[avi8tor50]

Hi all-
Starting to get the pieces together for the forward cabin/instrument panel. As I was "test assembling" things I noticed that there were no holes punched in the rear flange of 7108A which is the center rib of the sub panel. Likewise, there were no holes punched in the firewall /contrary to the two lateral ribs. Surely this center rib must attach to the firewall? Are we supposed to drill out the holes in the firewall and rear flange?
Also, getting ready to order wire. I hate to waste so I was wondering if folks could give me a ROUGH IDEA of how much of each size they used so I have a ballpark to work in.

Thanks everybody!
Peter K
9A QB
avi8tor50

 

[Jekyll]

No idea why they are not match drilled, I layed them out and drilled them. Like building a 3, 4 or old 6.

Jekyll

 

[Jekyll]

On the wire issue:

I won't give you specific quantities for several reasons: each build is unique and therefore the wire needs are specific to your build; I'm too embarrassed to mention how much I bought. Thankfully, buying and using are not the same or else I would need a 210 hp motor to get in the air. Much ends up on the shop floor.

You will need more than you initially plan (2x in my case).
My theory is that wire is cheap in relation to time. This results in excess wire being snipped and laying on the floor. I would rather cut an excess length and fit it to my needs than take painstaking measurements to get "just the right amount".

I spent more on wire than necessary because I used some color coding conventions. This meant I needed to have multiple colors in many diameters to press forward. Vans uses the Henry Ford convention: any color you want as long as it's white. This greatly reduces inventory requirements but hinders future work when faced with a morass of white sameness.

In the end, 20 AWG made up 50% of my wires, 22 AWG was 25% and the remaining diameters made up 25%. I'm not including shielded wire and cables in this as that will be very much individualized to a specifc configuration.

Stein may be able to give you some specific numbers to plan for, give them a call.

Jekyll