as well.

  Dec 10, 2020     Fabricate Bracket to Position Rear Engine Cooling Baffle Center in Place. - (3 hours)       Category: Engine

Lee Teicheira fabricated Z bracket to support and hold engine rear cooling baffle in place, drill holes for attaching to baffle and deburr holes.

  Dec 10, 2020     Engine Oil Cooler Upper Baffle Installation - (4.5 hours)       Category: Engine

Bill Lawrence finished fabricating engine oil cooler upper baffle and fabricated side brackets for mounting, drilled holes for rivets, deburred all pieces, riveted mounting brackets to baffle, drilled and deburred holes for bolts and assembled all pieces.

  Dec 08, 2020     Begin Cutting and Attaching Engine Cooling Baffle Seals - (8 hours)       Category: Engine

Lee Teicheira and Frank Kelly began cutting and attaching seals for the engine cooling baffles and also cut holes in the rear engine cooling baffle for the CHT sensor wires to pass through.

  Dec 08, 2020     Elininate Interference Between Cylinder head Baffle and Exhaust Manifold - (4 hours)       Category: Engine

Bill Lawrence trimmed "cool tin" under cylinder baffles to eliminate interference with exhaust manifold and create 1/16 inch gap.

  Dec 06, 2020     Reassemble Engine Cooling Bafffles - (18 hours)       Category: Engine

Lee Teicheira, Harvard Holmes, Frank Kelly Sara Holmes and Bill Lawrence reassemble engine cooling baffles after drilling necessary holes, installing grommets and passing through spark plug wires, engine crankcase breather tube and intake manifold tubes.

  Dec 02, 2020     Form and Install Engine Crankcase Vent Tube - (4 hours)       Category: Engine

Lee Teicheira, Harvard Holmes and Bill Lawrence formed and installed engine crankcase vent tube through engine rear cooling baffle and secured to engine mount and firewall.

  Dec 02, 2020     Fabricate Starter Bendix Intrusiion Hole Cover Fore Rear Engine Cooling Baffle - (4 hours)       Category: Engine

Frank Kelly fabricated starter bendix intrusion hole cover for rear engine cooling baffle.

  Dec 02, 2020     Cutting Access Holes in Rear Engine Cooling Baffle - (13 hours)       Category: Engine

Lee Teicheira, Harvard Holmes, Frank Kelly and Bill Lawrence removed rear engine cooling baffle and cut access holes for crankcase breather tube and spark plug wires.

  Dec 01, 2020     Fabricate and Install Heat Shields for Oil Cooler - (7 hours)       Category: Engine

Harvard Holmes and Bill Lawrence fabricated and installed stainless steel heat shields between the oil cooler and exhaust pipes.

RRY note 2023: these pieces help keep the air from short circuiting out the sides of the cooler before passing through the plates.

  Dec 01, 2020     Continue Fabrication of Engine Cooling Baffle Seal Retainers - (4.5 hours)       Category: Engine

Frank Kelly continued fabrication of engine cooling baffle seal retainers.

  Dec 01, 2020     Install Carburetor Mixture Cable - (2 hours)       Category: Engine

Harvard Holmes and Bill Lawrence reroute, cut and adjust carburetor mixture cable.

  Nov 29, 2020     Install Oil Cooler and Baffle Assembly to Lower Engine Case - (9 hours)       Category: Engine

Frank Kelly and Bill Lawrence, after determining that the new narrower and thicker oil cooler did not provide adequate clearance with lower engine case, reverted to using original wider and thinner oil cooler, attached it to the oil cooler baffle and installed it on the lower engine case. Harvard worked on the windscreen bow.

  Nov 18, 2020     Engine Cooling Baffle Seal Retainers (Continuing Work) - (2 hours)       Category: Engine

Frank Kelly completed fabricating the engine cooling baffle seal retainers.

  Nov 18, 2020     Mount Oill Cooler to Lower Engine Case Cooling Baffle - (6 hours)       Category: Engine

Harvard Holmes, Frank Kelly and Bill Lawrence completed mounting the oil cooler to the engine lower case cooling baffle.

  Nov 17, 2020     Lower Engine Case Baffle Fabrication (Continued) - (10 hours)       Category: Engine

Harvard Holmes and Bill Lawrence continued to fabricate the lower engine cooling baffle and brackets to mount the oil cooler to same.

  Nov 17, 2020     Engine Cooling Baffle Seals (Continuing Work) - (4 hours)       Category: Engine

Frank Kelly continues work on fabricating the retainers for the engine cooling baffles to cowl seals.

  Nov 15, 2020     Continue Fabrication of Engine Cooling Baffle Seal Retainers - (4.5 hours)       Category: Engine

Frank Kelly continued fabrication of engine cooling baffle seal retainers.

  Nov 10, 2020     Throttle Cable Installation Complete - (2 hours)       Category: Engine

Bill Lawrence completed installation of the throttle cable.

RRY note 2023: this is the older AeroCARB, which PUSHES the slide open. SOME installations experienced binding, which lead to the development of the AeroINJECTOR, which PULLS the slide open, and requires different throttle control in the cockpit, and different routing.

  Nov 09, 2020     Throttle and Mixture Cables Installation Continues, Baffle to Cowl Seals Fabrication - (13.5 hours)       Category: Engine

Lee Teicheira, Bill Lawrence and Frank Kelly installed Bowden cable firewall pass through nuts on the mixture and throttle cables requiring pulling both cables, installing nuts and rerouting both cables. Frank worked on fabricating flashing for engine cooling to cowl seals.

  Nov 04, 2020     Shorten Intake Manifold Spigot - (4 hours)       Category: Engine

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence cut two inches from intake manifold spigot, dressed surfaces inside and out and installed carburetor to facilitate clearance for cowl.

  Nov 04, 2020     Install Missing Engine Mount Bushing - (.5 hour)       Category: Engine

Bill Lawrence installed missing engine mount bushing.

  Nov 04, 2020     Re-route Mixture Cable - (6 hours)       Category: Engine

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence drilled new hole in firewall, moved clamp, re-routed mixture cable and manufactured b-clamp to attache cable to mixture lever on carburetor.

  Nov 04, 2020     Cut Patterns For Engine Cooling Baffle Seals - (4 hours)       Category: Engine

Frank Kelly measured and cut patterns for engine cooling baffle seals.

  Oct 25, 2020     Prepare To Cut Holes In Rear Fence Baffle For Intake Manifolds - (2 hours)       Category: Engine

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence removed the rear fence baffle, installed dummy manifold tubes in Intake, reinstalled rear fence baffle and marked circles to cut for tubes to pass through baffle. While fence baffle was off, excess on edge of exhaust gasket was filed for better clearance for baffle.

  Oct 21, 2020     Continued Progress on Engine Cooling Baffles - (9 hours)       Category: Engine

Lee Teicheira and Bill Lawrence continue to fabricate, fit, deburr, drill for rivets and nut plates, rivet and secure engine cooling baffles.

  Oct 20, 2020     Continued Progress on Engine Cooling Baffles - (15 hours)       Category: Engine

Lee Teicheira, Harvard Holmes and Bill Lawrence continue to fabricate and assemble baffling for the engine cooling.

RRY Notes 2023: I found the documentation of this area of the airplane weaker than the excellent plans

  Oct 04, 2020     Engine Wiring and Starter Ground Strap - (6 hours)       Category: Engine

Marc Ausman and John Koehler work on engine wiring, Ignition wiring and starter ground strap installation.

  Jun 11, 2020     Hub Spacer - (5 hours)       Category: Engine

Bill Lawrence fabricated and installed hub spacer locating cowl around propeller hub.

  Feb 26, 2020     Exhaust System - (9 hours)       Category: Engine

Frank, Bill and Elliott install new exhaust system on recently returned and installed engine.

  Feb 16, 2020     Install 20 AMP Alternator - (5 hours)       Category: Engine

Replace 10 AMP alternator with 20 AMP.

RRY note 2023: Required removing the engine again to get at the accessory case.

  Feb 09, 2020     Engine Returns - (3 hours)       Category: Engine

Engine returns from tear-down, case repair and reassembly.

  Feb 08, 2020     Engine work complete. - (50 hours)       Category: Engine

Eric Schuldt completes engine tear-down for inspection, case repair and engine reassembly. (details to follow)

  Mar 28, 2019     Engine work begins Category: Engine

Eric Schuldt begins engine tear-down for inspection, case repair and engine reassembly. (Details to follow)

  Mar 27, 2019     Transport Engine - (3 hours)       Category: Engine

Load and transport engine to Eric for disassembly, inspection and repair case.

  Mar 12, 2019     Remove Engine - (4 hours)       Category: Engine

Remove engine in preparation for transport to Eric Schuldt for disassembly, case repair, inspection and reassembly.

  Mar 09, 2019     Removing Old Instrument Panel and Exhaust System - (16 hours)       Category: Engine

Remove old outdated instrument panel and exhaust system in preparation for installation of new updated equipment.