Feb 27, 2024     Fuel Valve Installation - (12 hours)       Category: Fuselage

I did things a little different with mounting my fuel valve which required me to make some new parts to replace those supplied with the kit.
1) I made a billet aluminum spacer to go under the fuel valve mounting flange to replace the sheet metal hat section piece supplied with the kit. The main reason for this change was to improve the aesthetics of the installation but it also saved just a little weight.
2) I made a new sheetmetal mounting bracket from thinner aluminum and bent down the edges and used dimpled holes to add stiffness. The reason for this change was to save weight over the 0.125" thick piece supplied with the kit.

  Feb 08, 2024     Fitting Nose Bowl Halves Together - (4 hours)       Category: Fuselage

I've been working on getting the two halves of the nose bowl to fit together. Tonight I got to the point where I could drill some holes and cleco them together. In the picture showing the inside of the nose bowl, you can see two areas just inboard of the cooling inlets where I cut away some of the flange. This was to relieve some interference so the pieces would go together properly. I'm planning to do a fiberglass repair in this area to restore the flange.

  Feb 07, 2024     Tach Pick-Up Installation - (2 hours)       Category: Engine

I drilled a hole in my alternator mount tonight and mounted the tachometer sensor. The fasteners are not tightened yet and some aren't even installed yet, but this shows how the tach sensor from William Wynne can be installed. The two bolts installed in the ring gear will create two pulses from the sensor each engine revolution. William now provides the ring gears with two holes for these two AN3 bolts but I bought mine before he started doing that so had to add those holes myself.
In order to locate the position of the hole in the alternator bracket, I turned down a wooden pencil to 3/16" diameter and stuck it through one of the holes in the ring gear where the AN3 bolts go. With the pencil through the hole and against the alternator bracket, I rotated the engine crankshaft back and forth a little to create an arc on the bracket with the pencil. After removing the bracket, I picked a spot along the arc and center punched it and then drilled a 3/8" hole with the drill press. If I was doing it again, I would thread the hole because that would eliminate the need for the jam nut on the back side and would allow the tach pick-up to be adjusted further forward to close the gap between it and the bolt head.

  Jan 16, 2024     Alternator Installation - (3 hours)       Category: Engine

I installed the Yanmar alternator using the mounting bracket from William Wynne. The installation requires making a spacer that is not provided by William because the required size varies a little from one engine to the next. I made mine 2.25" long. See pictures for alternator and belt part numbers.

  Jan 13, 2024     Engine Mounted - (2 hours)       Category: Engine

Mounted the engine mount and engine on the airplane so I could start working on the nose bowl and engine cowling.

  Dec 31, 2023     Engine Completion and Test Run - (30 hours)       Category: Engine

I completed the engine under the supervision of William Wynne at his place in Florida. The tasks I completed there were as follows:
1) Installed rods on crankshaft.
2) Checked ring gap and filed as needed to achieve desired ring gap.
3) One at a time, I installed the rings on the piston, the piston into the cylinder and then the piston/cylinder assembly onto the engine using spiral locks to retain the wrist pins. The bottom of the cylinders were sealed with ultra grey RTV and each cylinder clamped down with some special tubes on the head studs to temporarily hold them in place.
4) Head 1 was installed along with under-cylinder baffle, lifters, and push-rod tubes. The engine was flipped and Head 2 installed in the same way.
5) The engine went on a nose stand and all the valve train was installed and the valves adjusted.
6) The oil pickup tube and screen and the dip stick tube were installed followed by the oil pan.
7) The top cover was installed.
8) Engine moved to the test stand and club prop installed.
9) Oil filter and sandwich adapter were installed with a short section of hose bypassing the oil cooler.
10) Oil was added to the engine through the distributor hole and then a pre-oil process was performed using a drill and special shaft to turn the oil pump. Special drip trays were installed on the heads to catch the oil streaming from the push-rods and the lasted until all 12 push-rods were streaming oil.
11) Valve covers installed and then the drill motor was used to run the oil pump for 30 minutes continuously cycling the oil through the filter many times.
12) Distributor installed and ignition timing set.
13) Test stand moved outside, chained to the ground, and then the engine was started and ran for 40 minutes.

  Dec 25, 2023     Cylinders Painted - (3 hours)       Category: Engine

The cylinders were painted gloss black with Dupli-Color engine paint in an aerosol can purchased at O'Reilly Auto Parts. Two cans were used, but this included painting a couple other parts as well.

  Dec 23, 2023     Oil Filter Housing Installation - (3 hours)       Category: Engine

The oil filter housing came from FlyCorvair.net with a gold anodized finish. In order to get rid of the gold color, I bead-blasted the gold off and then had it re-anodized in black. That didn't turn out well. It was dull and blotchy. I ended up bead-blasting that off as well and then tumbled the part in a rock tumbler to get rid of the dull bead-blasted look. It is now a very good match to the painted engine case but the oil filter housing is bare aluminum.
I also installed the cover plate over the original oil cooler location. This was done using a cover plate from FlyCorvair.net that came with a black anodized finish. The bolts that came with it were 1.25" and were too long. I sourced some 1" bolts locally and the 1" length worked great.

  Dec 19, 2023     Prop Hub Installation - (3 hours)       Category: Engine

Steps:
1) Repainted ring gear.
2) Installed ring gear on prop hub.
3) Installed alternator mounting tab on 5th bearing.
4) Changed out the AN fitting on the 5th bearing from a blue fitting to a black fitting.
5) Installed hybrid studs with Loctite 620.
6) Installed safety shaft with Loctite 620.
7) Installed prop hub/ring gear assembly on crankshaft and torqued hybrid studs and safety shaft.

  Dec 12, 2023     Harmonic Balancer Install - (0.5 hour)       Category: Engine

Anti-seize was used on the bolt threads and the inside bore of the harmonic balancer. White lithium grease was use to pre-lube the oil seal surface on the harmonic balancer. Ultra gray RTV was used around the edge of the big washer and the bolt was torqued to 50 ft-lbs.