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RV-7A JCarne

It has been awhile since I posted an update. Long story short after getting my engine back from the builder there was a problem with an impulse coupler on the left mag. This was after I had it aaaalllll hooked back up again. Here is the thread detailing that incident if you missed it. (pictures on second page) I sent the mag back to my builder for evaluation and eventually it will make it's way back to Champion. I'll update the findings later but at this point everything is pointing to a manufacturing defect.

When the impulse coupler decided to take a **** it also put just enough side load on my crankshaft idler gear and deformed slightly the tips of two teeth. The damage to the teeth is subtle but in my opinion it needed replaced. I unhooked the engine yet again and pulled the sump and accessory cover. The idler gear needs replaced (waiting on new one) but luckily everything else looks perfect! I also took the opportunity to search the sump and accessory housing looking for metal. Not a single spec of metal was found. Thank goodness! The repair is also being performed following recommendations from Lycoming. Check the other thread for a later update.

Since I had to take my sump off and the hangar has been cold lately I decided this would be the perfect time to install the new Reiff sump heater I got! :)

After bagging the engine to keep moisture out here we are. Don't tell the wife I did this on our kitchen counter. :D

Here I am taking all of the fittings out of the sump so I can wash it with some dawn dish soap and water to keep the oily mess down.

IMG_0370 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

Here are all the parts that came out of the sump. They just happen to be sitting next to my dinner. :D

IMG_0372 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

Here is the inside of a clean sump if you have never seen one.

IMG_0373 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

Next up, tape the perimeter of the sump heaters in preperation of removing the paint.

IMG_0374 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

Next mix some of the fancy Aremco epoxy that is just about as thick as proseal. Apply and place the heaters.

IMG_0375 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

Now I wait for the epoxy to cure and then I will go back with more epoxy and cover the perimeter of the heating elements per the instructions.

This is my version of "when life gives you lemons".
 
Good to get an update from you Jereme! You've been a great source of motivation/inspiration to me since I started my RV7 build 3.5 years ago. I've followed you closely.

Ryan
 
Glad you’re back! I hope everything is well with the rebuild, and yes, the engine shop should make this right.

Thanks! Ya the engine shop has been good to deal with so far. I was really happy to hear they would let me credit the mag towards an Emag. No more impulse couplers for me!

Good to get an update from you Jereme! You've been a great source of motivation/inspiration to me since I started my RV7 build 3.5 years ago. I've followed you closely.

Ryan

Glad it helps Ryan! I'm glad to see this log has so many views and that it is helping others.
 
Well, you are indeed a MACHINE Carne!

I have the highest praise for your grit with regard to this motor, just wow.

I have used the kitchen oven for curing coated parts and my Julianne was a trooper for several runs so I understand kitchen mechanics!
In the end, this will be a glorious airplane!

Never give up! Never surrender!
 
Well, you are indeed a MACHINE Carne!

I have the highest praise for your grit with regard to this motor, just wow.

I have used the kitchen oven for curing coated parts and my Julianne was a trooper for several runs so I understand kitchen mechanics!
In the end, this will be a glorious airplane!

Never give up! Never surrender!

Thanks man.

Here is the finished product. Everything is better with bacon. :D

IMG_0377 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr
 
Firewall fuel fitting location?

Jereme,

Just a few posts back :rolleyes:, I saw you changed engine mounts for the new nose gear. I’m doing the same on our -6A. I have not positioned(drilled hole) for the fuel fitting. Do you have any feedback for making an adjustment to the location of the fuel fitting with regard to the new landing gear? Or is the location on the plans just fine?

Thanks,
 
Jereme,

Just a few posts back :rolleyes:, I saw you changed engine mounts for the new nose gear. I’m doing the same on our -6A. I have not positioned(drilled hole) for the fuel fitting. Do you have any feedback for making an adjustment to the location of the fuel fitting with regard to the new landing gear? Or is the location on the plans just fine?

Thanks,

I cannot speak for the -6A (I'm assuming the fuel location is the same but not sure) but for my -7A it did work. HOWEVER, I use a fairly long hose and it does a 180 turn to get to the pump. I attached a pic so you can see what I mean. It has a 45 on the end that connects to the firewall and straight of course into the pump. Seems to work well. I purchased the line from aircraftspecialty.

If I remember right I think the -14 is done somewhat similar to this. I know I have seen it in the plans somewhere...
 

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Thanks!

Our -6 will have the same firewall plan as the -7. We have a blank slate, so figured we’d make it similar to what current plans call for.
 
Plan revision

I am at this spot now.
On the plans revision with the new nose gear, the fuel location is spelled out for the fuel penetration. Depending on the vertical or horizontal induction, one version gets a 90 degree fitting on the hose at the bulkhead connection and goes around the gear donuts; the other version gets a straight hose fitting.

I am using vertical induction fuel injection and My hose has a 90 degree fitting attached to the bulkhead penetration. The bulkhead penetration puts the fitting far enough away from the firewall to clear the starter and main bus contactor.

One GOTCYA, the doubler for the fuel bulkhead fitting over laps a little the mounting area for the contactor. I made the firewall doubler with a square extension of 1/2 “ x 1/2” to completely overlap the mounting hole for the contactor so mounting foot would sit nice and flat.
 
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Okay, as many of you know I had an impulse coupler decide to break apart on my newly rebuilt engine. The engine had to once again come off so that I could take the sump and accessory case off to change a gear and look to see if any metal entered.

Luckily not a single piece of metal was found anywhere inside the engine; it was totally captured by the mag spacer.

Long story short there appears to be a manufacturing defect on the impulse coupler flyweights. See this thread for more details/closure on that topic.

Darren at Aerosport was awesome to work with and answered all of my questions so I could get the engine fixed. They warrantied most of the parts as well. (I chose to change two out of my own piece of mind) They even let me credit the bad mag towards a Pmag (no more impulse couplers for me!!!)

In the end I replaced the crankshaft idler gear due to two slightly deformed teeth, the idler gear shaft and bolts/nuts out of caution, and the crankshaft gear out of caution. While replacing the crankshaft gear I followed Lycoming 475C and the supplement. They provided an awesome amount of detail on how to do it properly. I sincerely doubt anything was wrong with the crankshaft gear but I changed it out of piece of mind and Lycoming recommended it come off to inspect the dowel pin (which was undamaged).

Here is a shot of the crankshaft gear and idler shaft after replacement.

IMG_0409 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

Here is a shot of everything put back together with a new gasket ready for accessory case mating.

IMG_0420 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

After quadrouple checking to make sure everything is in order (cam timing marks, etc.) and prelubed the accessory case was bolted on. Following is a picture showing how all the gears mate together, you can also look closely and see how the oil pump shaft mates with the crankshaft gear.

IMG_0424 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

Next it was time to make sure everything was in order for sump mating. There are just a few areas that need a bit of sealant first.

IMG_0426 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

After the sump gasket is ready it was bolted on.

IMG_0425 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

This is about the point in time that I got sloppy in taking pictures since I have already done that before. The engine was attached back to the airframe and got ready to be run again. Here is a video of what I am calling the "second first start". :D That new Pmag fired her right up!

https://youtu.be/iGRVQWbZ1CM?t=7

Engines have always fascinated me and I have done a little bit of work on them before so this repair was rather enjoyable! I certainly didn't want to have to be doing this repair but I made the best of it. I'm also now sporting a Pmag so I guess I get to save some money on fuel. haha

If anyone has any questions I would be more than happy to answer them!
 
You look way too tall to fit in that thing. Congrats on getting it back together.

Haha Actually I'm wearing thick coveralls and the foam cushions don't compress when it's 0 degrees outside. I'm actually only 5'7" hahaha Them seats have some thick boy wedges in there! :D
 
Great to see it back turning the screw. Man, that looks cold! I am complaining about 38F.

Good work Jereme!
 
Heh Jereme, Sorry you have been having trouble with that engine. You got me thinking about mine which is a Lycoming 0-360 I bought thru Vans. Which model engine and mags did you get. I have the Left Slick mag 4373 and a right Slick mag 4370. Good job for getting it running.
 
Heh Jereme, Sorry you have been having trouble with that engine. You got me thinking about mine which is a Lycoming 0-360 I bought thru Vans. Which model engine and mags did you get. I have the Left Slick mag 4373 and a right Slick mag 4370. Good job for getting it running.

Hello Bob, it is an IO-360-M1B. The mags are the same as you listed. I removed the 4373 (the one that failed). I still have the 4370 on the right side but it doesn't have an impulse coupler. The mags were also very recently manufactured. I would have have to look at the tag but it was only a few months ago if I remember right. I hope this was only a one off bad part from Champion and hope we don't see yet another SB/AD on the impulse couplers.
 
Well I'm currently waiting on my airworthiness inspection which should be Tuesday of this week. It was supposed to be two days ago but we had to resubmit the application to the FAA in order to make some changes. The new AWC system isn't too bad but it is TERRIBLE if you need to make any changes!!! Good thing my DAR has a contact at the FAA because he had to call them to cancel the old one.

In the meantime I realized that A. I have nothing better to do at this point and B. I forgot to post pictures of the new FWF setup.

Here is the new setup on top of the engine. Sooooo glad that I can get a socket AND the torque wrench in there to tighten them plugs now without taking any baffle pieces apart! :D

IMG_0472 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

Starting from the right now...

IMG_0471 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

IMG_0470 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

Over to the left side now. You can see that sweet new oil cooler heater here!

IMG_0473 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

In this one you can really see the cable routing on them new Emag wires. Kind of a pain that you have to separate them but no big deal.

IMG_0474 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

I also decided to close out the cowl inlets with a bit of foam and a bit of epoxy/cab/flox mix. The baffle seals in this area were already pretty good just by feeling it but I think this will make it better!

IMG_0443 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

It has been snowing like crazy out here lately but I even got some time to get out and about!

IMG_0467 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

As always, let me know what you guys think and especially if there is anything you think that could be better! Inspection is only a couple days away!
 
Very neat Jeremy good job! I like how you shielded the heating scat from exhaust pipe. Good luck on airworthiness inspection.
 
Hey there Jeremy- On the 4th picture down, it looks like there might be a line of some kind that could rub on the breather tube. Might just be camera angle, but if it's close, some kind of standoff there might be appropriate.

Great looking install. I've been following your build since I pulled the trigger on building myself. best of luck.
 
Very neat Jeremy good job! I like how you shielded the heating scat from exhaust pipe. Good luck on airworthiness inspection.

Thanks Vlad! When I get this thing out of phase 1 you will have to show me around the better parts of Utah! You will also need to pop on up here to explore the Big Horn basin.

Hey there Jeremy- On the 4th picture down, it looks like there might be a line of some kind that could rub on the breather tube. Might just be camera angle, but if it's close, some kind of standoff there might be appropriate.

Great looking install. I've been following your build since I pulled the trigger on building myself. best of luck.

Thanks for taking a close look Terry! It is definitely a camera angle thing going on there. If you are talking about the black wire it is about a foot away.
 
When I look at all the wiring I almost shat myself...how will I ever get all that done!

Holy Moly!

Well one connection at a time I guess...
 
Thanks for taking a close look Terry! It is definitely a camera angle thing going on there. If you are talking about the black wire it is about a foot away.

I was talking about the gray line behind the black wire. looks like it might intersect the vent line down low where it starts to turn fwd.

Buy in any case, you're welcome. second set of eyes and all that :)
 
Every time I see a picture of a engine installation (your looks great BTW) my mind explodes with all the tasks and decisions that await me that I don't even have a clue about now....

My engine arrives in 6 weeks and firewall forward kit to be ordered today.
 
Thanks Vlad! When I get this thing out of phase 1 you will have to show me around the better parts of Utah! You will also need to pop on up here to explore the Big Horn basin.
Thanks for taking a close look Terry! It is definitely a camera angle thing going on there. If you are talking about the black wire it is about a foot away.

I think he's talking about what appears to be the fuel pump overflow/vent line.
 
Every time I see a picture of a engine installation (your looks great BTW) my mind explodes with all the tasks and decisions that await me that I don't even have a clue about now....

My engine arrives in 6 weeks and firewall forward kit to be ordered today.

I think you will find FWF to be the most fun part of the build! One thing at a time. Although this time you can finish multiple things in one day unlike most of the rest of the build!

I think he's talking about what appears to be the fuel pump overflow/vent line.

Ah yes, I think you are right Mel. In that case DesertRat it too is a camera trick. There is quite a gap between the two. I would estimate 2-3 inches.
Thanks again for the eyes!
 
Every time I see a picture of a engine installation (your looks great BTW) my mind explodes with all the tasks and decisions that await me that I don't even have a clue about now....

My engine arrives in 6 weeks and firewall forward kit to be ordered today.
Get the RV-14 plans - they have a lot of useful hints that I even used on my RV-8 - I'm sure it will help you on your RV-7. There are also some good pictures and a 360 degree "virtual reality" image of the RV-14 FWF on the Van's Aircraft website.
 
heat shield

Jerome - very nice. I see you don't fear the heat shield. :D You may want to consider adding some between the exhaust and the cowl near the exit - I noticed some discoloration there on mine at the intersections and ball joints - perhaps yours has more gap, but something to consider.
 
Jerome - very nice. I see you don't fear the heat shield. :D You may want to consider adding some between the exhaust and the cowl near the exit - I noticed some discoloration there on mine at the intersections and ball joints - perhaps yours has more gap, but something to consider.

Thanks for the heads up. I used DanHs fiberfrax tip on my cowl so we will see how that does first.

I purchased those heat shields from AntiSplat and said "well, I might as well use the whole thing" haha.
 
Jereme, wishing you a smooth inspection I've enjoyed reading your posts as you shared the ups and downs of your build with us. Really looking forward to the eventual first flight writeup.
 
Well, only one more big milestone left I suppose! Followed by mass quantities of fun I hope!

The DAR inspection went great! I had everything ready for him and a lot of the paper work was taken care of before he even got there. His help in dealing with making changes in AWC was big!

Tim Mikus did a great inspection on the plane and the 2.5 hours he was there was quite a joy actually; had some great conversation during the process. He said the work looked great and the only thing he found was that there needed to be labels on the throttle, prop, and mixture controls. No biggy to add.

It sure was a rough journey to get to this point at times but I'm glad that one is behind me now! Next up, transition training in a little over a week and then first flight! :D

IMG_0479 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr

IMG_0482 by Jereme Carne, on Flickr
 
WOW! This is awesome news! congratulations!!!! Can't wait to see phase 1 reports.

I am just waiting for a new prop cable to schedule mine.
 
Congrats

Congratulations on the pink slip. Unbelievable. Thanks for the wonderful documentation; it continues to help me out a lot.
 
Congratulations, what an achievement, through the ups and downs.

What color are you planning to paint it, or should I say her, now that your project has transformed into an airplane?
 
Congratulations Jereme, now for the fun part! Did he give you a good area to do your flight testing in? You'll probably be doing the circles around the airport to break the engine in and doing all the calibrations. Best wishes!
 
WOW!

That is awesome dude! You killed it on this build and I feel like I tagged along for the whole ride!

Congratulations Jereme!

Kent
 
Congratulations!

Glad to see you're ready to start flying. Your build thread has been fun to follow - from the barrel of Lite cans to the last engine rebuild. It seems like you turn the crank hard and do nice work.

Enjoy the blue skies!
 
Congratulations!!!!

All your hard work is about to pay off. Life will change for you. You will go to the hanger not to build but to fly. It's quite the transition. Have friends look over your aircraft for anything missed. Fresh eyes always a good thing. Have fun. Joe
 
Congratulations!!!

Congrats on the "Pink slip"

Joe has a good idea about having extra eyes for one last check before first flight.
 
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