rbradley0731
I'm New Here
I am making this post to see if any other RV8-A builders with completed and flying airplanes can make suggetions for a proven, working solution for my problem. I would even welcome moral support from flying 8-A builders who have the same problem and just want to commiserate with me.
For seven years my airplane has flown with a Lycoming O-360 with the usual Vetterman crossover pipes that came with the kit from Van's. The right pipe has a heat muff for my cabin heat supply, and it seems to vibrate in its own happy little environment, causing no trouble. The left exhaust pipe moves around and bounces off the curved firewall fairing, resulting in a shattered fairing. So far, the exhaust pipe ball joint appears undamaged. At first, I used the exhaust mounting hardware that came with the Vetterman kit. After two years of trying unsuccessfully to stabilize the left pipe, I talked to Mr. Vetterman, who sold me a "new, improved" set of hardware to stabilize the pipe. It works for a few hours of operation, and then the pipe starts wandering into the firewall again. I have tweaked my installation so often that I can remove top and bottom cowling in my sleep.
Does anybody have any solutions to this problem? Whenever I talk to the builder's assistance people at Van's I learn that I am the only builder with such a problem, and they have no idea how to help me. According to a "reliable source" (not at Van's) this problem is so common as to be almost guaranteed to occur in the 8-A design. The geometry of the engine mount down tubes and the framework for the nose gear mounting truss is so narrow that any direction the pipe moves, there is danger that it will hit something immovable.
This is a wonderful airplane design with just one itsy-bitsy design flaw that defies my attempts at amateur mechanical engineering.
For seven years my airplane has flown with a Lycoming O-360 with the usual Vetterman crossover pipes that came with the kit from Van's. The right pipe has a heat muff for my cabin heat supply, and it seems to vibrate in its own happy little environment, causing no trouble. The left exhaust pipe moves around and bounces off the curved firewall fairing, resulting in a shattered fairing. So far, the exhaust pipe ball joint appears undamaged. At first, I used the exhaust mounting hardware that came with the Vetterman kit. After two years of trying unsuccessfully to stabilize the left pipe, I talked to Mr. Vetterman, who sold me a "new, improved" set of hardware to stabilize the pipe. It works for a few hours of operation, and then the pipe starts wandering into the firewall again. I have tweaked my installation so often that I can remove top and bottom cowling in my sleep.
Does anybody have any solutions to this problem? Whenever I talk to the builder's assistance people at Van's I learn that I am the only builder with such a problem, and they have no idea how to help me. According to a "reliable source" (not at Van's) this problem is so common as to be almost guaranteed to occur in the 8-A design. The geometry of the engine mount down tubes and the framework for the nose gear mounting truss is so narrow that any direction the pipe moves, there is danger that it will hit something immovable.
This is a wonderful airplane design with just one itsy-bitsy design flaw that defies my attempts at amateur mechanical engineering.