Oil Cooler

The last several days have been spent working on oil cooling. Initially, I was going to use the MOCAL oil cooler to cool the oil and had planned to mount it in a similar way to how Chris Wallen had done on one of his previous builds. He was nice enough to share many pics of that build with everyone on the net. After purchasing the unit and finally getting to the point of mounting it I changed my mind. While waiting for the unit to arrive, I kept researching oil cooling for these engines and found what I consider a better (more effective) way of doing it. Actually, I knew about it before hand but went for the new shiny object (MOCAL Unit).

Chris Wallen's build with the MOCAL heat exchanger unit behind the oil tank and above the radiator.
 

The reality of mounting the MOCAL unit in a very tight space for what has since been reported as minimal cooling numbers (20 to 30 degrees less) swayed me back to the tried and true method of air cooling through a radiator. The MOCAL unit uses engine coolant to cool the oil, it is effective if you only need a little extra cooling. I opted to more cooling using a radiator.

One of the initial reasons for opting for the MOCAL unit was I already had a way to mount it using Chris Wallen's pics. Another plus with the MOCAL unit was that it resided inside the cowling not hanging out in the breeze adding drag. The radiator option required some yet to be designed/fabricated/mounted brackets. The actual oil lines would be routed in a similar fashion with either option. Once I decided to go with the radiator, I set about figuring out how to mount it.

My Kitfox buddies mount their oil coolers in front of the radiator so, I followed suit. They rivet brackets to the radiator and hang the oil cooler off them. I am not a fan of their way for several reasons. I don't want to drill into the radiator for rivets, potential for ruining the radiator (which one of my buddies did). The brackets hang off the front blocking air flow, and their coolers rest directly on the fins of the radiator (potential for ruining both units over time). So, I needed something different. After a couple of misfires, this is what I ended up with. My brackets mount (will be welded) on the front sides of the radiator, there is minimal air flow blockage from the brackets and it positions the oil cooler in front of the radiator not touching the fins. Now to get it welded, polished and finally installed.

Turtle Deck

I finished up the cutting/shaping of the turtle deck today. Got it cleco'd in place and final cuts done. It came out pretty good, I'm happy with it.

I left the blue tape on too long, got baked on over the summer. Lots of Mineral Spirits and elbow grease to get it off. Still have some residue to remove but I'll need Acetone for that.

Oil Lines

I started figuring out the oil lines (black rubber hoses) on the engine. Got most of them cut an in place but I'm missing several fittings. Ordered most of them today, a couple are going to be harder to locate. I learned the oil tank will need some customization, a bigger drain valve, re-clock the inlets on the top, add a mount to the bottom right side to help secure it better. With the coolant system pretty much done, getting these lines hooked up the engine will be ready to start.

Throttle Cable and Fuel Pump

This was/is (hopefully) the last hole I have to put into the firewall. I finally got around to drilling the hole for the throttle cable. I had to drill it from the inside and the titanium firewall hasn't gotten any easier to drill through. It's the gray cable going into the blue bulkhead fitting. Got it done though. I'll hook it up later...

Next, I re-installed the fuel pump/fuel filter/check valve assembly onto the tray I made for them. I also hooked all the hoses/lines back up.

Last, the fuel pressure sensor adapter arrived and I temporarily installed it. There is a Rotax (Gold Part) pressure sender screwed into it but I think I need a higher pressure sender. I have to verify and order it.

Radiator

I had dropped off the radiator to Vernon Rich for some tweaking. I needed to re-size the inlet and outlets to 1" tubes, it came with 1.25" tubes. I also needed to have each of the tubes clocked to a certain angle making hook up of the hoses easier. Lastly, I asked him to install a petcock drain valve so I could easily drain the coolant if ever needed. He put a nice 1/4 turn aviation spring loaded drain valve on it for me.

I picked the radiator up this morning and mounted it to make sure everything was as I needed it to be. Unfortunately, as with all things custom, it wasn't exactly right. One of the tubes, although clocked correctly, was too far rearward thus hitting the firewall.

So back to Vernon. He cut the left tube off and reinstalled it .75" closer to the back of the radiator. I also had him run several weld beads on both the top and bottom brackets as they weren't very stout. They are now. I picked up the radiator and immediately dropped it off at the polisher. No pics yet but I get it back Tuesday.

Turtle Deck

I started laying out the lines on the plexiglass for the turtle deck. I had attempted this over a year ago, got ahead of myself, and it didn't turn out so well. I learned a lot though and kept the piece to use as a reference. I approached it a little differently this time and was able to get the lines drawn keeping everything square. I cut the large piece of plexiglass down to a workable size. I was able to get two window pieces and door piece out of the same sheet.

Once I was sure the layout was correct I took the leap to bending the sides. I made a template for the cutouts previously and I debated about cutting before bending or after. I chose after because the template I made was off the bent piece. I figured I would have a harder time compensating for the bend, just easier to do it after the bend. It worked as planned.

Window

Finished up mounting the left window today. Still have some final fitting and trimming to do. I also am waiting on the gas struts/brackets from Just Aircraft. Once those show up I can get them mounted and then everything goes off to powder coat.

Windows

I finished working on the left door window frame today. It took quite a while to get it all lined up properly with the door frame. I then cut the window out of the polycarbonate. I left it long in all directions except the top edge. I laid out all the holes and got them drilled. Next was attaching the window to the frame with clecos, first with #40s and then with #30s. I have yet to trim it to size.

I started on the right window frame late this afternoon, I have all the pieces cut but it's not assembled yet. I am waiting on some hinge material to arrive this week to finish up.

Left Door

Tackled the left door today. Rinse, Repeat of yesterday.

More Doors...

Happy Thanksgiving!

I continued on with finishing the right side lower door today. Trimmed the top edge to finished shape. Rounded the corners except for the rear edge. I'll shape that when the top window is in place so they match.

Door Polycarbonate

I started installing the window glass today. Everything always takes longer than I expect, and this was no exception. First, I laid out the rivet pattern on each leg of the door. Then I used my auto punch to set the drill dimples, drilled the #40 holes and cleaned them up. Then I cut out a ruff shape of polycarbonate and clamped it to the frame. I then used a #40 hole finder to match drill through the polycarbonate and cleco it to the frame.

Then I match drilled to #30 size and cleco'd to the frame.

Last, I marked and trimmed the sides to final size. There is still some trimming/sanding to do on the top and front edges. The top edge needs to be sanded to final shape just above the clecos. The front edge still hits the shock towards the bottom of the window. Finally, all the corners need to be rounded off.

Doors and Windows

 Spent the day mounting the door actuators and getting them adjusted.

I then started fabricating the left window frame.