What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Baffle kit questions

Bill Boyd

Well Known Member
Is the VA-187 4" oil cooler duct flange suppose to be in this kit? I cannot locate it among the pieces they shipped, nor on the packing list (possible I overlooked it on the list but not in the box). I've ordered one form Van's today but it's bugging me that maybe it should've been included.

When the plans say to dimple a certain rivet hole "inboard" or "outboard," is that referring to inside vs outside the box formed by the baffles, or to the orientation of the dimple relative to the aircraft centerline? There are places where a hole could be dimpled "outboard" of the enclosure but facing the center of the ship. The case I've already encountered (FF2-4, step 7) seemed to make no difference in regards to the fit of the CB 1005B oil cooler brace, but there are other similar callouts around cylinder 5.
 
Bill, I have a narrow deck engine so I had to alter how the cylinder 5 baffle mounts to the case, so everything you see isn't stock. Also, I made a cutout/bypass for the aft fins on #5 - that's not stock either. Otherwise, I will tell you that all of the flush rivets near the cylinders are installed flush on the "inside" of the baffles so they have a smooth surface against the cylinder. Here's a picture if it helps:




If you need a picture of a specific angle or location, please advise - the airplane is sitting uncowled 20' from the chair I'm sitting in.


Oh, and don't remember which kit the 4" flange came with.
 
Last edited:
Is the VA-187 4" oil cooler duct flange suppose to be in this kit? I cannot locate it among the pieces they shipped, nor on the packing list (possible I overlooked it on the list but not in the box). I've ordered one form Van's today but it's bugging me that maybe it should've been included.

When the plans say to dimple a certain rivet hole "inboard" or "outboard," is that referring to inside vs outside the box formed by the baffles, or to the orientation of the dimple relative to the aircraft centerline? There are places where a hole could be dimpled "outboard" of the enclosure but facing the center of the ship. The case I've already encountered (FF2-4, step 7) seemed to make no difference in regards to the fit of the CB 1005B oil cooler brace, but there are other similar callouts around cylinder 5.

The 4? flange is in the FWF kit, not the baffle kit.
 
That explains it.

I forewent (is that a word?) the FWF kit altogether as I'm doing hoses from Tom, etc.

I too plan to do no-fin-depth bypasses around cylinders 2 and 5. I'd appreciate seeing closeups of what others have done there.

I'm impressed at what a work of metal-crafting art the baffle kit is nowadays compared to the RV-6 of 25 years ago. Even though I know I will have to hack a few corners off these pieces to get them to fit my particular install on the 540 C4B5.
 
Baffle kit

Yes you would THINK the va187 should be in the baffle kit because it is literally the first thing you do building the baffles... but no, it?s not there.

At least the shipping cost of the va187 was more than the part...
 
Curious also if there is much perceived benefit in going with a better grade of baffle fabric than the black stuff Vans provides with the kit. I've used the black fabric for 20+ years in the 6A, but I know there's better grades out there that get talked about.
 
Bill, I have a narrow deck engine so I had to alter how the cylinder 5 baffle mounts to the case, so everything you see isn't stock. Also, I made a cutout/bypass for the aft fins on #5 - that's not stock either. Otherwise, I will tell you that all of the flush rivets near the cylinders are installed flush on the "inside" of the baffles so they have a smooth surface against the cylinder. Here's a picture if it helps:




If you need a picture of a specific angle or location, please advise - the airplane is sitting uncowled 20' from the chair I'm sitting in.


Oh, and don't remember which kit the 4" flange came with.

I expect to be doing baffles in a couple of weeks (painting now:( ). Wondering if you have any details on the mods you had to make to support a narrow deck. I also ave a narrow deck C4B5.
 
Curious also if there is much perceived benefit in going with a better grade of baffle fabric than the black stuff Vans provides with the kit. I've used the black fabric for 20+ years in the 6A, but I know there's better grades out there that get talked about.

I bought some of the 3" silicone stuff from ACS and plan to try the method Toolbuilder and Paddy used. I am a month behind you so cannot give feedback on how it works.

Larry
 
Curious also if there is much perceived benefit in going with a better grade of baffle fabric than the black stuff Vans provides with the kit. I've used the black fabric for 20+ years in the 6A, but I know there's better grades out there that get talked about.

I used the silicone from ACS with backing plates, pretty happy with the way it turned out, couldn't find a finished picture, this was mid install.

aM-dL_00Ozhi3bd8TGEX12DNyEXmiIQP9DgW-1jupGeyLPOtnmupMdSVAVVdFwz1Q44S0x7_-26d_NGxioJDUD9na-y1gLI3j2MWsTVRrOJCJBpw1qKgV-nmT0T0QE--YCauq72F7O2rXqZxxVZE0Kd2_70h1SqpwYTZddxCDalHLaMwzHb6zdT66GYhnVRC1FDJWTNQxFTS1dZnKpwJUHM8vpaDQ5GQEah4FA06m7goLgv-JbE-BipkNzlGkd7mjDwqRcPbTxzscCoPjdY_yVucy5zovJomEMqwEFMWbXorpg8wT1--5KWAuGxkb6qMxoRzJGlLO_QNBfoDalib6qBxOhOTDd0dVuhuTXtzwuXZZI3PEitERKNTuW9xdM8iayL9yOrsodT1QtaXPuzuKrsb85bC1HJSbysWSEdgtUY9oJ8NtsQ_f3ZIrqFUl7Rkk5DfPhN0_k6JssMwb0UELcrBuPUymUX__X_8wBO58wez0PPPHXxaARFGwteylZQFnKpxBHn63jyWgUqgwMrWGQ0IOLGy4KCsduN0Rh6Iop-ZmUsT8AOvu7SG_GRufacfJ6mWK4qGWO9IoiVNTkKD_bP_tdvoZ3ssRxT2MjpTwOt-o6J7lM9OSgSLoXHSvMPMMgg3LF9xODeUxv61sgLMKQYsdNXCdP2Log9pLZXNHkOubRb3aILd446xW2mEeDgOx9UyuATQuU8P2a_S42NEFHyTUUuMOxF-0cXkLqKvGu3zLiEJ=w1179-h664-no
 
I expect to be doing baffles in a couple of weeks (painting now:( ). Wondering if you have any details on the mods you had to make to support a narrow deck. I also ave a narrow deck C4B5.


This is how I mounted the front left baffle and tied it to the engine case.



Here's how I tied the front right baffle to the engine case.





Here's how I cut the right rear baffle to clear the pressure relief valve (the yellow thing) and also added a strap to tie the baffle to the engine case.image sharing sites





Here's a view from the front of the engine. I scabbed on extensions to the baffles on both sides of the engine here. The stock ones left very large openings between the crankcase and the baffles.pic free host





Here's my current solution to the #5 cylinder air bypass. It is just a hole cut in the baffle, a 1/2" wide doubler (of 0.63, I think) around the hole, with a plate riveted over the top. That gave me an air passage that's about 0.095" deep, which should pass more air than what I've got on the RV-6 and has worked well for 18 years. I did not make a bypass for #2.

 
Thanks for posting this. VERY helpfull.

Larry

This is how I mounted the front left baffle and tied it to the engine case.



Here's how I tied the front right baffle to the engine case.





Here's how I cut the right rear baffle to clear the pressure relief valve (the yellow thing) and also added a strap to tie the baffle to the engine case.image sharing sites





Here's a view from the front of the engine. I scabbed on extensions to the baffles on both sides of the engine here. The stock ones left very large openings between the crankcase and the baffles.pic free host





Here's my current solution to the #5 cylinder air bypass. It is just a hole cut in the baffle, a 1/2" wide doubler (of 0.63, I think) around the hole, with a plate riveted over the top. That gave me an air passage that's about 0.095" deep, which should pass more air than what I've got on the RV-6 and has worked well for 18 years. I did not make a bypass for #2.

 
Ran into this:

#2 baffle just wasn't going into position with the brace (CB-1002D) attached. Decided it would either be plate nuts and screws, or rivet it on per plans and see even more paint scraped off my case and cylinder fins.

Opted for the plate nuts and 3 #8 screws.
 
Kyle / anyone

I notice in your left front baffle picture that you have the threads on the prop control cable backed as far out of the bracket as they can go and still get the nut on.

In test-fitting my Van's prop gov cable, with the blue knob all the way in, the cable is still too long to line up with the governor (PCU 5000) control arm in its low pitch extreme of travel, even with threads backed all the way out like yours shown. Looks like I'll have to trim down and possibly cut more threads on that cable shaft or else live with "balls to the wall" not really being to-the-wall for the blue knob. That seems not desirable.

Anyone else run into this? Did you shorten the cable end length or shim the bracket maybe 1/4" away from the underside of the #2 baffle? I'm not gung-ho about either option. What am I overlooking?

ETA: after thinking this over a bit more and studying my own pictures while at work, I realize the arm on the PCU5000 could be re-clocked on the shaft to better align with the cable throw - as long as care is taken not to get near the limits of an over-center situation. Is that correct? May be all the adjustment I need, if so.
 
Last edited:
Apparently wasn't holding my mouth right before...

I no sooner completed this mod than I discovered a sequence of twists and shoves that fairly easily installs and removes the #2 front baffle piece with the brace installed and without further scraping any paint from the fins and engine case (what's gone is gone :mad:) Evidently I just didn't put the right hoodoo on it before I gave up and made the brace removable. Don't do this mod - it's really not needed if you figure out the puzzle.

#2 baffle just wasn't going into position with the brace (CB-1002D) attached. Decided it would either be plate nuts and screws, or rivet it on per plans and see even more paint scraped off my case and cylinder fins.

Opted for the plate nuts and 3 #8 screws.
 
Looking last night at the PCU5000X control arm, there's no way to re-clock it on the shaft without disturbing the factory set high and low RPM/pitch limits, which I am not going to do. Wouldn't gain me enough extra travel to accommodate the cable limits anyway.

I've threaded and shortened the shaft on the end of the Prop cable another 1/4" which is another hard physical limit where the threads align with the outer sleeve when fully retracted (knob pulled to coarse pitch). I will add 1/8" shims under the cable bracket feet. Hopefully these two changes will pull the cable back far enough to align its travel with that of the control arm. Not really rocket surgery, only an extra couple of evenings on the build, but I'm surprised the factory cable and bracket are made so close to the extreme end of the stack-up tolerance for cable travel.
 
Looking last night at the PCU5000X control arm, there's no way to re-clock it on the shaft without disturbing the factory set high and low RPM/pitch limits, which I am not going to do. Wouldn't gain me enough extra travel to accommodate the cable limits anyway.

I think there is Bill... i had to reclock mine. I had to cut away their awesome safety wiring and the whole thing spins. I have not adjusted the upper and lower limit, i'm hoping that it wont need to change.
 
Here's my present PCU5000X setup:

You're saying if I remove these screws and reposition the outer portion 30 degrees clockwise, that the internals will work normally provided I don't disturb anything else? Because 30 degrees will solve all my cable throw issues quite nicely.
 
Here's my present PCU5000X setup:

You're saying if I remove these screws and reposition the outer portion 30 degrees clockwise, that the internals will work normally provided I don't disturb anything else? Because 30 degrees will solve all my cable throw issues quite nicely.

Correct - if you remove the safety wire and loosen all those screws, the whole thing rotates. When I ordered mine, I guessed at the angle. I was way off, which kind of sucks, but it was simple to adjust. Mine came with instructions on how to do it.
 
Thank you, Charlie.

I'm sure they sent that document with mine. I should've dug it out and read it. I wonder about me, sometimes.

I gather that the six screws stay in their same holes and the arm position is infinitely adjustable by rotation, retained by friction. That's great - just what I need.

All I need now is some fine safety wire...
 
Different Controller



My PC does not have the safety wire....instructions that came with it say to retorque after adjusting control arm and then one at a time remove the six fasteners and apply thread lock to each one.
 
Back
Top