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N223JH

Well Known Member
Installing radiator to lower firewall... It appears that elongating the mounting holes is insufficient to achieve the uniform specified gap between aft radiator face and the two triangular structures previously installed. The angle is slightly off, suggesting shims for the firewall/radiator mount or a very slight bend in the mount itself.

I'm hesitant to cold-work the black radiator mount, even just a the few degrees it would take to get the gap to spec. Wondered if others experienced a similar problem and what the fix was. TIA to the Usual Suspects, Jim
 
Quick fix

Put a piece of masking tape where you need to trim to on the 2 pieces. Use a Dremel to trim to tape line. If you can get a credit card between when finished, you are good to go. Shimming etc will leave a probelm for next time you might need to remove the rad.

John Bender
 
OK, so the thing to do is take a little off each of the smaller pieces to make them mate correctly with the radiator itself? I am assuming that the position of the radiator housing (as defined by the angle of the massive 3-bolt arm) will be correct for installation of subsequent assembly...
 
N223JH said:
OK, so the thing to do is take a little off each of the smaller pieces to make them mate correctly with the radiator itself? I am assuming that the position of the radiator housing (as defined by the angle of the massive 3-bolt arm) will be correct for installation of subsequent assembly...
Click to expand...

All subsequent assembly is done in relationship to the radiator so a slight angle differnce will not matter. The flange frame on the cooling duct is installed to match the radiator and there is allowance for quite a bit of angle variation.
 
Just worked on this yesterday. Drove me batty trying for a perfect gap. Elongated the 3 main mounting holes, but also had to enlarge the other two as well. I have a gap, but it is not perfectly consistent all the way across. I decided it would be good enough. Spent way too much time on this already. One problem was, you can't see inside where the lower gap is when the radiator is mounted. Did it by feel, with a credit card. My gap is more than 1/32 on the outside edge (away from the firewall), but can't imagine this is critical. If it is, somebody tell me, and explain how to make it any better.
 
Heater door too

I am working on this too. The arc of the opening heater door is also part of the puzzle. I drilled the rivet holes in the SS hinge too close to the edge. Consequently the door now contacts the face of the radiator when it swings. I reckon this cant be right, as the sharp edge of the heater door would soon eat into the radiator. So its back to square 1 for me - new parts , more epoxy

I just wish the plans had a clearer dimension on where to drill the holes in the SS hinge half. Page 49-03 fig 2 instruction "Align edge of FF-1206A pwith bend tangent of FF-1204A" lead me astray. Once you prime the Cooler Box Face, you have to guess where the bend tangent is. An overall dimension across the assembly in fig 2 would fix the problem. Take care.

Rod
 
Page 49-03 Heater door

Yes, I too found the heater door to be a bigger issue than trimming back the FF-1204B and C. My heater door was contacting the radiator, so I tried fix #1 which is to bend the leading edge of the door. The door got pretty ugly and -- No go. So fix #2 is necessary which is to install a new heater box hinge. Tried to drill out the SS rivets, but pretty much ruined the door doing so. I then replaced the door and the door hinge half. As stated above it takes some trial and error to set up the hinge to drill it correctly so the door will clear the radiator.
Another issue on page 49-03 is part #FF-1205D. It appears to be a SS spacer and is drilled with the heater door hinge hole spacing. This piece I have left over, as it is not called out on the plans(that I can find, anyway). I think it should be installed on page 49-03 to space out the heater door hinge to allow a little room for the RTV seal. It would have been a major issue to tear down the whole heater box assembly to install it after-the-fact.

Submitted in the hope that it will save someone some time and trouble.

Tony
 
FF1210 - cable operation of heater door

Thanks, guys. I got my radiator to fit by elongating all 5 holes, and filing a bit off the bottom left corner of the radiator mounding flange.

Now I have difficulty with trimming the cable that operates the door. The plans call for the outer sheath to be chopped off 2 27/32 inch from the last cushion clamp. I believe my cushion clamp is where it is shown in the drawings.

Looking at the geometry, the cable end is about 3/8 inch too long. It would foul on the cushion clamp before the door is fully open. I'm assuming the door should open until it hits the flange of the mounting ribs?

I could remove 3/8 inch from the cable end, then trim the outer cable sheath so that maybe 1/4 inch goes inside the cable end with the door shut. However with the door open the cable sheath would then travel so far up the tube it would interfere with the pin, and once again the door would not open fully.

Anyone else had this problem? If so, what's the fix?

Thanks...Keith
 
open until it is perpendicular

I'm assuming the door should open until it hits the flange of the mounting ribs?
Click to expand...
Keith,
I assumed that the door should only open until it is perpendicular to the radiator. If it is opened any more than that, the hot air has a choice of either going into the cabin or out the bottom of the cowl. I do not know which way offers the least resistance.
Joe
 
Thanks

Thanks for the pics. Looks just like mine ;-) Both shots show the door closed, which is fine on mine too.

When I open the door, the flange on the door is over an inch away from the flange on the lower mounting rib. I'd appreciate a comment from anyone whose door opens wider than this. Maybe it doesn't matter, heat will surely get through.

On a related topic, I had difficulty reinserting the inner wire after pulling it out all of the way as per the plans. I ended up taking it out of all the cushion clamps again. Grrr. If I was to do it again, I would only pull the wire out enough to be sure of clearing the area where I was going to cut the sheath.

Cheers...Keith
 
Another problem solved...

Thanks guys. Seems I was worrying about nothing, if the door doesn't need to go past 90 degrees to the radiator. Now fitted, so I'm looking forward to toasty feet in the Scottish winter - probably less necessary than a New England winter, but my passenger will still complain that all the heat is coming to me ;-)

See you at Oshkosh?...Keith
 
Trim the door??

Fitting the door and radiator is next week's task. If the door contacts the radiator face is there any reason not to trim a little off the edge of the door instead of buying a new door and SS hinge? The holes that the door closes off are well inside the edge of the door.

BTW, there's no mention of sealing the rivet heads that hold the door assembly to the firewall. I assumed thay should get a coat of Pro-Seal like all the other firewall rivets.

Wayne 120241
 
yankee-flyer said:
Fitting the door and radiator is next week's task. If the door contacts the radiator face is there any reason not to trim a little off the edge of the door instead of buying a new door and SS hinge? The holes that the door closes off are well inside the edge of the door.

BTW, there's no mention of sealing the rivet heads that hold the door assembly to the firewall. I assumed thay should get a coat of Pro-Seal like all the other firewall rivets.

Wayne 120241
Click to expand...

Hey Wayne,
The leading edge of the door has a flange to give it stiffness:
[url=http://tonytessitore.smugmug.com/RV-12-Project-N577RV/Powerplant/10588224_48ZYn#806646795_zcuwZ-A-LB][/URL]
I don't see how one could trim the door without cutting off the flange. I tried bending the leading edge per the Service Bulletin, but that did not work and I had to install a new door and hinge half. I would recommend to do it right and install a new hinge half to position the door to clear the radiator. I was not able to drill out the SS rivets without some damage to the door so I replaced it.
Yes, it makes sense to mix a small batch of tank sealant and seal the rivet heads similar to all the other firewall rivets, tho' it is not mentioned in the plans.

Tony
 
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