Oil cooler & battery case mounting

A very productive day today.

Oil cooler

I mounted both the oil cooler and the battery case. Most of the time was spent checking and re-checking to make sure that the positions were correct before drilling into the firewall. I lifted the engine into position and installed the engine mounts to get the exact fit before dissembling again. Overall it went well and I’ve riveted the oil cooler to the firewall and strengthened it with the firewall bolts and one adel clamp.

Battery case

For the battery case, I installed angle aluminium underneath to give some strength and riveted this to the battery case. It still needs one more adel clamp as the firewall is titanium, and quite “flimsy “. I think the adel clamp with provide the stability it needs, if not then I’ll use angle aluminium again,

Landing gear boots

I also lifted the gear and installed the rubber boots that I’d forgotten to add last time. Now that I know how to do this it took less than 10 minutes, instead of the 2 hours the first time.

Rear baffle duct mesh

also finished installing the mesh screen into the right rear baffle that I had forgotten when fabricating it, so the engine is now ready to mount.

Tomorrow I plan to fit the hydraulic reservoir, the Vertical Power PPS, and the cabin hot air vents. That just leaves the oil filter. Right now I’m contemplating not having a filter and simply running with the “rock catcher” that is already on the engine. I need to be convinced that an oil filter is going to add a degree of safety or longevity that I won’t otherwise have, but right now I’m not seeing it.