Just joined the Fat Avid Club

[ChrisBolkan 130]

Time to post a couple more pics. Sure doesn't look like much, but gets me a lot closer to getting this thing in the air. Devil is in the details and building the cowl up from mismatched parts and making the firewall have taken a bit of time. Probably not that long in actual total hours, but with the small chunks of time I spend, it has taken a while! I am very pleased with the firewall to cowl fit.

[Knuckledragger 135]

Chris,

I read back through the thread and perhaps missed it...

What nosewheel fork is that and where did you buy it?

[ChrisBolkan 130]

I modified a Rans Tundra fork and copied the way rans sets theirs up in the Avid. It turned out pretty nice but was a LOT of work. There are some pictures earlier in this thread that will give you a good idea of what was involved. If I had it to do over I'd probably go with the RV-12 nosewheel. It is the same concept as the RV-6 type used on most Avids, but the fork fits a much larger tire. it's about the diameter of a 500X5.

[ChrisBolkan 130]

Towed the Flat Avid home from my buddy's shop where I did the glass work on the cowl. Now it's back in my over stuffed garage where it is much more convenient to work on. Cowl and firewall now fitted. On to engine plumbing and wiring. With luck I may have something flying this spring/summer.

[SuberAvid 617]

It is looking good Chris!  You are going to have a lot of foot room in that with the foot well in your firewall.  Mine is flat and it is plenty comfortable so yours will be ample.

[Guest]

I love it when things start coming together. Maybe there is a chance I will be flying this spring! Everything fits perfectly. This is a huge step forward even tho I know it still looks the same!

[akflyer 1427]

Looking good Mr!  90% done with 90% to go right? 

 

 

[Guest]

I hope I'm much further than 90% left to go!  At least I'm hoping if there is 90% left to go that it goes much smoother without so many "how am I going to do this????" long pauses! :-)

[KFfan 151]

Speaking of "how am I going to do this", what is your plan for cleaning/changing the air filter? Cutout in the firewall with a removable cover?

Lou

[Guest]

I got the air filter on there with the firewall in place, so I think I can get it back off. It is close though! But.....I couldn't be happier with the overall fit not requiring any indents or cutouts to the firewall.

[EDMO 1078]

Looks Good Chris - Hoping to get some handling reports on that nosedragger soon.

EDMO

[KFfan 151]

I got the air filter on there with the firewall in place, so I think I can get it back off. It is close though! But.....I couldn't be happier with the overall fit not requiring any indents or cutouts to the firewall.

Apparently that rubber collapses/crushes more than I thought...?

[Guest]

Yes, and the firewall is 0.015 SS and is pretty flimsy even though it is backed by airframe tubing.

[EDMO 1078]

I have been wondering which firewall stainless would be the best to use if you want to bend a flange around the edges - Spruce lists about 3 kinds, and one of them is 301 1/2 hard - does that mean the plain 304 is full hard, and then there is 302/304 annealed?

EDMO

Edited 19 Jan 2016 by EDMO

[Guest]

Hi Ed, wish I could help. One of my friends had a length of SS bought years ago for a project and offered me a chunk to build my firewall. I have no idea what it is but it cuts and drills pretty easily. It is also real thin which is what I liked about it. less weight, and I figured the thinner it is the easier to work.

[EDMO 1078]

Hi Ed, wish I could help. One of my friends had a length of SS bought years ago for a project and offered me a chunk to build my firewall. I have no idea what it is but it cuts and drills pretty easily. It is also real thin which is what I liked about it. less weight, and I figured the thinner it is the easier to work.

Thanks Chris,

That is about the standard thickness for stainless firewalls - galvanized is .018 - I will probably buy mine locally anyway, and I can get some small pieces to try bending before buying.  I just thought that someone on here with more experience making them might know the difference in the types of stainless.  I have had some experience machining it - made barrels for the whalers harpoon guns in Alaska from 321 Stainless tubing, and made single-shot cylinders for the Old Army Ruger revolvers out of 416 stainless and had them heat-treated for max strength.

EDMO

Edited 19 Jan 2016 by EDMO

[Guest]

IMG_0984.MOV

[Guest]

Above is my solution to the heavy and plumbing intensive oil temp  thermostat or the cheesy tape over the radiator on cold days. It turned out better than I had hoped, but for how simple it is it took quite a bit of tinkering to get it right. Getting more excited the closer I get to flying this thing!

[EDMO 1078]

Above is my solution to the heavy and plumbing intensive oil temp  thermostat or the cheesy tape over the radiator on cold days. It turned out better than I had hoped, but for how simple it is it took quite a bit of tinkering to get it right. Getting more excited the closer I get to flying this thing!

Chris,  Can you post some more info about how this is regulated?  EDMO

[Guest]

It is manually controlled by a push-pull button lock in the cockpit. It functions like a cowl flap for the oil cooler. I posted a video above the picture. It plays on my computer at home but not on my phone.

Edited 3 Mar 2016 by Chris Bolkan

[Av8r3400 1178]

Great idea.  I have almost the exact same setup as a flap behind my radiator on the Mangy.  The handle is push to open pull to close.

[Guest]

Mine is push to open pull to close too. I figured the air would try to blow it open and wanted the cable in tension

[Guest]

Almost finished with another one of those head scratcher "how am I going to do this?" projects. This time it is firewall penetrations and charging/starting circuitry layout. After spending entirely too much time thinking about it to make sure I have accounted for everything, it is nearly finished. I'm using some cool but expensive firewall penetrations from Aircraft Spruce. I think it turned out beautifully. Soon I will remove the plastic coating on the firewall and it will be ready for final engine install. Still have a lot of wiring left to do though.

[Av8r_Sed 82]

Hi Chris,

It looks like all the thought and planning are coming together on that firewall.  It's looking really nice.  Before you get to wiring, make sure to flip that capacitor upright.  That style of aluminum electrolytic has a vent that should be pointing up without any wires or other stuff right over the vent.

[Guest]

Aluminum  electrolytics are not position sensitive, but stressed excessively can vent or even self destruct. I deliberately placed the vent down so if the system over voltages and vents or self destructs, it will blow downward away from all electronics in the panel.