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.

Wheels and Brakes

Today, I finished up the brake system. I had to safety tie the floating Beringer disc brake to the wheel. It's a pretty straight forward task. Before accomplishing this I had to align the disc to the wheel so the disc protrusions lined in the smaller cutouts around the wheel. Once that was done I cut a piece of .041 safety wire to wrap around the outer edge of the wheel and pushed it into the little slots. Then I spun it to tighten it all the way around. This captures the disc but allows it to float with the wheel.

Next, I tightened the wheel nut to spec (18 ft lbs) and then added the required cotter key.

Finally, I pressure bled the brakes adding Radcolube FR257 full synthetic fire resistant hydraulic fluid. It's harder to come by but this has a much higher working temp than the usual MIL-PRF-5606 Hydraulic fluid used in GA aircraft.

There were only a couple of minor leaks, one at the reservoir and at the crossover under the fuselage at the landing gear attach point. Once I got those tightened up, I filled the reservoir 1/2 way to leave it over night to recheck for leaks tomorrow.

Inter-cooler/Radiator

I picked up the new bracket this AM and proceeded to install it, everything lines up great.

I made up a new radiator bracket yesterday out of 4130 chromoly steel. Much stronger than the .063 aluminum bracket I had before. I mounted up the radiator to test fit and it works much better. I still need to plan how the muffler will mount so I won't take the bracket for powder coat just yet. In the first pic, the bracket is hard to see but is the flat piece running from the radiator to the motor mount (red piece with the bolts).

I started fitting the inter-cooler duct work. Got the left side done. Starting on the right side which is more complicated.

Got it fitted but I'm sure there will be some fiddling with it once I start working on the cowling.

Finished up the right side duct work.

Inter-cooler

I received my inter-cooler brackets and proceeded to mount them to the aircraft. First, I had to mark and drill some holes for the engine bolts. As with all things custom, I had some issues with the holes that were pre-drilled in the brackets and had to convert the holes to slots to allow for some repositioning. Once that was done I could mount the brackets, then the inter-cooler.

Got it mounted and level

Unfortunately, it's not square to the engine/spinner. After looking at the template and taking some measurements, it appears the bracket is about 1/2" shorter than the template. It will have to be remade.

Some clearance issues with the gearbox, so I cut it down to the lines.

After trimming.

Left Door and Exhaust

I finally finished with the left door frame today. Got it lined up and temporarily installed on the hinge. The alignment is almost identical to the right door. I'm happy with it. Next up is the window frames that insert into the upper part of the door.

I also picked up the exhaust piece I had welded up that bolts on the back of the turbo. Previously, Rich welded the O2 Sensor bung in place but just tacked the tube to verify orientation. He finished up the welding today, inside and out. Looks beautiful. It's temporarily mounted now so Chris can run the wiring for it tomorrow.