« Posts tagged fuel pump

Cowl surfacing, part 2.

6 hours.

Before I knew anything about fiberglass, I figured the pepto-pink Van’s cowl was pretty much the norm. It’s not. The Van’s cowl is shite. You’re supposed to fill in all the pinholes (and the whole thing is mostly pinholes) by rolling on straight epoxy, then squeegeeing it off. 3 coats go on like that and theoretically, the pinholes are filled in.

The reality is far from theory. What I’ll have to do now, if I want this thing to be even remotely smooth, is to squidge on a layer of micro slurry. Not the paste used for building up a shape, but enough to fill in all the divots. Once that’s done, I’ll be able to sand it smooth, then seal it with another layer of resin.

Or, I could take it to a body shop and have them do it. I need to be very careful not to bust the 51% rule, though, since I got the quickbuild kit to start with.

So the third coat of resin is curing right now, and should be ready for sanding tomorrow.

Since I was in fiberglass mode, I finished the cutout I had to make in the snorkel to allow it to clear the alternator. This is also curing, and should be done enough to permanently install tomorrow.

Aside from that, I reworked the fuel feed line so it makes a little more sense and doesn’t bend at such an extreme angle on the input.

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Here are some pics from the last couple of weeks.  I’ve recovered my server-side image processing script, so I promise more photos in the future.


This is the mess before I cleaned it all up.


Flap actuator and servo reinstalled (Yay!)


Fuel pump reinstalled, lines secured.


This is me working on the endless process of dressing cables and zip-tying everything.

Another productive day.

4 hours.

Bunch of stuff happened today.  Shelley helped me get the fuel lines secured with Adel clamps, and I got the fuel pump reinstalled and wired up.  It works!   I also got the tunnel cover finished, but didn’t get to setting up the cabin heat cable.    The throttle quadrant also went back in.   It’s nice to finally see the ‘damage’ from the avionics install and wiring fiasco put right and parts that were languishing on shelves put back on the airplane.

There is no end to wiring.   I cable-wrapped the antenna  wires and worked on the GS/NAV splitter mounting.  Fortunately, there were two holes ready made for it (not really, they just coincidentally lined up).   But I stopped dead in my tracks when my cable stripper exploded.   I need a new one from Radio Shack ASAP.   But once that’s done, the avionics wiring is just about done.   Finished.  Fin.  The end.

Still have to figure out how to connect the marker beacon antenna.   It comes out of the audio panel as a single shielded wire, but it has to connect to a big, fat length of RG400.   How the hell do I do that?