2-Jan-00: Lycoming issued an AD for hollow crankshaft engines using fixed pitch props. The rear crank shaft plug needs to be pierced to relieve oil pressure - there have been some occurrances of pressure building to the point where the front plug blows out, causing loss of oil. Of course, these plugs must be pierced with a punch as drilling may leave metal filings in the engine! Three images showing piercing the rear crank plug & replacing the front plug. This was another task that turned out to be a lot easier than expected. The new front plug was sealed with high temperature RTV gasket maker before being flattened slightly to expand it into place.

2-Jan-00: ELT mounted behind the baggage compartment bulkhead. This is required to be mounted on a substantial structure, facing forward/aft. Several other builders have used this location. There is a remote test & warning light unit to be mounted on the instrument panel. The antenna goes under the empennage fairing.

2-Jan-00: ELT coax & control cable, Nav coax & elevator trim cable runs to tail. Tie-wrap cradle bases are pop riveted to the J stringer for cable supports. The ELT antenna will be mounted horizontally under the empennage fairing. The Nav antenna is mounted on top of the vertical stabilizer. The static tubing can be seen, supported by self-adhesive tie-wrap bases just under the longeron.

2-Jan-00: Outside Air Temperature sensor in right NACA vent, foam insulated inside to reduce heat transfer fom the cabin.

5-Jan-00: The Sensenich propeller is mounted with the Sensenich spinner. The spinner has all the right cut-outs & floating nutplates installed, ready to just bolt on. The cowl still fits!

5-Jan-00: The 1/2" prop bolts are torqued to 62 ft/lbs & safety wired.

15-Jan-00: View of right forward bay before riveting forward top skin. MAP module, alternator regulator & OV protection unit. Also visible is the master relay, with wiring going up to the two 30 amp maxi fuses, and the .040 backing plate for the SS firewall shield protecting the wiring grommet through the firewall.

15-Jan-00: View of right forward bay before riveting forward top skin. The wiring loop contains EIS-4000 wires that are unused at this point.

15-Jan-00: View of left forward bay before riveting forward top skin. The blue bulkhead fitting is for the oil cooler door control cable.

15-Jan-00: View of centre left forward bay before riveting forward top skin. The vacuum regulator & filter are installed with the blue vacuum hoses. The aft side of the AeroElectric grounding block is mounted on the firewall with a smaller version connecting on the engine side via a massive brass bolt.

15-Jan-00: View of right forward bay before riveting forward top skin. Another view of the master relay & maxi fuses.

15-Jan-00: Riveting the forward top skin - last major riveting job! Now everything behind the firewall becomes much harder to deal with, but at least the windshield glassing job can proceed.

25-Jan-00: Defrost fans fitted. These will suck warm air from the cabin & radio stack - no ducting planned. Also shows tabs with nutplates for windshield mounting.

25-Jan-00: Original panel showing most of it cut away. The final panel is made up of three removable pieces of .062 aluminum.

25-Jan-00: Matco brake reservoir used to collect oil drained from the air/oil separator. After much research, it was decided that this was a more appropriate installation than draining the oil back into the engine, via the filler tube for instance.

20-Feb-00: Canopy fairing fibre glass in place. Three layers of 2" tape on the canopy bow, four layers around the front of the windshield, using West System Epoxy Resin. The black electrical tape, used for masking, is still in place. The fibre glass overlaps the canopy plexiglass 1/4". Next step is filling with micro balloon mixture. The thermometer hanging inside allows checking that the temperature is maintained above 70 deg F.

28-Feb-00: Canopy fairing filled with micro balloon epoxy mixture & sanded down using electrical tape to mask the edges. It still needs a little more filling, but it's looking fine.

28-Feb-00: Navaid servo fitted in right wing with the pushrod connecting to the bell-crank. Installation was challenging, even with the tray already built before the wing was closed.

29-Feb-00: The process of "pounding" the spacer onto the prop left a scratch on the prop from the spinner backplate - ugh! After seeing this photo, Ed Zercher (Sensenich) said that it wasn't a serious problem & should be smoothed with 350 grit sandpaper & painted with Tempo Hartzell grey.