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Upper cowl pic

climberrn

Well Known Member
Friend
If I could get a pic of the upper cowl ramp where the forward prop governor is I’d really appreciate it. I have the stock ramps from the original engine but with the forward governor, the left side will need to be cut. A pic with the baffling in place through the inlet would be fine.

Thanks.
 
Thanks. Going to start cutting away at my ramps. The plans I have don’t show that part. Easy enough to figure out.
 

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It seemed to me that I could do better than the hole full of scrap foam idea, so instead of the stair step cutout, I cut out out more of the ramp and then laid in some fiberglass to make a concave transition in that area. I then modified the baffling over the governor to mate up with it.

I don't foresee any problems with this but I'm not flying yet so we shall see.
 

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It seemed to me that I could do better than the hole full of scrap foam idea, so instead of the stair step cutout, I cut out out more of the ramp and then laid in some fiberglass to make a concave transition in that area. I then modified the baffling over the governor to mate up with it.

I don't foresee any problems with this but I'm not flying yet so we shall see.
I like that. Just started cutting today. Trying to figure out how to keep that area sealed.

On another note, the -14 governor bracket vans sells is aluminum!?!? Bought it since it was only $9 but going to use it as a template to make a steel one. Yours looks steel. Where did you get it?
 
Oh, one more thing. The RV14 baffle cutout under the governor is is sized for a hartzell. My jihistroj is a smaller diameter so that gap was too big for the pre-cut rv14 baffle rubber to close the gap. I see you've got the PCU-5000 governor which I think is basically the same size as mine so if you're using the rv14 baffle kit you may have the same issue.

Since I was modifying that area anyway, I made another fat C shape out of aluminum to bridge that space. I ended up with a gap around the whole governor of about 1/4" which I just filled in with RTV. Theres no rubber baffle material at all around the governor.

I debated on using nut plates to sandwich this all together but ultimately decided that it was overkill given how infrequently you have to take that governor off. I ended up just using pop rivets in that area. If I ever have to remove the governor it's a pretty small job to cut the rtv and drill out the pop rivets.

If this picture doest make it clear you can shoot me a pm. I'll help however I can
 

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Terry,

You have a socket head screw in the middle of the two screws that hold the air filter bracket on. There appears to be a clearance hole cut/drilled for this socket head in the air filter bracket. What's the socket head screw for?

Sorry for the thread drift everybody.
 
If you build this per print, all the pan head screws in that filter frame go through the baffles into nutplates on the upper snorkel flange. When you remove that frame to get the filter out there's nothing holding the upper end of the snorkel. It's just hanging in space from the studs on the fuel servo.

There's enough flex in that setup that when you put it back together you have to wiggle everything a bit to line it back up and get the screws started. Minor annoyance, but I also I didn't like the idea of the whole snorkel just being cantilevered off the fuel controller like that.

To fix this probably non-existent problem, I just added a couple of extra nutplates to the snorkel flange (the one you asked about and it's twin on the outboard side) This way I can remove the filter and there are still a couple of screws attaching the upper end of the snorkel to the baffles. That one is an allen screw because it would be hard to get a screwdriver in there under the governor if a guy needs to remove the snorkel.

Like I said, probably a nonexistent problem, but it only took like 20 minutes to add a couple of nutplates so now its extra-nonexistent.
 
Oh, one more thing. The RV14 baffle cutout under the governor is is sized for a hartzell. My jihistroj is a smaller diameter so that gap was too big for the pre-cut rv14 baffle rubber to close the gap. I see you've got the PCU-5000 governor which I think is basically the same size as mine so if you're using the rv14 baffle kit you may have the same issue.

Since I was modifying that area anyway, I made another fat C shape out of aluminum to bridge that space. I ended up with a gap around the whole governor of about 1/4" which I just filled in with RTV. Theres no rubber baffle material at all around the governor.

I debated on using nut plates to sandwich this all together but ultimately decided that it was overkill given how infrequently you have to take that governor off. I ended up just using pop rivets in that area. If I ever have to remove the governor it's a pretty small job to cut the rtv and drill out the pop rivets.

If this picture doest make it clear you can shoot me a pm. I'll help however I can
I like what you have done. I tried borrowing baffles from the RV14. Not. A great match up for a 10.

I am wondering about the gap for the governor. You are using RTV that looks pretty small. What happens when the engine moves? The baffle is tied to the cowling, but the governor moves with the engine. Won’t rotation on the motor mounts need more room?
 
I like what you have done. I tried borrowing baffles from the RV14. Not. A great match up for a 10.

I am wondering about the gap for the governor. You are using RTV that looks pretty small. What happens when the engine moves? The baffle is tied to the cowling, but the governor moves with the engine. Won’t rotation on the motor mounts need more room?
I also made a new aluminum piece to go around the governor, but used some baffle material to close the gap. Both the baffles and governer mount to the engine. They move together, and need minimal clearance. Over 100 hours on it. No issues found yet.
 
I like what you have done. I tried borrowing baffles from the RV14. Not. A great match up for a 10.

I am wondering about the gap for the governor. You are using RTV that looks pretty small. What happens when the engine moves? The baffle is tied to the cowling, but the governor moves with the engine. Won’t rotation on the motor mounts need more room?
The baffles aren't attached to the cowling. They are attached to the engine and move as a unit with the engine. Nothing special about this arrangement.
 
At some point, either the OB or PO decided to replace the baffling in my airplane with an enclosed plenum and carbon fiber cover. I'm no airplane builder but I see baffle problems or questions come up here on VAF fairly often. A plenum seems like a pretty robust and obvious solution, yet it doesn't seem to be utilized much. Just curious...why not?

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For me, the downside of having to replace baffle rubbers every 10 years or so was outweighed by the ability to take a gander at the top side of the engine every time I have the upper cowl off. Personal preference I suppose.
 
For me, the downside of having to replace baffle rubbers every 10 years or so was outweighed by the ability to take a gander at the top side of the engine every time I have the upper cowl off. Personal preference I suppose.
Well...that's true... lot's of screws to come off with every oil change and condition inspection.
 
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