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need ideas for isolating firewall forward things away from each other

dwranda

Well Known Member
I'd like to see pics of how everyone kept the various wires and hoses away from each other around the engine. The area behind the engine is so cluttered I'm at a loss as to what I can do safely to keep things from rubbing on each other. I'm planning on using lacing cord or grip ties to keep things neat and won't have any regular zip ties on the engine mount.
 
Even though I built an RV-8, I found Van's RV-14 information to be very helpful. Click on the image to go to the source which allows you to look at it from many angles - takes a minute or two to load, so be patient.

 
Wiring from the motor to the firewall should follow the existing motor mount. It's already in the way. Keep the area around the oil filter and the back of the case clear..... Think ahead and ask "how do I service that area". It will pay off when you need to service a fuel pump or mag or oil screen or governor or oil pump gears or even change the filter......
 
Wires/Hoses,ect

Keeping all the lines and wires tidy and secure is the key to long lasting FWF. You don't want any chaffing of the mount, so use the method of correctly (tight) fit Adel clamps or tie-wraps that have 1 around the line, and one around the mount or securing point. Avoid tie-wraps that are around the mount and the line creating a friction between them. There are tie-wraps available that can be "released", I have them in purple, and I use them to tie up a line initially, then come back with the permanent ones when I'm satisfied...sort of like Clecoes for organizing the wiring/hoses. I've attached a couple pictures of my FWF.
 

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Great example of tidy FWF installation

QUOTE=I've attached a couple pictures of my FWF.[/QUOTE]

I had never seen such a clean FWF installation! Great work Bill, wish mine comes out half as tidy!
 
Great pics everybody. I'm doing pretty much what has been done in those pics so i guess I'm on the right track. Between the spark plug wires, oil lines, fuel lines, starter and battery cables it's a big mess to be sorted out. Can things be zip tied together as long as there won't be chafing going on? I was thinking the spark plug wires to the heater duct hoses just to take up some slack since they're a bit long.
 
Man this is the part that totally sucks about doing this build on my own. I'm so close to being done and this firewall forward stuff has me so frustrated. I can just stand there and look at it for what seems like hours. It's like I'm paralyzed with indecision. Someone who knew what they were doing could be done in half a day I bet. Guess that's why it takes years to finish one of these.
 
Man this is the part that totally sucks about doing this build on my own. I'm so close to being done and this firewall forward stuff has me so frustrated. I can just stand there and look at it for what seems like hours. It's like I'm paralyzed with indecision. Someone who knew what they were doing could be done in half a day I bet. Guess that's why it takes years to finish one of these.

Been there, done that, many times. The good news on this is that it's pretty easy to re-do it if you don't like how it turns out.
 
Man this is the part that totally sucks about doing this build on my own. I'm so close to being done and this firewall forward stuff has me so frustrated. I can just stand there and look at it for what seems like hours. It's like I'm paralyzed with indecision. Someone who knew what they were doing could be done in half a day I bet. Guess that's why it takes years to finish one of these.

Curiously, this part of the build was the most enjoyable for me! It was a place to add my touches to potential problems, especially regarding long term dependability. Gleaned over time and many "lessons learned" no doubt!

The biggest challenge is knowing what you need to mount, being able to look ahead and judge the space/locations required. Temporary mounting is a good idea, then cutting ends of plug cables and such once you've got it where you want it. Good advice in previous posts about how to fasten wires/cables.

Like rv8ch commented, if it doesn't work it's easy to retrack and make it right.

Cheers
 
Here is my setup. Hope it helps.
 

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Man this is the part that totally sucks about doing this build on my own. I'm so close to being done and this firewall forward stuff has me so frustrated. I can just stand there and look at it for what seems like hours. It's like I'm paralyzed with indecision. Someone who knew what they were doing could be done in half a day I bet. Guess that's why it takes years to finish one of these.
Do you have a local builder's group or EAA chapter you can call on? During my build, that was invaluable. We were always visiting each other's projects and looking at how everyone else does stuff which is invaluable. This forum is a good substitute but still not quite the same as being able to look and poke and ask "why this way?" in person.
 
Do you have a local builder's group or EAA chapter you can call on? During my build, that was invaluable. We were always visiting each other's projects and looking at how everyone else does stuff which is invaluable. This forum is a good substitute but still not quite the same as being able to look and poke and ask "why this way?" in person.
I don't have an active chapter within 3 hours of me. I do have a tech counselor that has flown his RV to me 4 times over my build. I like to be at certain stages of completion for his inspections so I'm not bugging him too much to come out. If i had alot of help locally i would have been done 2 years ago at least.
 
I don't have an active chapter within 3 hours of me. I do have a tech counselor that has flown his RV to me 4 times over my build. I like to be at certain stages of completion for his inspections so I'm not bugging him too much to come out. If i had alot of help locally i would have been done 2 years ago at least.
Yeah it's gotta be much harder in isolation. But good on you for managing it thus far! Where are you, just out of curiosity?
Here are some photos in case they help. Also if you don't have Bingelis' Firewall Forward book, it has some good stuff on this part of it. As I remember that is - it's been a while!
 

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Yeah it's gotta be much harder in isolation. But good on you for managing it thus far! Where are you, just out of curiosity?
Here are some photos in case they help. Also if you don't have Bingelis' Firewall Forward book, it has some good stuff on this part of it. As I remember that is - it's been a while!

Western New York. There's active chapters in Rochester, NY and some in Ohio but that's as close as it gets. Without this site and the internet I never would have attempted this. I'm super impressed by those who went before me that built before the internet and matched hole pre drilled kits.
 
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