Engine hanging question

How tough is it to do by yourself on a -7 ?

I did mine (9a) recently. Had a helper but could have done it alone. The engine alignment pins from avery were a big help, as was the illustrated guide - there is a link to it somewhere in the VAF tech pages.

Chris

I hung mine by myself (-9 Tail dragger) in 45 minutes and didn't scratch a thing.

Just follow the Illustrated Guide to Engine Hanging and you shouldn't have any problems.

Does anybody know how long those engine hanging pins are? They look a lot like the pins I turned to use when test fitting my wings.

Did mine by myself in about an hour. The key for me was inserting a punch and feeling out which way it needed to move. First hole took much longer than the last.

Charles in SC said:

Does anybody know how long those engine hanging pins are? They look a lot like the pins I turned to use when test fitting my wings.

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They send you two sizes, I needed to use the shorter one on one or two holes because otherwise there isn't room for it to be punched all the way through - it runs into the engine block. Both are shorter than anything you would use for wing alignment.

Chris

Maybe I was just lucky but did it by myself in 38 minutes, no pins. Was surprisingly easy. Kind of like the "big cut", bending the longerons, etc., the reality is not as bad as the fear...

Couple hours solo without any prior experience other than what I've read on VAF. Be sure to get yourself the "bullets" for driving the bolts through.

Bevan

Easy - you can do quickly.

You can do it solo in a few minutes. I found it easy to mount the frame to the engine, then to the fuse. It took about 15 min. The Avery pins seemed to help. The trick is after two adjacent bolts are installed(i did top first), and attempting to get the next two to align, tighten the first two bolts some to pull the others in closer alignment. Repeat for the third bolt and the last one slides right through.

Getting the bolts torqued and cotter pins in took longer than hanging.

I can not see how it can be done without that technique. Otherwise, it will be a big wrestling match for alignment.

This is assuming you have an engine lift to use. The assembly can easily be reattached to the fuse and removed multiple times with little effort.

FWIW - - I would suggest that you mount the engine, fit cowl, baffles, then remove it for the oil cooler, pay wiring, prop governor, and other things behind the engine, then reinstall and torque up. Lots of tight spaces down there for these items.

Charles in SC said:

How tough is it to do by yourself on a -7 ?

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I note that your plane is not an "A" model. My only addition would be to put the tail up on a stand to get the plane in a more level attitude. The engine will be hanging fairly level, and it will make things infinitely easier for you!
Good luck!

jetjok said:

I note that your plane is not an "A" model. My only addition would be to put the tail up on a stand to get the plane in a more level attitude. The engine will be hanging fairly level, and it will make things infinitely easier for you!
Good luck!

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That's a good point, thank you!

I did mine solo. I didn't use any drift pins, just a big Phillips screwdriver to lever the stubborn mounts into alignment.

An automotive floor jack came in handy for the lower bolts. I put a section of 4x4 on top of the jack pad vertically, the other end on the edge of the sump. A couple of pumps on the handle, and the setup imparts a nice twist to help with alignment.

Good luck!!

rightrudder said:

I did mine solo. I didn't use any drift pins, just a big Phillips screwdriver to lever the stubborn mounts into alignment.

An automotive floor jack came in handy for the lower bolts. I put a section of 4x4 on top of the jack pad vertically, the other end on the edge of the sump. A couple of pumps on the handle, and the setup imparts a nice twist to help with alignment.

Good luck!!

Click to expand...

Using the jack is a brute force method, and while perfectly acceptable, just pulling the bolts up that are already installed will allow the installer to use no added force as the boltless mounts will be nearly aligned. The phillips method of final alignment would still apply if there is room.

There is a geometry reason for tightening (slightly) the first to bolts installed. The clue is that the bolts point to the center of mass for the engine/prop. In proper position, they are compressed, so compressing two along the line of action, displaces the engine perpendicular (and closer) to the center axis of the cone-thus lessening the misalignment. The jack does this my shearing the upper mounts with force.

I want to hear the success story and see a picture of this engine mounted!

Yes, caveman tactics, but it got the job done quickly!

I didn't use pins (or a big screwdriver), level the tail or any of that. Jus simply followed the instructions I posted earlier and was done 45 minutes after I started.

I did help a friend hang his engine and he invited a few guys over to "help". They weren't much help and after I convinced them to follow the instructions, we got it hung, twice. We had to take it off to install the oil pressure fitting and reinstall it. Not a big deal.