Tension Rods/Fuel Controller/Snorkel/Panel

Been busy in the shop over the past week moving things forward. Last week my buddy Craig and I unboxed my panel. We wanted to look at all the loose components that will need to be mounted separately behind the panel. Associated bracketry will need to be fabricated for that. Craig is a whiz at CAD and an A&P/IA. He has some great ideas on where and how to mount various components on his RV-14 build that will also translate to mine. I really appreciate his help and expertise for that. And it was just cool to see my panel for the first time. It's gonna look good in my plane. Hopefully it will be as functional as it looks. Then it was on to fabricating 4 stainless tension rods for the lower baffles. The ends needed threading for 6-32 nuts. Craig came through with a die and handle for that saving me from having to purchase them. I got all 8 threads cut uneventfully and the rods mounted underneath the cylinders. Then on to mounting the fuel controller for my Airflow Performance fuel injection system. This unit is mounted underneath the engine where the intake tubes are integrated with the oil pan. Lycoming had already installed the mounting pad. Throttle and mixture linkages will attach to it as well as the fuel line. With the fuel controller mounted I moved on to the fiberglass induction snorkel that sends air from the air filter in the left cowling inlet down to the fuel controller. Like all fiberglass parts this entailed fitting, trimming and sanding which I've grown to loathe. I much prefer assembling things which is usually more straightforward. I struggled with the snorkel all day yesterday trying to get everything to line up correctly, especially the 8 screw holes in the air filter frame. Issues I had were interference with the starter solenoid and the cylinder oil return line directly behind it. In frustration I sleuthed online and found many builders have these inference issues. Fortunately, Aircraft Specialties makes a modified oil return line for the EXP-119 engine specifically for that problem that provides the needed clearance. I one ordered today. I finally got the snorkel to fit correctly. It just clears the solenoid, and the new oil line will solve that problem. Using flox, I bonded it to the air filter frame. Once it dries, I can start working on the alternate air door for the snorkel.