Engine Unveiling

For 7 months I've been waiting to uncrate my engine. I went with a new Lycoming Thunderbolt IO-390-EXP119 with dual PMags and Airflow Performance Fuel Injection. The anticipation ate at me every time I looked at the crate stuck against my water heater in the garage. But I wasn't yet at a place where I needed the engine. At times I wondered if I ever would get to that point. But with the canopy, gear and brakes done the time has finally arrived. Before I get to that I finished up the right brake line yesterday. That went as smooth as the left one. Hopefully no leaks when it comes time to leak check them. I also added some bolts to the wing spar that were oddly included in the Landing Gear section of the KAI. On to the engine. This proved more challenging than I first thought. Getting the heavy engine crate moved to the center of my garage was the first hurdle. My normal helper go-to buddies were out of town. After thinking about it I sunk a threaded eye bolt I had lying around into the center 2x4 of the engine pallet. Connected the eye bolt to my trucks trailer hitch with a rope then slowly and carefully dragged the crate to the middle of my garage. After opening the top of the crate, I was greeted with a few boxes. One had all the engine paperwork. One had the oil filler/dipstick tube and the last one had the fuel injection kit. The engine itself was inside a heavy-duty plastic bag which was complexly surrounded be dense self-expanding foam. I looked at the documentation for guidance and there was none. On the crate they'd printed instructions, "Open the top of the box. Lift the engine vertically from the box." Hmmm... Two problems with that approach. First, the foam had expanded into all the voids surrounding the engine. The foam was also adhering to the cardboard sides of the box. No way was the engine going to come out by itself. And lastly there was no way to position my engine lift directly over the engine because the crate interfered with the lifts support legs. It was also unclear how the engine was being supported in its crate. Was it just sitting in a bed of foam or was it strapped to the pallet, as my buddy Dans' engine was when he uncrated his 3 years ago? I even called Lycoming Customer Support for advice. They told me (wrongly as it turned out) that the engine was strapped fore and aft to the pallet. So, I carefully started cutting aways cardboard and chunks of foam. Carefully because it was difficult to tell at times where foam ended and engine began. Over time I created a colossal mess in my garage of foam chunks in every conceivable size from small particles to football sized. It became apparent that the engine was just sitting in a bed of foam. I finally got the engine uncovered to the point that I could connect it to the hoist and carefully lift it from it foam bed. Thank God for shop vacs for cleaning up the mess. Once the engine was free and clear on the hoist, I carefully inspected the exterior and found no issues. I'm happy I went with the red and chrome rocker covers. To me it looks pretty cool.