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Order after hanging engine

S

shiney

Well Known Member
OK, the engine is now on and I'm ready to start work on it, is there a particular order that I should be following or doesn't it really matter ? I'm thinking of the oil cooler, baffles, exhaust, altenator, fuel lines in the first instance.

Thank

Martin
 
Air induction and engine controls...

Kyle Boatright said:
Baffles first, then oil cooler and exhaust. After that, you work the flexible stuff around all the other things.
Click to expand...

Kyle's got it right. And, I would put the air induction system and carb/fuel injection controls next on the list after exhaust.
 
I would fit the cowling first, then alternator, then baffles, then everything else. You need the cowling fitted in order to trim the baffles.
 
I hope to be at this point in the next month or so. I thought the order would go:
1. engine
2. cowl
3. baffles & plenum
4. exhaust
5. intake
6. big cables (throttle, mixture)
7. small wires

any problem with this plan?
 
When I did mine, access considerations were a primary driver as well as "what needs to come first" considerations.

Cowl definitely near the top of the list.
A lot of the baffle work is dependent on fitting to the cowl. You can't really do much with the oil cooler until you start the baffles.

I put off installing the exhaust as long as possible - yeah it makes it look like you've made a lot of progress but the exhaust just gets in the way while your working on everything else.

I have a Lightspeed crank sensor, so I ran those wires and the CHT probes and wires early on. I also did the fuel lines while access was good. I know I had to change out the fitting on my fuel pump so I'm glad I did that early on.

I think I did the prop cable next and then the throttle - which meant installing the carb.

So what ever your plan is, it will probably change as you start really getting into it.
 
Too late now, but If I did it over again, I would mount the prop governor and trial fit the cable BEFORE I hung the engine. You end up having to remove the governor to rotate the arm to get alignment and full throw.
 
Order

Thanks fellas, a great help as always. If I start with the cowl is it just a matter of doing the initial fit or do I need to do all the filling and prep work, really wanted to do all glass work together in one go.
 
Cowl

Im a couple months ahead of you. Hung the engine in Aug and now the cowl is fit. I'm going to wait on the camlocks until I paint the cowl next spring, otherwise I'll have to remove them to paint it.

Baffle work will be next

If you haven't hung the engine definetly figure out the prop govenor stuff as others have said.
 
Wise advice

From someone much wiser than me, mount everything that you have no choice where it goes first. The list is pretty complete, governor (before engine mounting), starter, alternator, sump and intake, exhaust. Then baffling, oil cooler.

By then you will have stepped on most of the potential land mines.

Good luck. Exciting times.
 
shiney said:
Thanks fellas, a great help as always. If I start with the cowl is it just a matter of doing the initial fit or do I need to do all the filling and prep work, really wanted to do all glass work together in one go.
Click to expand...

Jus the initial fit up. finishing work can come much later.
 
After multiple projects, one thing I've learned is to remove obstacles rather than try to work around them. Don't be hesitant about unhanging the engine and removing the mount if it helps with access for drilling, riveting, and correcting screw-ups. Off and on is about 1 1/2 hours vs. a heap of frustrations that can pile up.

A couple of points:

Bucking several of the side skin/firewall rivets is near impossible with the mount in place.

Leaving the engine off makes the move to the airport oh so much easier.

Watch out for old Van's instructions regarding the use of spacers in lieu of the prop to locate the spinner back plate for cowl positioning. For many years they were wrong regarding constant speed props. Van's finally fixed the FAQ on their website; your kit instructions may be wrong.

John Siebold
 
Which order

Just checking the order for the cowl fitt and in the Vans book, fitting the cowl comes after installing the main fiber glass gear legs, wheel and intersection fairings. What's have builders found to be the best order ?

Thanks
 
I am with Darwin on that, install all the items that you have no choice/flexibility. Also, as you are installing things like Wiring/cables, etc? look ahead for maintenance and how easy it would be to get to them and maintain them, this would be particularly true for routing your wires and hoses.

Mehrdad
RV7A-IO360M1B
 
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