These are so easy to work on

Getting much closer! I turned power on this weekend, purged the fuel lines while disconnected at the carburetor, operated the electric pump, hit the starter (all spark plugs removed) got oil pressure and mechanical fuel pump pressure. All the cabin air/heat ducting installed. Magnetos in their holes and timed.

Still waiting for rocker box drain back tubes... Still need to install new spark plugs, new ignition harnesses and a few other odds and ends.


Progress :yes:

I've done most of this myself but when it came to installing the mags, fuel pump and some other stuff, I had a good friend bail me out. He got more done in 8 hours than I possibly could! Standing on my stump feet to do the engine stuff is very difficult :redface:.
 
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This is the #1 or #4 (can't remember which) rocker box drain tube, nearly chafed to point of striking oil by a baffle spring...

 
bnt83 said:
This is the #1 or #4 (can't remember which) rocker box drain tube, nearly chafed to point of striking oil by a baffle spring...

Click to expand...

Had one strike oil once, so much oil it took quite a while to trace back to the source:mad2:
 
Skylane81E said:
Had one strike oil once, so much oil it took quite a while to trace back to the source:mad2:
Click to expand...


More food for thought, the drain tube hoses were awful. This one may have been cracked and leaking before removal at which point it just broke in half.
 
Was trying to install the skytronics ignition harnesses on the bendix mags yesterday and it sure looked like the screws provided with the magnetos were WAAAAY too long as in would thread in so far as to contact the distributor gears or something in there...:(
 
Had the guard dogs helping today


New drain back tubes and hoses in. Spark plug leads coming along, EGT probe #4 replaced, #2 & #4 rocker box covers torqued.


Very close on alternator wiring
 
bbchien said:
See PM, Brian. I've REALLY enjoyed this thread....:)
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Thanks Dr. B! I wish there wasn't so much to do on this plane tho since it has ate all Spring! It sure will feel good when it fire the first time and I see everything working. I'm hoping to run later today and start test flying & rigging adjustments next week.
 
denisd said:
How about at an angle?
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That's what I was thinking. Angled and tweaked? My concern was cost of a custom poster, however Lisa informed me she is friends with a graphics printer so maybe there wouldn't be any real issues and could come up with a cool idea.
 
Today just sucked... I could not get one screw stated on the left mag harness cap and my helper cross threaded it a bit and we could not resolve it without removing the mag and chasing the threads with a tap. While we were at it, chased the other 3 holes and found them tight with a little gunk.

Anyway that mag still not re-installed and timed yet. No engine runs today. Maybe tomorrow.
 
I like this video better.

http://youtu.be/jiGshKzm6Ss

#1 Charging system works after rewiring it
#2 Magneto, Starter contactor and fuel pump wiring works.
#3 Mag drop was good.
#4 No oil leaks at repairs (still need to chase a small one at the oil sump drain).
#5 EGT #1 did nothing. Need to troubleshoot it but I suspect the probe is bad.
#6 No fuel leaks
 
Spent 8 hours after work playing with the Cardinal. Pulled the airplane clear of the hangar and ran it up to 1700 rpm did the mag drop check and also measured 13.5 volts at the cigarette lighter. Found another EI EGT probe crapped out and yanked it out.

Leak checked everything again then checked all the hoses and fittings for torque and squeezed some lemon yellow "torque seal" on them as I went.

Adjusted the spark plug harness routing and now should be ready to finish tying everything up. I really need my friend Kevin to do that since my hook died again plus my feet are pretty tired.
 
You know your getting close to test flight when weird off-the-wall squawks start popping up. I found a 6 inch wide puddle of gas on the floor yesterday and a cracked copper fuel line off the strainer...

The last one was an active oil leak at the oil sump drain valve that wouldn't stop just fiddling with it. So I replaced it.
 
Strainer - What a pain.

Last year the seal on the plunger shaft was leaking (red arrow) so we pulled the hole thing out and replaced all the seals

This year I found a crack in the 1/8 inch copper line just above the blue sleve at the yellow arrow so I made a new copper line. Maybe it was cracked during maintenance IDK.

Then after that I discovered a very small weep at the pipe thread on the nipple (green arrow)

 
Almost done securing the wiring. Gonna be replacing most of the zipties with lacing cord.




 
It was not very fun putting these fiberglass fairings back on...



Even less trying to hang the heavy assembly on... The 68 & 69 177 cowls Suck.

 
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Just checking fuel pressure and flow at altitude.



 
Still need to finish painting but I needed a break from all the work so I've got about 5 hours on it so far. Squawk free, well mostly...I had to adjust the side tone level on com #2 an Icom A210 :D.

 
It's amazing what Rustoleum, new fasteners and elbow grease can do. Gentelman the category is, Before & After:












I did fight some adhesion trouble, mostly where primer was too smoth and the color coat wouldn't stick and masking tape lifted it. It sure will be interesting to see how long this stuff lasts.

I'm still working is the fiberglass repair and re-painting of the nose wheel pant.

 
>> I spent a few days trying to find 0.25 inch female spade contacts, un-insulated with an F type crimp and tabs to save the plastic connector shell at the voltage regulator.

Brian,

I've really enjoyed watching your progress! I'm surprised you didn't paint the valve covers, too, while you had them off. Maybe you're planning to buy the chromed ones?

Did you find a source for the spade contacts with the tabs? I need those too!

Paul, Oakland CA
 
PaulMillner said:
>> I spent a few days trying to find 0.25 inch female spade contacts, un-insulated with an F type crimp and tabs to save the plastic connector shell at the voltage regulator.

Brian,

I've really enjoyed watching your progress! I'm surprised you didn't paint the valve covers, too, while you had them off. Maybe you're planning to buy the chromed ones?

Did you find a source for the spade contacts with the tabs? I need those too!

Paul, Oakland CA
Click to expand...

www.mouser.com

Jim
 
PaulMillner said:
>> I spent a few days trying to find 0.25 inch female spade contacts, un-insulated with an F type crimp and tabs to save the plastic connector shell at the voltage regulator.

Brian,

I've really enjoyed watching your progress! I'm surprised you didn't paint the valve covers, too, while you had them off. Maybe you're planning to buy the chromed ones?

Did you find a source for the spade contacts with the tabs? I need those too!

Paul, Oakland CA
Click to expand...

160928-2 from onlinecomponents.com. Its a Tyco part.
 
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