Firewall Forward

[slowbuilder]

Would anyone out there like to put in their two cents about these two questions?

What do folks think of Van's firewall forward kit for the RV-6?

Is it a good value?

Thanks

[N941WR]

Assuming the kit is the same for the -9 as it is for the -6A...

It is worth it in terms of time saved in shopping for all the little stuff, figuring out hose lengths, etc.

I suspect, but don't know, you might be able to buy all the parts on your own and save a few bucks.

The time savings by ordering the FwF kit from Van's was worth any extra money it might have cost.

All IMHO.

[Frank Smidler]

I have an RV-6 that will be flying this spring and I have the Van's FWF kit. I highly recommend it because I believe it really shortened my build time by not having to figure out component locations and hose lengths. Vans even has a list of changes to the kit that is needed for use on the RV-6. They also allowed me to delete items from the kit that I already had.

I had the original interior battery box installed and pulled it out. I then modified the RV-7 center floor cover and heat distribution box to fit my airplane. This allowed me to move the battery to the front side of the firewall. The interior reinforcement for the gasolator had to be shortened to fit between the X firewall reinforcement angles on the -6. The -7 only has one of these angles.

I had to make a change to the location of the sensor manifold since I already had the brake reservoir mounted on the left side in the way of the vertical location called out by the RV-7. If you mount the brake resevoir on the right side as called for on the RV-7 the manifold will fit in the called for position on the left side.

Good luck on your build.

[robertahegy]

I used the FWF kit in building my 7A. The items in the kit are arranged around the engines Van's recommends and spec's out. Engines acquired from sources other than Van's may or may not be compatible with all items in the FWF kit. I used a Van's engine and prop and had no compatibility problems. I liked everything in the kit and all the parts fit like they were supposed to. I substituted cables in the kit with custom quadrant cables. Van's also supplied these. A very well planned kit, worth the money, and was a real time saver. It's nice to have it early in the building process as many items can be installed while easy access is still available.

Roberta

[hevansrv7a]

Mine has the Superior XP+ IO-360 and SJ cowl and plenum. Other than having a couple of pieces left over from the baffles and needing a new length throttle cable, it's all very good and well worth it IMHO.